Mpg help?

Champ1415

Champ1415

New member
Hey guys I need some help on how to fix my mpg. Right now it's about 14 miles to the gallon. My wife is trying to make me drive her car instead of my t4r because it sucks on gas. I just changed the oil as well as the sparkplugs. Any ideas or suggestions would help.
 
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Increase your tire presure.
Replace the air filter.
Clean the throttle body
Replace the fuel filter
Do a seafoam treatment.
Drive conservatively.
Don't carry excess cargo
Service the brakes
Replace all driveline fluids
 
We need all the info you can give us.

Year? 4wd? 2wd? Lift? Tires? Have you regeared? Roof racks?

If nothing else, a good tune up will help.
 
1997 186000 miles 4wd sittin on 265/70/16s hankook tires no lift deckplate mod but the cap is on trans cooler and I think that's about it
 
If you haven't done a good tune up then I would start with that first. I will usually put a fuel injector additive such as Lucas in a tank about every 3,000 miles as well. I have a '99 and did a tune up, have been adding a $5 bottle of injector cleaner (Lucas or Gumout), making sure to rotate my tires every 5k, and I keep my fluids in excellent condition making sure to change oil every 3K and my last CarMinder entry on my iPhone when tracking MPG was 19.2, which was the highest that I have every had. Took about 4-5 fill ups to get there though! I have read about the SeaFoam treatment too and I think that's a good suggestion!
 
Champ1415 said:
A tune up implying what exactly.
Click to expand...

Plugs, wires, pcv (if needed), diff fluids, greasing the drive shafts (not that the shafts affect mpg but since you are already under the truck), fuel filter, air filter, and cleaning the MAF. Some people also suggest the Electronic Coolant temp sensor (the one in the front of the engine under the fuel rail) too.
 
What are your driving conditions? If you are only driving in the city and have somewhat of a heavy foot, 14 mpg might not increase all that much. I have the same setup as you and get 16 mpg in the city and I am pretty easy on the gas.
 
Also some people may recommend changing the o2 sensors. Even thought they might not be bad enough to throw a code, it could be bad enough to affect you MPGs. If they are original, I would atleast swap out the first o2 sensor. Its the one between the engine and the cat. The second just monitors the cat effeciency. Since you are in the lovely state of Californ I A, it would be the second and thrid o2 sensors that monitor the cats effecientcy since you have 2 cats.
 
14mpg city or hwy?

I would look into the MAF and the 02 sensor #1, the one in front of the Cat.

That could save you 2-3mpg if they are ready to be replaced.
 
You're getting 14 MPG with mixed city/highway? Are you sure you're not getting that based off of the fuel gauge? They're somewhat inaccurate on the conservative side.

What I do is fill it up to first click with the nozzle on low, set one of the trips to 0, drive, and on next refill, do the same fill up method. Then take the miles traveled on the trip meter divided by the gallons you put in.

Not knocking you if this is not the case.
 
How heavy of a foot are you driving with?

Dirty air filter?
Dirty MAF can do it. Easy repair, (remove it, spray it with cleaner, re-install)

I regularly get 17-18 mixed. I see up to 24 on straight highway. (running 265/75-16)

Years ago I switched to synthetic fluids and noticed a couple mpg increase.
 
I have a semi heavy foot but as far as the tune-up I'm pretty much a dummy. Don't know to much about engines but I'm a pretty fast learner and always willing to try.
 
Just search all the terms that have been used. They are all very simple. Should have most, if not all, of them on this site.
 
At school i consistently get 15mpg which is mixed city and town roads, and at home i get 18-20 with mixed highway and town roads, it all depends on where you drive and how you drive it, if you can accuratley determine that is not yourself causing the poor fuel economy then you invest a bunch of money in a tune up, otherwise you wont see much a difference at all. I can tell you that none of the maintanence i have done on my truck has positively or negatively changed my fuel economy and i had a bad misfire, ripped off muffler, clogged airbox, full and backards fuel filter, and sh*t like that.
 
FYI,

BigFishAllDay just posted about how he gained 4 MPG by replacing some parts.


Here is his (awesome) thread:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/68346-i-found-one-2001-sport-ed-trd-scd-19.html


Replacing the parts below brought my fuel economy up by 4 MPG on my '97 so I'm hoping it will help out w/her '00...

Spark Plugs
Spark Plug Wires
PCV Valve & Grommet
Fuel Filter
Air Filter
Front O2 Sensor
Drain & Refill Front & Rear Differentials and Transfer Case with Redline 75w90
Lucas Fuel Injector Cleaner
Oil Change & Filter
Click to expand...


Hope it helps.


Side note - do NOT get tires larger than 31.5 because your MPG will go down the sh$tter even farther.

:bat:
 
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