Horrible Gas Mpg

[billytheman1188]

damn, i am only getting about 160-170 mpg, after i fill up, my gas needle moves down a little after i go about 10-15 miles.

whats wrong???? is it cause its cold outside???

[shackney]

im only gettin 15 mpg

[natedawg9640]

i have a 2.4 and i get about 300 miles per tank... i used to get 400... my mom has a 3.4 and gets better milage than i do

[bratch15]

What kind of mods do you have?? One factor might be where you buy your gas... I noticed a change in gas mileage after I put my CAI on. I can drive a week without running the rpms over 3000 and still only get about 250-275 miles on a tank, and thats using over 13 gallons. I used to get 350-400 miles when it was stock. Winter definetly has an affect on me because of my CAI. My friend lost 100 miles to a tank in his impala with just a CAI and exhaust...dont know how he drove it after he got the mods done though

[bratch15]

to your extreme tho, sounds like you need to get it looked at...

[RazziAlero99]

Change your oil, that will make a difference, check the level too while your at it. Tire pressure all around is key. Make sure your air filter can breathe. Tansmisson flush and engine fluch would be helpful. Top it off with some fuel injector cleaner and you'll be set brotha.

[clutch1]

About a week before I crashed mine it seemed to be sucking a little more gas than usual. I thought I was being paranoid but it could be something with the cold perhaps.
I guess that wasn't much help, haha.

[[ion] C2]

damn, i am only getting about 160-170 mpg

Hmm.. I only get like 20 mpg. :lol:

I get 200-250 mptank though, but then again I fill up when it gets down to 1/4.

[jayson_waltz]

i don't get very good mileage either with the 2.4. about 16-17 around town. but your gas gauge could also be screwed up like mine. i can run with the neddle below empty for a couple of weeks.

[Mischief007]

Well I'm getting 24 mpg this time around in the winter. Even if it is city driving, I get about the same amount. I have a 2002 Ecotec.

Oil change could be key, tune up, emmission service, etc. Stuff like that can hamper mileage.

[jabartram]

I get 19 consistantly, and i run it hard, powertuner is helping mileage a bit. have you checked your fuel filter? i change mine every 10 to 15000 miles. and run a can of seafoam on your next fill up.

[J-Henry]

HI .

Change your front and rear O2 sensors.

[Redog]

Na it's the blue paint under the hood :lol:

How cold is it there? Sometimes cars do this when the weather is below 15* My Cougar only got 10 MPG in that kind of weather, but when it went back up to 35*, it got nomral MPG.

[shiny alero]

i fill up when the light comes on...only get about 200miles per tank, no mods

[billytheman1188]

its about 15-20 degrees here.

i actually just put fuel injector cleaner in the other day.

would it work if i changed the CAI to a WAI

[shiny alero]

im going to buy some new spark plugs in a little bit and use fuel cleaner stuff and fill up, ill let you no if i get any better millage that way

[El_Diablo]

Change your front and rear O2 sensors.
:ninja:

[freakout]

Check your tire pressure it will drop in the cold temps.. The fuel that you buy in winter has more additives so it doesn't freeze up. These hurt mileage.

[TwistedDreams]

Lately Ive been having problems with MPG also... I drive to work whicch is 13 miles to and 13 miles from when I get home I will have used a lil less the 1/4 of a tank...

[El_Diablo]

maybe this will work-



CHANG YOUR O2 SENSORS!!

;)

[clutch1]

i don't get very good mileage either with the 2.4. about 16-17 around town. but your gas gauge could also be screwed up like mine. i can run with the neddle below empty for a couple of weeks.

Is it just me or is that simply terrible??

If I had a 4 cyl I would expect 20's at least. Jeez.. I'd expect that from a V8 or something.

Or am I just misguided?

[shiny alero]

i guess we just have bad:censored: ing luck lol

[[ion] C2]

IT'S JUST WINTER BLEND

Noticed my MPG lower too as winter happened.

[cavaliers60]

Dumb question, but how many O2 sensors are in our cars? one??? and where are they?? or it?

[bigd6983]

Dumb question, but how many O2 sensors are in our cars? one??? and where are they?? or it?

2 sensors........one near the cat and the other is about a little over a foot down on the rear exhaust manifold........it may be on the downpipe......but its right next to the firewall.....you will see it......

[shiny alero]

how much do 02 sensors cost

[eag182]

C2;251834']IT'S JUST WINTER BLEND

Noticed my MPG lower too as winter happened.

My ass it's just winter blend. I get identical mileage in summer and winter, and I dont live in an easy weather region. Don't drive like an idiot and take care of your car.

[El_Diablo]

how much do 02 sensors cost
for denso's your combined coats at autozone will prolly be around 150 before tax so figure about 160 but there are plenty other brands out there to choose from


agreed, winter blend my ass... if your getting 15mpg its not additives, they make sure that everything still burns the same, trust me, i know a guy who works for sunoco (hes a chemist) and at the most you'll usually lose less than 1mpg

[joealmighty13]

after my intake, my milage increased. To about 325 miles per tank. i have a 3.4 also. I also live in western new york so its pretty cold, but theres been no significant drop in my mpg. i average about 25MPG. Also a friend of mine got the CAI and full exhaust and he also saw an increase in milage. As for your problem billy, i would say check the o2 sensor as stated before and do an all around tune up. see if theres any change.

[Vinalero]

In winter, I always noticed some lost in my mpg on every car I owned.

My Regal did 425 km a tank in summer, 325-350 in winter
My Accord did 550-600 km in summer, 450 in winter
My Dynasty about same as Buick.

It may be a stupid comment, but warming up your car during winter use some spare gas, even if its only 2 minutes each time. 2+2+2+2+2... = $$$

[etan1987]

Ethanol in the gas lowers it also watch for that too.

[billytheman1188]

could my low mpg be because i need to get the LIM fixed??? i thought it was fixed, but the light started coming on again, so i gotta bring it in soon.

[protocol7]

My 2.4 5 speed gets 27 - 28 MPG city, 33 - 34 MPG highway.

I usually keep it below 2.5k RPM and accelerate WOT.

[alero168]

It may be a stupid comment, but warming up your car during winter use some spare gas, even if its only 2 minutes each time. 2+2+2+2+2... = $$$
yeah warming up your car and using more electronic stuff like your front and rear defrosters. all these things make the engine work harder. so in spring when youre rolling down the windows you should probably have the best mileage. idk.

[jackal2000]

maybe this will work-



CHANG YOUR O2 SENSORS!!


;)

care explain why? if an o2 is bad it will throw a code. i dont see how changing one good sensor for another will do jack.

[Mischief007]

care explain why? if an o2 is bad it will throw a code. i dont see how changing one good sensor for another will do jack.

If you track your mileage, you might be able to tell. My Cavalier was running rich, due to the black smoke, and then a few days later threw an O2 code. I already had the sensor, just needed to replace it. Before one of my oil changes, my mileage dropped significantly. After the oil change and tuneup, back up. Who knows though. It could be a ton of things affecting the mileage.

[El_Diablo]

i have a bad sensor right now (i know from testing it) and the only sensor its thrown so far is a rich condition and thats only happend for a couple minutes twice.... trust me, you can have a bad sensor without it downright failing

[natedawg9640]

yeah warming up your car and using more electronic stuff like your front and rear defrosters. all these things make the engine work harder. so in spring when youre rolling down the windows you should probably have the best mileage. idk.


they tested that on myth busters... and the wind drag that having the windows rolled down causes as much fuel mileage drop as if you had the AC on and the windows up...

[jackal2000]

i have a bad sensor right now (i know from testing it) and the only sensor its thrown so far is a rich condition and thats only happend for a couple minutes twice.... trust me, you can have a bad sensor without it downright failing


how did you test it?

it threw a code!! hence, its bad.

[IRONDOG442]

HI .

Change your front and rear O2 sensors.


This guy is right on the money... Screw the seafoam put in new O2 sensors....

[El_Diablo]

how did you test it?

it threw a code!! hence, its bad.
it threw a rich condition code... nothing related to the o2 sensor, also, they're supposed to be within a speced voltage.. mine is off, still within specs but not where it should be

[NjRef511]

I'm getting 11MPG right now with my 3400. no clue what the hell is going on with it. I'm gonna run some seafoam through her when I get home, hopefully clearing out whatever the hell is going on with it. Not throwing any codes, so I don't know whats going on in there.

[Exit9alero]

well if the milage is horrible and the prices are a slap we should all just buy nice little honda hybrids and cruise around town at a about 25mph and never worry about gas and perhaps try a soy diet and regular yoga excercise!!! YAY!! LMAO Right...

[jackal2000]

it threw a rich condition code... nothing related to the o2 sensor, also, they're supposed to be within a speced voltage.. mine is off, still within specs but not where it should be

you said the rich condition only lasted a few minutes....sounds like faulty reporting to me.

ultimately a tuned PCM is a must for great mpg. it all boils down to fuel trims.

[Vinalero]

WoW I just calculated what my mpg was. Im doin generally 360 km on a tank with the 2.4L, that's 225 miles. When I say "on a tank", it is from full to like 15 kms after the light of low gas appear. According to some site, the size of the tank varry from 14.0 gallons to 14.6 . Anyone know the exact value? And anyone know how much gas is left in the tank when the light goes on?

[IRONDOG442]

GM reports there are 2-3 gallons of gas when the light comes on I have ran a LD-9 2000 Alero out of gas before relying on that info. My Intrigue has a 17 gallon tank and the light comes on at exactly 3 gallosn left in the tank every time.

[Ryan from Ohio]

They say the 00 Alero has a 14 Gallon tank.

Ive had my car a bit over a year now, no issues.

I religiously get 300 miles froma toped off tank to the light comes on, at which point I add 11.4 gallons or so in gas.

So Im getting 25 MPG.

I drive about 90 miles Highway and 10 city per day. I fill up twice during the week... lol

I consider myself satisifed with 25 MPG.

Anyone who is getting below 20 has OBVIOUS issues and should seriously have their car checked by a professional, not just crap shooting in the wind...

10-15 miles per gallon? Thats about what my dads 69 Z28 gets with a 327 and 410 gearing...

:eek:

[freakout]

My ass it's just winter blend. I get identical mileage in summer and winter, and I dont live in an easy weather region. Don't drive like an idiot and take care of your car.

You live in Virgina. They don't even put additives in the diesel fuel why would they put it in the gas. I've had PA fuel gel up and they do put additives in it. The further north you go the more they put in it. I loose 1-1.5 mpg in the winter just due to additives, but that's in a transport. It's noticeable when I can't get 7 mpg in the summer.

Is the car coming up to temp. it might need a thermastat. The computer will run it in "choke" till it's fully up to temp. Did you change to a real agressive tire for the winter? Check the tensioners, pulleys and the rest of the engine driven accesories, If one of them has a bad bearing that would cause more draw on the engine. Check the brakes are they dragging? I could keep going on. There alot of variables when it comes to mpg, the biggest is the loosenut behind the wheel. The extra idle time for warm up alone will add up quicker than you think.

[shackney]

i had my o2 sensors check today they are good my fuel mixture is 14.1 so its almost perferct (15.1) but i drive with defroster on which guy said will drain your gas alot...

[jackal2000]

i had my o2 sensors check today they are good my fuel mixture is 14.1 so its almost perferct (15.1) but i drive with defroster on which guy said will drain your gas alot...

your air fuel mixture should be 14.7. your car is running rich, hence low mpg.

and why in the world do you drive with defrost on?? lol

[Mischief007]

In other words the computer is dumping more fuel because it is detecting a lean condition from an O2 sensor ;).

[shackney]

never change it off defrost for some reason lol ohwell i will now

[jackal2000]

never change it off defrost for some reason lol ohwell i will now


driving around with defrost on is the same as driving around with the a/c on. the condenser runs with both.

[Ryan from Ohio]

Ok, gotta ask.

Whats defrost to you guys?

The rear window defrost?

The front windshield, front windshield w/floor heat?

Also why does it use more gas to use this feature? And how much more?

Im a bit baffled...

[jackal2000]

Ok, gotta ask.

Whats defrost to you guys?

The rear window defrost?

The front windshield, front windshield w/floor heat?

Also why does it use more gas to use this feature? And how much more?

Im a bit baffled...
rear window is an electric defrost which doesnt hurt mpg.

when the front defrost is on, it uses the a/c compressor, which is of course turned by the belt which makes the engine work harder which uses more gas.

[Mischief007]

My front defroster is almost always on during this time and when it rains. Anything else will fog the windows right up.

[jackal2000]

defrost = dehumidifier

thats my understanding

[Cliff8928]

rear window is an electric defrost which doesnt hurt mpg.

The rear defrost most assuredly does make the car use more fuel. It's one of the more demanding electrical devices in the car. that in turn makes the alternator work more, and the engine have to work harder to turn it. It might be an insignificant amount, but it's still there.

[jackal2000]

The rear defrost most assuredly does make the car use more fuel. It's one of the more demanding electrical devices in the car. that in turn makes the alternator work more, and the engine have to work harder to turn it. It might be an insignificant amount, but it's still there.
how can the engine work harder to spin the alt pulley more than it already is ALL THE TIME?

[Ryan from Ohio]

I know, its strange... But its true.

Dont believe me?

Sit in your car, start it up. Roll the windows up, look at the tach. When they roll all the way up, keep trying to roll them up. It will surge...

[jackal2000]

I know, its strange... But its true.

Dont believe me?

Sit in your car, start it up. Roll the windows up, look at the tach. When they roll all the way up, keep trying to roll them up. It will surge...

my car is different, it idles at 950rpms remember :p

no surging

[Cliff8928]

how can the engine work harder to spin the alt pulley more than it already is ALL THE TIME?

It's all based on the demands of the electrical system. If it was putting out max-power all the time you'd have a boiling over battery and a bunch of fried electronics.