Extremely low gas mileage

Spoke to my mechanic today and he doesn't do it. I spoke to a closer shop to my house that was listed as one that offers the service and got quoted $100. I'm definitely going to give it a go before I swap the o2 and AFR. After reading a bunch about motorvac, I feel pretty comfortable giving it a go. I'm guessing next Saturday I'll be able to take it in.
 
I just bought a 3rd gen 4Runner. Got a great deal because the owner thought the motor was done. Check engine light on, had a miss, terrible idle, mad mileage, engine and exhaust had a "bad motor" smell.

Swapped out coils, plugs and wires, That shut off the CEL and fixed the miss and bad idle.

Swapped the upstream O2 sensor, that fixed the mileage, improved throttle response and since it wasn't running rich anymore got rid of the engine smell.

Also did the PCV valve. And the air intake hose body.

Now it runs great... but its still high mileage. Not sure how much I trust a truck engine with 250K to be driving 30 miles from pavement.
 
AZHellfish said:
I just bought a 3rd gen 4Runner. Got a great deal because the owner thought the motor was done. Check engine light on, had a miss, terrible idle, mad mileage, engine and exhaust had a "bad motor" smell.

Swapped out coils, plugs and wires, That shut off the CEL and fixed the miss and bad idle.

Swapped the upstream O2 sensor, that fixed the mileage, improved throttle response and since it wasn't running rich anymore got rid of the engine smell.

Also did the PCV valve. And the air intake hose body.

Now it runs great... but its still high mileage. Not sure how much I trust a truck engine with 250K to be driving 30 miles from pavement.
Click to expand...

I trust mine enough to take my 280k mile 4runner to Moab this summer from mid Colorado. Im not scared. I trust her.

Thats even with the fuel pump failing me on my last trip to Grand Canyon. But I do make sure I have someone with me that can help me tow out of the trail at least.
 
spazzyone said:
Spoke to my mechanic today and he doesn't do it. I spoke to a closer shop to my house that was listed as one that offers the service and got quoted $100. I'm definitely going to give it a go before I swap the o2 and AFR. After reading a bunch about motorvac, I feel pretty comfortable giving it a go. I'm guessing next Saturday I'll be able to take it in.
Click to expand...

Nice! I just cleaned the MAF today and ordered both sensors. I figure if they make even the smallest difference, they'll pay themselves off eventually. Besides, they have 141k miles on them as is.
 
I was getting 12 mpg when my torque converter was going out. After the tranny swap my mileage when up to 15. With a combo of city/highway. I just replaced both the AF and O2 sensors due to a CEL. My gas mileage went up a bit 15.5. I need to do my spark plugs since they're looking like they've seen better days. I imagine I'll get a small mpg boost after that too, but the majority of my poor mpg's was due to my tranny.

I'm not suggesting anyone has tranny problems, just sharing my experience with gas mileage. Lol.
 
I refilled the tank today. The magic numbers are 133.5 miles: 12 gallons!
It runs 3 miles each way and some days in the morning I keep the engine running to warm up about 5 minutes.
 
Hate to do a thread revival but I wanted to update you guys on my situation.

I am actually getting fantastic gas mileage now; between 11 - 12 L/100km(19.6 - 21.4 mpg) combined on average.

The problem was a combination of short trips, cold weather and an old AFR sensor. Another thing that Ive found helps alot is driving under 2500 rpm.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk
 
DenverKid24 said:
I have a 1999 SR5, 3.4L V6, Auto 4runner and the owner manual says 18.5 is the tank. The empty light on mine comes on at around 13. So usually I fill up at about 14-15. I am only getting 16.8, which isn't too bad, but I was expecting more as well.

Hate how the light comes on so early, freaks me out. :bash:
Click to expand...

I have an 01 SR5 3.4L v6 Automatic. Just curious, do the gas lights really come on that early? In the few months I have owned this vehicle, I think I've only seen the gas light come on once. When it did, it did not look like I had anywhere close to 5,4, even 3 gallons of fuel left. As most others are saying, these gauges can be off. I typically can pull 200 miles on a half of tank, highway driving of course. Then I'm lucky to get 130 out of the indicated "bottom half" of fuel. I usually average right about 20mpg which apparently is pretty good considering some other numbers on this thread. I do drive like an old grandma at times, as my gf says.

Anyways, sorry to get off on a tangent there. I was just curious if you were for real that the owners manual shows the light comes on with 5 gallons of fuel left.
 
I don't know how relevant it is to gas mileage but as soon as I did my timing belt (and everything behind the cover) and plugs and wires I saw a noticeable increase in gas mileage.
 
I have read all through this thread. Hopefully this weekend I will have time to get the spark plugs replace, both O2 sensors, air filter, clean the MAF, and few other odds and ends.

I recently picked up my 1999 Limited (all stock) and my first 4 fill ups have been 13.9 14.1 14.4 14.0 this may be due to the winter here in Virginia like I have read but will report back after my next 4 fillups after all the the service has been done.

Anyone else have some ideas

Also not like all worried and shit about MPG just want to make sure it is running healthy. Still beats my mustang! Lol
 
I'm new to 4Runners as well. I have replaced the plugs, wires, air filter, cleaned the MAF sensor, and PCV valve...all genuine Toyota parts. At best, I get about 14.5 in town. Last I checked over the highway, it was about 20.
 
PatrickStapler said:
I'm new to 4Runners as well. I have replaced the plugs, wires, air filter, cleaned the MAF sensor, and PCV valve...all genuine Toyota parts. At best, I get about 14.5 in town. Last I checked over the highway, it was about 20.
Click to expand...
They were rated 15 city and 18 highway (V6 4WD auto)... You are right there with the expected MPGs.

-Charlie
 
In San Francisco Bay Area, I get approx. 12-13 MPG city. That's with a supercharger, but everything else stock; and a bit of aggressive driving.
 
I really thought I would get high teens with my auto 99 e-locker, but I'm only getting 12.7mpg with ECT off. Closer to 10-11 with ECT ON, purely city, 5miles one way to work, winter gas.

And I'm running pizza cutter 235-75-16 winter studless tires.
Might do the rear o2 and clean the MAF next time I get a chance.
 
MSRP. said:
I really thought I would get high teens with my auto 99 e-locker, but I'm only getting 12.7mpg with ECT off. Closer to 10-11 with ECT ON, purely city, 5miles one way to work, winter gas.

And I'm running pizza cutter 235-75-16 winter studless tires.
Might do the rear o2 and clean the MAF next time I get a chance.
Click to expand...

5 mile commute? Winter? It's to be expected. You should see high teens in the summer once you get out of the city and stretch it's legs.

My winter commuting mileage is about 1/2 of my summer highway mileage, FYI.
 
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