Only getting 240 miles per tank

[spc2125]

Im only getting around 20 mpg 4 cylinder eco 2.2L ( automatic )
what problems could be affecting this?

[FlyingSpoon]

Fuel filter, air filter, and spark plugs can all effect the mileage your getting.

[heineck]

tire pressure. and the way u drive

[[ion] C2]

Please don't use "per tank." It's nowhere near accurate. Use MPG.

[Alero_turbo13]

Automatic or Standard?

[strtrydr]

C2;567760']Please don't use "per tank." It's nowhere near accurate. Use MPG.

... so true!!!

[frankie257]

wow you're lucky that youre at least getting that much. The most i ever got was around 140 miles per tank and its a 4door, automatic, v6. I have to fill up like every single week and gas is getting close to $3 a gal. Next time i go for an oil change, which should be soon, I gotta ask to have the fuel filter checked.

[Lucalare]

Sounds like more than a bad fuel filter, you're talking about 10 to the gallon, which I'm getting right now, in winter, E10 gas, 5 minute warmups, and a partially-clogged cat.

[colonel6632]

lmao at you mileages.

but to help mileage (but decrease traction in the winter) i run high tire psi. i clean my air filter regularly.

i've also noticed better mileage after seafoaming my car. make sure you have to brakes dragging. don't haul around lots of weight. if you have a big stereo turn it down.

plugged cat will decrease mileage, but should throw a code?
check spark plugs, could be fouled.

and honestly 20mpg city mileage isn't too terrible for a v6. i barely get 25 in my 4cyl with a standard. and i dont really drive that nicely.

check all those things. easy to do, and cheap for the most part.

watch the way you drive too

[Lucalare]

It's not totally clogged, but it is somewhat, or just shot, cause my exhaust smells like rotten eggs, and my mileage sucks. Good news is my magnaflow cat/downpipe should be delivered today:yahoo:

[cherrington17]

wow... snow tires(slightly low pressure), 25*F, and slightly faster than highway speeds (55-75mph)

...I average 26mpg with my 3400.

[Lucalare]

until about a month ago I could go 75 on interstate and average out about 30 with my LA1

[FlyingSpoon]

I also get about 26mpg with my 3400 on the highway and about 21 mpg in the city.

[heineck]

jeez i get like 20 highway and 18 city. imma replace my fuel filter n plugs

[strtrydr]

Best i have gotten was 28 on the highway when I traveled from AZ to NM to see some family over the holidays. I average about 24-26 highway and 18-22 city (depending on how i drive.)

[cherrington17]

if we're talking best... i've got 32-35mpg on the way to ASS...

[colonel6632]

best my alero has gotten was 42 us mpg. i've seen that and 40mpg twice this summer

[Lucalare]

Yeah but you have an ecotec with standard tranny. I wish I did.

[colonel6632]

yup. but this is the ecotec section.

alot of it comes down to how you drive it. even on the highway

[strtrydr]

yup. but this is the ecotec section.

I just realized this :( ...

My figures on a 3400 and very low altitude in AZ. I forgot to figure my mileage when I went to ASS this year. I will have to figure out when I go to ASS again this coming summer (hopefully.)

[Redog]

I've been getting about 18 city and maybe 22 city/highway and I'm upset about that. Of course I'm having some issues with the car and the tires as well.

Nobody asked how heavy your foot was

[03glgold]

I figured I would post on an old thread having to do with the same thing...my mileage has been down recently and actually dropped after i changed fuel filter...i was wondering a couple things...one thing is if I had bad o2 sensors it should throw a code shouldn't it...another is after seeing some of the recent things with transmissions I have come to wonder if servicing my tranny would help out as it has 140,000 without service that I know of...I am also thinking that it seems off that on a flat stretch of road 70 is at about 2600 rpm...the car also has plugs and wires with less than 5000 miles on them...any ideas

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

if we're talking best... i've got 32-35mpg on the way to ASS...
coming home from ASS 2006, I hit the Cruise Control in Cleveland at about 90mph, rode it until the toll booths in NY. IIRC the mileage was close to 40 mpg. (LD9)

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

I figured I would post on an old thread having to do with the same thing...my mileage has been down recently and actually dropped after i changed fuel filter...i was wondering a couple things...one thing is if I had bad o2 sensors it should throw a code shouldn't it...another is after seeing some of the recent things with transmissions I have come to wonder if servicing my tranny would help out as it has 140,000 without service that I know of...I am also thinking that it seems off that on a flat stretch of road 70 is at about 2600 rpm...the car also has plugs and wires with less than 5000 miles on them...any ideas
bad sensors = code
140k w/o service = drain and replace fluids. don't do a flush...flushes can be bad.
70mph @ 2600 rpm sounds about right. on my car (LD9) it's usually closer to 3000 rpm.

[spc2125]

Ok so ever since I put in that ebay intake ive been getting only like 217 miles per fill up

( i dont know the tank amount so i cant say how many mpg im getting)
I used to get around 260-270 when i installed the new exhaust, but now idk what to do.....
any advice?
could it be something with the intake?

[03glgold]

Ok so ever since I put in that ebay intake ive been getting only like 217 miles per fill up

( i dont know the tank amount so i cant say how many mpg im getting)
I used to get around 260-270 when i installed the new exhaust, but now idk what to do.....
any advice?
could it be something with the intake?

what did you do for a filter

[billytheman1188]

Still using "per fill up" term....take the mileage you have and divide it by the amount of gas you just pumped into the car. That will give you an accurate MPG. Are you driving the car harder? How many miles on it? Did you read the thread before you posted? Could be fuel filter or spark plugs need replacing.

[spc2125]

im going to check spark plugs tm
and where is the fuel filter on the ecotec?

[billytheman1188]

Oh wow....i didn't realize you started this thread:emotlol: I'm an idiot. I'm pretty sure the fuel filter is the same on all aleros....passenger side under the car near the back. There's a clip you pull off (careful not to break it), nut that screws off....pop the new one on....turn the car to on position and leave it for a couple seconds (so fuel can get in the filter) and you're good to go.


Also, what do you keep your tire pressure at? That will make a HUGE difference if you put them up near 34-36 when their cold. It says in the manual to keep them at like 32 in the front and 30 in the back? something like that....but you can DEF put more in. 32 is too low for my taste.

[03glgold]

i have an 03' ecotec and to be more specific about location it is directly behind the fuel tank...i would take the gas cap off and then bleed the fuel rail...be ready for fuel to come out anyways because even with depressurizing the system the filter is still full of gas...with the clip after you unlock it push both sides in and it pushes up in order to fully release the clip

[a.graham52]

hey spc... how cold is it where you are? my fuel millage SUCKS because it takes so effing long for my torque converter to lock up. noticed this after i got my altra gauge...

[spc2125]

hey spc... how cold is it where you are? my fuel millage SUCKS because it takes so effing long for my torque converter to lock up. noticed this after i got my altra gauge...

its actually really warm for winter. its been consistently 40-60 degrees
now we are turning into great weather. it has been 50+ the past week and now its in the 60s. a week from today is suppose to be 82 !!!

and i have an air compressor so my tires are always filled. i keep them between 35-38 psi

[03glgold]

its actually really warm for winter. its been consistently 40-60 degrees
now we are turning into great weather. it has been 50+ the past week and now its in the 60s. a week from today is suppose to be 82 !!!

and i have an air compressor so my tires are always filled. i keep them between 35-38 psi

have you increased your amount of city driving compared to highway driving...i drove mostly highway on my last tank and got 23mpg when i have only been getting about 19-21 with the absolute worst being outside that range being 16(probably in a hurry with a lot of that tank)

[spc2125]

i literally drive to school and to work. and i live right off the highway and both my school and work are right off the highway so mine is pretty much highway driving

[spc2125]

moved to different thread

[03glgold]

at what point on the fuel guage do you fill up

[spc2125]

at what point on the fuel guage do you fill up

eeek. wellllllllll
the last time i filled up was on the side of the road with a gallon of gas.

I ran out of gas....

[Goodman]

Lucky you a barely do 200 (~300-330km) but i do ~80% of city driving
Doesn't bother me that much as work close to home & i put about $25-30 for gas a week no more

[zman246]

My wife's 2.2 automatic grand am always gets 30mpg with about 75% highway driving. When I drive it it drops down to like 25. She drives like a grandma and I have a lead foot. Even if you're driving habits are worse than mine, it still sounds too low to account for that bad of mileage. I don't know how hard it is to change an intake but you could put the old intake back in and see if you're mileage stays the same. At least then you could rule that possibility out.

Of course before you do anything else you should calculate exactly what mpg you're getting, not just the miles per tank

[03glgold]

with the factory intake on my 2.2l i was getting 16mpg and on lucky occasions i would manage to get 20-23mpg...i put a cone filter on the factory tube and it bumped up to usually 18-20 and on a lucky occasion 28-34...i suppose it doesn't help that the last time that i drove 80% highway on a tank cruise was set at 82 most of the way

[zman246]

One more thought- I have a friend who had a similar problem a few years back. Turns out they were letting their car warm up for 20 mins a day in the winter and didn't take that into account.

[03glgold]

it don't matter what time of year my car doesn't sit and warm up...if it is really cold then i might let it idle for about a minute to allow stuff to start circulating...there is really no point in letting it warm up as if you drive it mine only takes about 1-2 minutes before it is blowing warm air and about 5 or 6 to be at operating temperature

[mastershake]

I wait until my car goes into closed loop

[Goodman]

One more thought- I have a friend who had a similar problem a few years back. Turns out they were letting their car warm up for 20 mins a day in the winter and didn't take that into account.

I also warm up the car all the time before i go , i always wait for the rpm to drop near 1000 rpm before leaving
It may not help much on gas mileage but even then on highway a see my gauge go down one notch at every 15-20km done at cruising speed of 110-115km/h so gas goes by pretty fast

[03glgold]

Ok I figure I will bring back this thread since it is somewhat related and I don't feel like adding new threads...for a while now (since about mid-september) my car has been showing steady declines in fuel mileage, it has also been pulling higher rpm to hold speed than normal, though I can coax it to drop for a while and sometimes if I go straight to the highway after a particular bout of being racy (lots of hard quick acceleration with no speed maintenance) it will do it on it's own until the next time I shut it off. I have log files that I took using torque that I will add in, I highlighted in yellow going 80 down the interstate, in green an area during that time when I made it shift to the right rpm for a bit, and in red a quick 80-100 pull to show what it did under stress (I was very alone at the time) I hadn't realized until afterwords that it was set to record every second so it is a long file and that is part of why I picked it apart. The first highlighting is on line 456, I left it all there to see if there was anything else that might help outside of it, at the end of the log I was sitting idle

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_ne1eiQbb25VGwxakFIYnRucFk/edit?usp=sharing

[03glgold]

bump