It’s been a while since I had anything to say on my HHO installation, so here’s the very latest.

Last weekend I decided to uninstall the unit from the Prado.

My biggest stumbling block was finding a reasonably priced container for the vehicle.  For an HHO unit to work it had to be totally suitable for long hours in the rough and tumble of a 4WD and unfortunately the poor old poly pipe that plumbers use just didn’t do the trick.  It distorted badly with the heat, as a 4WD can often spend hours travelling along tracks at very low speeds and generating lots of heat in the engine bay and also, the magnificent one way valve I had fitted caused a vacuum inside the unit as it cooled.

Now the vacuum I could deal with, but the distortion after 10 plus hours of operation was another thing.  I priced up a stainless steel pipe with screw on fittings, to find I would be up for around $300, just too expensive.

Also, the Prado is an electronic controlled vehicle with sensors everywhere.  Normally on a cold start the engine would automatically jump to a 1500 RPM idle speed, but towards the end of my testing, this wasn’t happening, it would only be around 800 RPM and I would have to give it a couple of revs to get it to fast idle.

With the unit disconnected, I decided to give the intake system a clean with Subaru upper cylinder cleaner.  This is the most amazing cleaner out there and I would recommend anyone to give it a try.  After spraying it into my throttle body, next morning, the car wsa back to its proper cold start with a 1500 RPM idle.

Petrol prices have now come down, so I have decided to shelve the whole project.  I did receive about a 10% increase in mileage while using it, but now, certainly cannot justify the building expense.

See you pout there!

Diff Breathers When a hot axle hits cold water it cools rapidly. This has the effect of lowering the air pressure inside the axle and the diff housing, causing air to be drawn in via the diff breathers. Extending your diff breathers higher up the chassis (standard on most Landcruisers) with the aid of plastic tubing is a “must do” for regular water goers. The 4x4 pictured has run both front and rear breathers to a high position on the firewall under the bonnet. However, it is no guarantee that water will not enter your diff. The sudden reduction in air pressure inside your diff can still cause water to be drawn in via your axle seals if the diff breathers do not equalize the pressure quick enough. This is why its still necessary to allow the 4x4 time to cool down, even when extended diff breathers are fitted.