Gas mileage issues... tried everything

[Crzyrzr]

I got a 98 limited and i get close to 310 miles to the tank. only thing i did was isr mod and deckplate mod. got a little extra power and i am hoping that of math sticks to the truth and it actually does what i can get on half a tank i should get close to 325 miles to the tank.

 

[sportscarfan]

Terrain makes more of a difference on mpgs than anything else. The OP is in WY., so that could mean mountains or plains. I can get 18-19+ with my heavy, lifted 4runner on the open road, but in town I only get ~14 unless I drive really slow. Too many steep hills to climb and that sucks gas fast.

Don't forget the wind factor. WY can be fairly breezy a lot.

4wd makes a big impact apparently... I just burned through an entire tank mostly in 4wd and went from 18.5 average (no snow) to 15mpg on this tank.

 

[AKAndy]

Going from 20-21 down to 17-18 sounds like it could be seasonal. I normally get around 21 in the summer, but with the winter gas blend combined with using 4WD all the time because of the snow, I'm getting around 18-19 in the winter. Here's a graph of the last year for my 4R.

 

[MB4runner]

I get 425 kilometers per tank Hwy and 196 kilometers per tank.. stupidity.

Thats horrible mileage, I also get 200 KM (130 miles) to a tank city driving. I've been trying to figure out for 2 months what wrong. Haven't succeeded yet.

 

[AKAndy]

Thats horrible mileage, I also get 200 KM (130 miles) to a tank city driving. I've been trying to figure out for 2 months what wrong. Haven't succeeded yet.

This has been said many times before, but miles or km per tank is somewhat meaningless due to the inaccuracy of many 4Runners' gas gauges. It's more reliable to talk in terms of miles/gal or km/l or whatever metric units are used for mileage. I had a 4Runner a while back that would show below "E" at half a tank.

 

[Martinjmpr]

When I lived up in the more mountainous area I was still getting 20-21. I'm only averaging about 17.5 to 18 mpg at the moment. Which from reading the other post isn't bad. But alot less then I normaly get. Last timing belt change and water pump was done about 90-100k So its about due for it.
Shan

17.5 to 18 is normal when running on winter gas. Do you let it warm up before you drive? I went to school in Wyoming, I know how cold it gets! :

A 5 minute warm up + winter gas can easily account for the drop from 20 to 17.5. If it drops lower than that, maybe you should worry but if it's running OK now I wouldn't think anything's wrong.

 

[rajuncajun]

As said - per tank means nothing. I know my gas gauge is inaccurate but I usually will get nervous after 'E' has lit up for a day or so. I get about 450km per 60 litres or 13.3L/100 km. That's the only way to be accurate.

Driving habits come into play as well. Hard starts and stops will really eat into your mileage. I try to coast and come to slow stops and easy starts as often as possible.

 

[NickF]

I get 180 miles/gallon with 15 mins of idling every morning and driving hard on winter gas.
I get 200 miles to the gallon usually, and 220 if I drive like a normal person. Mostly city driving.
Going to be doing more highway driving soon, tho. I got a new full time job.

 

[twa318]

I get 180 miles/gallon with 15 mins of idling every morning and driving hard on winter gas.
I get 200 miles to the gallon usually, and 220 if I drive like a normal person. Mostly city driving.
Going to be doing more highway driving soon, tho. I got a new full time job.

Congrats on the new job NickF.


As for milage, calculating miles driven/gallons filled I averaged 16.4 MPG over the last 222 miles.

I just had plugs/wires done (originals were still in @ 144k), will report back after next fill-up

Also of note, my gas light comes on when I still have well over 4.5 gallons of gas left, apparently this is common with these trucks?

 

[NickF]

Congrats on the new job NickF.


As for milage, calculating miles driven/gallons filled I averaged 16.4 MPG over the last 222 miles.

I just had plugs/wires done (originals were still in @ 144k), will report back after next fill-up

Also of note, my gas light comes on when I still have well over 4.5 gallons of gas left, apparently this is common with these trucks?

How did they let the originals go to 144k without CEL? I'm guessing you just got the truck in the beginning of the winter?? and how the hell did you get them out, they must have seized after 12 years..

 

[twa318]

Yup, I bought the car from a dealer in December and it ran a little rough at idle. No CEL

I took it to my mechanic for a PPI, everything checked out and he just replaced the plugs. A world of difference

 

[NickF]

Grats on the buy, you have a slick looking ride. But they really coudlnt have been that old
The OEM plugs should be replaced after 30k, and will start to misfire eventually after that, causing a CEL. I don't doubt they were old, just not original old :banana:

 

[twa318]

Now that you say that, it makes sense. That is exactly what he told me though, so who knows. I should have asked him to keep the plugs so I could see just how bad they were.

I can say for sure the truck runs much better now with new plugs and wires. Idle is smooth now. We'll see how it affects MPG soon

 

[NickF]

Now that you say that, it makes sense. That is exactly what he told me though, so who knows. I should have asked him to keep the plugs so I could see just how bad they were.

I can say for sure the truck runs much better now with new plugs and wires. Idle is smooth now. We'll see how it affects MPG soon

You should do the job yourself next time, its one of the easier do it yourself jobs.