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!

Tip:

It is important to know the position of your front and rear differentials as they are usually the lowest point of your vehicle. Similarly, any other low ground clearance points should be noted e.g. exhaust, spare tyre etc. When a large rock or other obstacle is on a track that you must drive over, you should ensure you avoid driving directly over it with the lowest ground clearance point of your 4x4.