Dwyane Thomas
German automaker Mercedes-Benz is among the major movers in the car industry. Backed by its campaign in the race circuit, from the Paris to Rouen tour circa 1890 to the Formula One series, Mercedes-Benz is often associated with the vaunted supercars that have since come out of its production shop. Among these are the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, which stands for “super light racing,” and the 1996 Mercedes-Benz model that the company has developed with car modification expert RENNTech, billed as the world’s fastest sedan. But, since Mercedes-Benz has diverse markets, even its marquee models are rolled out of the shop set up for average driver expectations and standard driving conditions.

Since the race specs of the Mercedes-Benz have little use in typical drive applications, the car’s engine is tuned for street use. However, this does not mean that Mercedes-Benz engines are letdowns. In most cases, the engine is simply re-tuned. Engine tuning is the process of streamlining engine operations toward its maximum power output. It generally involves the delivery of air and fuel into the combustion chamber, and the timing of the spark that lights up the burn material. As both of these engine operations are directed by the Mercedes-Benz electronic control unit, tweaking the delivery and spark timing systems simply involves the replacement of the stock fitted ECU chip.

The ECU chip contains the engine’s lookup tables, which keeps the required engine operation input in a given drive application. When you rev up the Mercedes-Benz, the car’s ECU measure the values gathered by a network of car sensors, like the oxygen sensor, air mass meter, etc. The ECU chip then feeds the ECU with information on the appropriate fuel injection rate based on these values. By replacing the ECU chip with a performance chip, the lookup tables can be optimized to extract the maximum amount of horsepower and torque from the Mercedes-Benz.

The performance chip equips the Mercedes-Benz with a streamlined engine operation. During full throttle drives, for example, the performance chip increases fuel injection in response to the rush of air in the cold air intake system. Since an air to fuel mixture follows a set ratio, a rush of air can disarm the power production. More air consequently can accommodate more amount of fuel. The performance chip tunes the lookup tables in the ECU toward increased production output.

In addition, the spark timing may also be altered to harness more horsepower. A spark that is generated during an appropriate time boosts power production and prevents fuel waste. Engine misfire, on the other hand, doesn’t just waste fuel: it may also result in engine damage, like busted HT leads, fume buildup in the exhaust system, etc. Unlike car manufacturers, who place emphasis on issues like reliability, mileage and emissions control, most manufacturers of performance chips utilize more aggressive settings in the fuel and spark timing maps of their performance chips to further tweak the engine.

The Mercedes performance chip is a plug-and-operate part of an ECU. It requires no car modifications, which often include the tedious task of changing carburetor jets and distribution curves.



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Jeff Casmer
Regardless of the type of lawn mower a person owns it will have to go through one or more lawn mower repairs at some point of its life, even top manufactures and models that worked perfectly in the beginning will require a tune up of at least one part.

One can prevent serious lawn mower repairs if maintenance is done on the machine regularly. In most cases lawn mowers repairs are due to a lack of attention to the machine.

But by doing maintenance checks every winter before storage and every spring before use as well as cleaning the underneath of the mower by scraping it and using and air compressor to clean the engine, air filter and carburetor you can avoid a number of repairs.

Prevention is often better the cure. Because lawn mower repairs can be costly, maintaining your machine is far more cost effective then neglecting it and then running out to purchase new parts.

That said, nearly all mowers will need a repair at some point. This may be a small repair such as replacing the blade or larger like repairing the small engine that powers the lawn mower. This may include replacing a clogged fuel filter, which is a common reason for why the lawn mower wont start, stalls or dies during use.

Lawn mower repairs are often tricky for the average user because in most cases the actual problem does not show up in the part that needs to be repaired but rather somewhere else in the machines.

For instance if your spark plug needs to be replaced it could be because there are snags in the carburetor. In this case, replacing the spark plug may help but you will also have to get the carburetor looked at. So lawn owners are often playing doctor to their lawn mowers as they try to diagnose the disease behind the symptoms.

Looking at every symptom or problem and trying to decipher what could be the cause is the best way to get to the root of the problem. Consider the problem. Is the problem that the lawn mower vibrates during use? Is it that it wont start?

Often, a lawn mower that will not start may be out of fuel or the ration of the fuel mix may be incorrect. By ruling out each cause related to starting the mower you can find the solution.

However, the lawn mower owner may not be able to get to the bottom of the issue or they may find, during the process, that the mower needs a serious repair. In each case it is best to call in a professional.

Professional lawn mower repairmen, not only fix major repairs but they also help lawn mower owners figure what is wrong with their lawn mower. The owner can then get some quotes on the repair cost and determine if fixing it is the best option or if the lawn mower has seen better days and a new mower is in order.

Lawn mowers are essential for keeping a healthy lawn. And repairing your lawn mower can help prolong its life.



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John Garett
Volvo tuning is the process of streamlining the car’s engine operations toward its maximum power output. It generally involves facilitating the delivery of air and fuel into the combustion chamber, and of the precision spark timing that lights up the burn materials. As both of these engine operations are directed by the on-board electronic control unit in the Volvo, streamlining the fuel delivery and spark timing systems simply involves the replacement of the stock-fitted ECU chip with a Volvo performance chip. An alternative is a slew of car modifications, which often include the tedious task of changing carburetor jets and distribution curves. The Volvo performance chip boasts of a power upgrade without the need for further car add-ons and parts replacements. The Volvo performance chip is designed to enable drivers manipulate the engine’s lookup tables, which dictate the Volvo’s required engine operation input in a given drive application. When the Volvo is revved up, the car’s ECU measures the values gathered by a network of car sensors, like the oxygen sensor, air mass meter, etc. The Volvo performance chip then feeds the ECU with information on the appropriate fuel injection rate based on the values gathered by the sensors. With a little tweak on the lookup tables in the on-board computer, the Volvo performance chip optimizes the car’s engine operation toward maximum performance. The spark timing of the Volvo ignition system may likewise be optimized to harness more horsepower. A spark that is generated during an appropriate time boosts power production and prevents fuel wastes. Engine misfire, on the other hand, doesn’t just waste fuel; it may also result in engine system parts damage, like busted HT leads, fume buildup in the exhaust system, etc. Unlike car manufacturers, who place emphasis on vehicle reliability, mileage and emissions control, most manufacturers of aftermarket Volvo performance chips utilize more aggressive settings in the fuel and spark timing maps to further make the engine more responsive to high performance driving conditions. These settings, however, are typically revocable and can be set to suit which part of car operation the driver wishes to optimize.



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Gregory Alexander
When I first started racing Gas Powered RC cars, I used to struggle to get the engine into tune, while I was able to get the engine to start on a dime and it used to run fine for almost an entire fuel tank, it always seemed to over-heat near the end of the run. After many hours out on the track I can now finally say that I’ve got it down, tuning for me is now a 5 minute operation before I take my RC car out, and once it’s dialed in I only need to adjust one needle a fraction of a turn to get it back to it’s optimal settings.

I assume that your understand the basics of a RC Nitro Engine and how it works, if not please see my other articles which you can find on my website, see the resource box for details.

The Idle Screw

I always start with the idle screw, I adjust it so that the car will idle high when I’m first dialing in the engine. Once I get the engine up to temperature and with a tube that can keep it running without stalling I slowly adjust the idle down to the point where it’s about to stall, then I turn it back about 1/4 to 1/2 turn depending on the temperature. If your car stalls often it can be worth while increasing the idle to prevent this, it’s only a temporary fix while you sort out the other tuning issue, but it helps keep frustration levels down.

Low Speed Needle.

One of the great debates is which needle to adjust first, if your carburetor only has one needle adjustment ***** then it’s not a problem, but if like most glow engines you have two you need to decide which to tune first. I always start with the low speed needle, this is because when you adjust the low speed needle you change the high speed needle. Once the low speed needle is dialed in you shouldn’t have to adjust it again. Make sure you keep it slightly on the rich side, when you RC Car idles the combustion chamber should start to fill up with fuel, this helps keep it cool. After a while the engine will stall, by measuring this you can tell if it should be richer or leaner. A good time is about 30 – 60 seconds before it stalls. The RC Car should pull off quickly from a standing start and should not bog down or flame out when you apply full throttle.

High Speed Needle.

Once you have your low speed adjustment needle dialed in it’s time to start getting the power out of the RC engine. This is done with the high speed needle, which adjusts the air to fuel mixture of the engine while it as high RPM (about 40% and up). Keep an eye on the trail of smoke as this is your first clue about the tune. You want to have a lot of smoke coming out of the engine at all RPM, if at some point there is little or no smoke then you are running too lean.

Hints, Tips and Tricks



Turn the needle clockwise to lean out and counter-clockwise to richen the mixture.

A lot of smoke means you tune is rich.

The sound can tell you about your tune.

Reading your glow plug after a run will tell you a lot about your tune.

Make sure to run your engine on the rich side, this will extend it’s life.

A lean engine will always put out more power, but it will shorten the life of your engine.

Temperature, air pressure and humidity play if big part in the tune, different days will need different settings.



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Bud Weiss
Where did my Carburetor go ?

The carburetor is part of the engine that blends air and fuel for internal combustion engines which is a great fuel saver. The carburetor had jets and metering rods allowing adjustments for tuning the engine and getting the best fuel savings. They are still used today but mostly on motors other then automobile. Like motorcycles, airplanes, lawnmowers, tractors, weed eaters, jet skis, snow blowers and boat motors and older cars. The sidedraft carbs replaced the downdraft one because of engine design and operation.

The carburetor was invented by Donat Banki and Janos Csonka in 1893 and was improved over the years and then finally replaced sometime at the end of the 1970s with fuel injection. There are several types of carburetors, there were one barrels, then 2 and 4 barrel carbs. Some hotrods would supped up to 3 two barrel carbs and some with 2 four barrel carburetors. There were different carburetors made for different uses like some were up drafted, some the air entered below the carburetor and exits thorough the top, which kept the automobile from flooding, and increasing fuel savings.

Carburetors were used in the past on cars and trucks, but were replaced with fuel ejection systems. This, in my option, was a big mistake and a scam on the population. The carburetor was much more fuel efficient then today’s fuel injection systems. Almost anyone could repair or replace a carburetor, but today it takes a trained Tec. to change a fuel ejection system at great expense to the owner. Also anyone could adjust the fuel mixture on a carburetor making the engine run lean saving fuel.

There were many claims of getting anywhere between 40 and 100 miles to the gallon with specialy designed carburetors, so it was not advantageous for the big oil companies which in those days encouraged people to use more fuel. If you are my age you will remember all those commercials about putting a tiger in you tank. Today it is put every thing you earned this week in your tank. You notice they don’t have to spend all those advertising dollars anymore to sell you fuel. They are saving millions on advertising and more millions from the outrageous prices they are charging at the pumps.

Fuel mileage never increased to the better after switching to fuel ejectors from the carburetor either. My small pickup truck still only gets 15 miles to the gallon and is a six cylinder. I had a 48 ford pickup truck with a flat head 8 cylinder engine that got just as good mileage. I sold that truck with over 100,000 miles on it and it still ran great.

The cost for a fuel ejection system is much more expensive then a carburetor and adds a lot more cost to the price of an automobile. Even if fuel injection saved fuel the money you are suppose to have saved in fuel savings is lost on the cost of the vehicle. The end result is no monetary savings for the consumer at all. So let us give them the benefit of the doubt and say that fuel injection is a fuel saver but the cost of the system is still too high compared to the carburetor. So how else can we save fuel?

There are products out there that are good fuel savers like Ultimate-me2, which can be found at http://www.ecosavesfuel.com. This product allows you to save at least 13% or more on the total cost of gasoline and diesel fuel by adding a small amount to your fuel system. There are many other benefits from these types of products that save fuel. They clean your engine while giving you more horsepower, and because the fuel burns more efficient it reduces the emission going into or air giving us a cleaner environment.

It is my belief that had auto companies kept the carburetor system in place that we would see a lot more fuel savings with these new additives that are on the market today. You may ask on what is my option based. Well let me say that I am using Ultimate-me2 in my lawn mower and am getting a 50% increase of use with a gallon of fuel with the lawn mower using a carbonator. The bottom line is the carburetor was and still is a great energy fuel saver.



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