Buck531 Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 Has anyone elses gas mileage gone to complete shit the past few weeks? I normally go 300+ miles in my Lumina. Hell, right now I'm lucky to get 200.. IF that. Right now i'm on 1/4 tank and 150 miles.. WTF? Is it the weather? Is it the crap additives they put in the gasoline? Am I alone? grrr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1647545498 Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 You're not alone. But I know I leave my car running for a longer time in the morning so the cabin is warm when I get in. I think that's why mine's went down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted December 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 I dont' let mine warm up at all. Get in, start it, let it idle for a minute and I'm gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bam Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 me too, i'm down to 26-28 on the freeway, where this past summer i was at 40-42! WTF? And i just get in start it, and go, no idling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1647545498 Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 It will take longer for engine to warm up to the most efficiency temperature, driving it or not. That's one reason why it might be worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copperhead Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 my milage has been sucking hard lately, even with all highway driving Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaSSon Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 my average milage has dropped 2-3mpg as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awfulcanawful Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 Mine's down too but not quite that drastic. I dropped to 11 when it got hella cold and I work close to home so it starts gets up to 150 then shuts off its killin my wallet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGU Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 dont want to feel like a ass but mines the same or going up. must be a thing for old cars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Harris92 Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 The thing that is killing gas milage around my area is all the damn traffic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CobraKevin Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 A lot of people in the winter time start their cars and let them run a while for obvious reasons. Meanwhile, you're burning up your fuel. Yeah, it's not much, but you leave the car running 10 minutes a day each morning, it'll add up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowmotionMotorsports Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 As cold as it has been the last week or so it could be preventing the engine from reaching proper operating temperature causes it to run a fuel-air mixture that is too rich, which decreases fuel mileage, among other things. Just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy1647545504 Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 My truck uses less fuel idling for 15 minutes than it does on initial start up. Gotta love the diesel (except when diesel costs more than premium unleaded)! graemlins/doh.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurboTank Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 more dense air requires more fuel...i bet all of your cars feel a litte faster also...the some if you that are runnning close to firehose mode on your injectors might want to turn the boost down just a little or youll be getting some injector warnings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desperado Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 Yep, Tanks right, but the fuel additives compound the problem. Gas, like all flamable liquirds have what's called a flash point, which is the temperature that is required for the liquid or vapor to ignite. Gas by its self has a fairly high flash point. So other chemicals are added to it to lower the flash point. Problem is that they also burn faster than gasoline and produce less heat in the process. Now knowing that nothing can exist in the same space as something else, for whatever amount of additive is in the gasoline that is NOT gasoline, it displaces that much gasoline. Now we get into the winter blends. Winter blends are heavy in aromatic solvents (Octane basically) that lowers the flash point of the liquid, while acclerating the burn speed. So for the same amount of output you have to burn MORE fuel. I realize there is a misconception over the idea that a car engine works on HEAT but that's the way it works. And a fuels BTU rating is important in the amount of power that it will produce in a motor. The higher the BTU rating, the more heat energy that is there to be extracted. Heavier flamable liquids, that are hydrocarbon based, are higher in BTU. Heating Oil is higher than Diesel, it's higher than gasoline. And gasoline is higher than tolulene, xylene, acetone, and the other solvents that are added to gasoline. I have seen summer gasoline, when cooled way down, get to the point it wouldn't vapor off, and gasoline vapor is what burns, not the liquid. But I sat throwing lit matches into a puddle of it and watching the matches flare up a bit then go out. When I passed a propane torch over it and brought up the temp and it went to vapor, it lit right off. SO don't tray that at home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villision1647545496 Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 IS it possible that since the air is denser(from being cold) and the maf sensor knows this therefore telling it to dump more fuel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 Yeap. Also my mileage is exactly the same as always in the corolla. The GMC is down, but its from the cold weather. Gets great mileage in the summer. Evan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted December 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 Time to lean out my AFC then . I took it down about 5 freakin 'notches before my fuel trims at idle started getting better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRed05 Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 yea, i did lean out my AFC when it was -degrees outside, yesterdays i ran really lean since it started to warm up outside. I blame it on letting the car warm up, and having to drive in nothing higher than 3rd gear around powell cause for some reason the powell roads sucked the most when it came to ice and snow and slush Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragknee66 Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 Get in car.. start.. take off 30seconds later. My milage has gone down 3mpg in the Altima. I use to average 29mpg every fillup.. its down to about 26mpg now.. suckage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old dirty bastard Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 I thought it was just me. Buck Im just like you I jump in the car and take off.This week has sucked for me I average $10 a day in gas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRed05 Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Another thing...When its cold the tire pressure in the tires go down, low tires = bad gas milage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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