Is this average mpg normal?

[AZ4Running]

I filled up last night & averaged 18.2mpg last week. Mostly highway, some city with 2hrs of wheelin' on Sat. (15mph in 4wd on very easy trails) I get around 320 miles on a full tank.

What size is your gas tank!? I never get over 280 miles on a full tank and i get about the same mpg as you. But i fill up as soon as my gas light comes on or just before it does.

 

[Scramble]

What size is your gas tank!? I never get over 280 miles on a full tank and i get about the same mpg as you. But i fill up as soon as my gas light comes on or just before it does.

18 gallons. When my light comes on I have 3 gallons left & I figure about 54 miles left to go. I run it to E & fill it up, run it to E & fill it up. Been doing that it's whole life so I know the tank is clean.

 

[KANO]

Thats was it? where was the leak? how small was it?

It was just behind the first Cat. The welds on the factory hanger had a rust through hole. Literally about 1-2mm in size, barely audible and I could barely feel the leak. I had put it off for about a month until I threw a P0420 code (bank 1 sensor).

I plugged with standard exhaust weld compound and clamp. Reset ECU and viola! 22-24mpg. I was astounded that it made such a difference.

 

[jzme]

100% city I get 300kms to a tank I believe that's aroumd 190 miles. Thats not driving hard under 3500 rpm at all times.

 

[pluton]

Your mileage is normal/average/expected for city driving. Keep in mind that if you picked ten different drivers with ten different driving styles and ran the same distance in city driving, you probably get everything from 10MPG to 20MPG just because of the difference between the individual drivers.

 

[02SE]

What size is your gas tank!?

All 3rd gen's have an 18.5 gallon tank.

 

[Monkeybutt2000]

Do not let your Runner "warm up" in the morning.Get in start it,buckle seatbelt and drive the thing. You are getting ZERO mpg at idle.

 

[KANO]

Do not let your Runner "warm up" in the morning.Get in start it,buckle seatbelt and drive the thing. You are getting ZERO mpg at idle.

I've always found that I get better gas mileage if I let my car "warm up". You'll notice that if you get in and drive right away (especially in colder weather) for the first few minutes of the trip, your shift points are higher and your revs are higher as the motor tries to warm up.

I would not advise to just jump in and drive, especially on these older 3rd Gens. That's like waking up your grandpa and immediately making him sprint to the end of the block, he's bound to break something.

 

[Mountain Fun]

I get about 14/15 city driving with my 99 4Runner, 3.4, automatic trans, 35s and 4:88 gears.

 

[slides]

haha just get in a drive that's funny, say that when its in the negatives in Minneapolis your car will run like sh*t and risk braking a lot of items.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Do not let your Runner "warm up" in the morning.Get in start it,buckle seatbelt and drive the thing. You are getting ZERO mpg at idle.

haha just get in a drive that's funny, say that when its in the negatives in Minneapolis your car will run like sh*t and risk braking a lot of items.

Yeah, it gets pretty damn cold here in southern IN too. Nothing like MN though. I also have to drop my 5 year old off at school in the morning. I'm sure he'd be in a peachy mood if he had to sit in 20-30° temps for the first 10 minutes of the ride.

 

[Monkeybutt2000]

haha just get in a drive that's funny, say that when its in the negatives in Minneapolis your car will run like sh*t and risk braking a lot of items.

I dont live in MN and neither does the OP. Now when I say just get in and drive,by the time you start vehicle,buckle seat belt and what not it's probably been running for 30 seconds. What benefit will you see letting it run longer? Why will your car run like shit? Does it have a carburetor? Case in point,my step-dad bought a 93 Dakota brand new and this is exactly how he drove. As soon as it started it was in gear and driving away. Drove it like that for 198k,then I bought and put another 15k before selling. All on regular old Penzoil. We're talking about a Chrysler product here,not the most reliable vehicle out there. I mean use a little sense,dont get in and start it and redline every gear,sheesh.

 

[KimIsAGuy]

Is it weird, I pump mine when I get I first get the gas light. I know the tank is 18.5 gallons total. But when I fill it up full, I get a total of roughly 13 gallons.

 

[slides]

Oh Lordy I sense another oil debate coming on over wear and tear on cold starts.

Regardless MPG can suck on these trucks or be good. It's a small SUV so stop complaining and get a Prius if MPG is important

 

[D Farms]

Yeah, I'm aware of all the factors. I don't have a heavy foot when I drive and I realize that it's getting colder out and I am letting it warm up in the mornings before I leave. And when I searched, it seemed that most of the threads were about people bragging how great gas mileage they're getting. I just wanted to check with the experts because I haven't had my 4R very long.

I am also using full synthetic oils & greases in my entire drivetrain, spark plugs & wires are new, pcv valve is new, fuel filter is new, air filter is new, o2 sensors are new, I have a Borla muffler and Airaid intake tube. I guess with having done all that, I just expected better mpg's than what I'm getting. I can live with it though. I still need to clean the MAF & throttle body, so maybe that will make a little difference. Thanks for all the replies and sorry to post something that's been covered a million times. I really didn't want to be "that guy", but my search didn't yield much.

what size tires do you have, and did your truck come with the smaller tires originally? your speedometer might be off, my truck used to have 225/75r15 and now i run 265/70r16 so my speedo and odometer are both off by 10%, and yeah I know if you calculate it out it should be around 8.1% but Ive measured with gps and the speedo and odometer are both off by almost exactly 10%. anyways i usually get around 260mi on a tank on the odometer with about 75% city driving, which equates to 286mi or around 16.6mpg.

 

[Jason B]

Is it weird, I pump mine when I get I first get the gas light. I know the tank is 18.5 gallons total. But when I fill it up full, I get a total of roughly 13 gallons.

You can drive pretty far after that gas light comes on. Prob 60 miles. That's would make up for it.

 

[TheDurk]

All 3rd gen's have an 18.5 gallon tank.

This is true and not true. They are all spec'd at 18.5, but the fuel pump can't get the last gallon or two. Also, the filler neck design changed over the years and some years, like my '99, just can't be filled as full unless you change out the vent tube to the redesigned part. So my usable tank size is about 14 gal. I have never gotten 15 gal into my truck even when the reserve light was on for 20 minutes or so.

 

[Jason B]

I must have the old design. I can usually put in around 17.

Have any of you changed out and replaced your fuel filter? I have a new one sitting here, but I haven't gotten a chance to replace it. For those that have, did you notice any significant bump in mileage?

 

[Hepar]

Normal is going to be all over the place with these rigs. I mean, you're talking, at newest, about a 12+ year old vehicle. I'd say it's more a matter of what is abnormal. I would say that is when you start getting under 13/14 or so mpg without heavy modifications. Then something is up.

 

[Jason B]

Normal is going to be all over the place with these rigs. I mean, you're talking, at newest, about a 12+ year old vehicle. I'd say it's more a matter of what is abnormal. I would say that is when you start getting under 13/14 or so mpg without heavy modifications. Then something is up.

18 years old here! In full city, I'm around 16. Highway, 19-20-21 depending on wind, lol.