V8 Full time 4WD MPG low?

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hayes55987

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I recently made the jump into a 2004 Toyora 4runner SE and after driving it for about a month i just cannot get over this mileage I am getting.
I average around 11.5-12 MPG while I am in my town (about 75%highway/25% city). and on the highway i average about 14MPG.

This is the V8 full time 4WD SE. I have cleaned the MAF and run my tires at around 39PSI. I drive about 75% highway, average driving and usually don't like to push the RPM's above 2,500 when accelerating. Located in Minnesota so it has been very cold in the winter. I use cruise control on the highway and highway speeds are 60MPH. Usually only give the car about 1-2 minutes to warm up but just try to drive slower in the morning when its cold.

I called the toyota dealership in town (I haven't had much faith in them) and they said not to be worried, shifting "a lot of gears" and that it is just a big vehicle to be moving.

I am just having such a hard time accepting I'll be spending more on gas then my car payment a month! I get about 240 miles per tank. Are there any big signs I can look for or things I can check on my own? Everywhere i have looked online (mainly this forum) seems like I should be getting more! thanks guys!!
 
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That does sound a lil low, how are you calculating the milage? i have a 03 v8 full time 4wd and i get around 16/18. you will burn more fuel in the winter when air is dense and colder. how many miles on it?
 
I calculate mileage by miles/gallons on fillup. I have always filled tank to full when I fill up. Just normal division. Computer says about 13.2 mpg. Vehicle has 58,000 miles on it.
 
hayes55987 said:
I calculate mileage by miles/gallons on fillup. I have always filled tank to full when I fill up. Just normal division. Computer says about 13.2 mpg. Vehicle has 58,000 miles on it.
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ya thats low, compared to mine any ways, sorry i cant help u out as to why tho, mine has 101k on it and its not that bad
 
Mine isn't that low, but this winter's gas mileage seems lower than normal. Perhaps even worse "winter gas" than previous years?
 
For in town driving, I'm not much better, maybe 11.5 or 12 hand calculated.
I have an 05' V8 Sport. With 265/70/17 tires.
Are you tires stock? From what I've read on here, the V8's seem to vary ALOT. However that is probably due mostly to driver habits. Do you reset the avg mpg at fill up? Ever try and reset it on a highway trip? I can squeeze 18 mpg out of mine if I'm doing 70 or less and on simi-flat roads. In town I can't keep my foot off the gas!
 
It does seem a little low but mine was been a little lower than normal with the colder weather. I think the full time 4WD suffers a little more because the fluid/lube in the transfer case and both diffs are thicker with the cold weather which doesn't help the situation.
 
hayes55987 said:
I recently made the jump into a 2004 Toyora 4runner SE and after driving it for about a month i just cannot get over this mileage I am getting.
I average around 11.5-12 MPG while I am in my town (about 75%highway/25% city). and on the highway i average about 14MPG.

This is the V8 full time 4WD SE. I have cleaned the MAF and run my tires at around 39PSI. I drive about 75% highway, average driving and usually don't like to push the RPM's above 2,500 when accelerating. Located in Minnesota so it has been very cold in the winter. I use cruise control on the highway and highway speeds are 60MPH. Usually only give the car about 1-2 minutes to warm up but just try to drive slower in the morning when its cold.

I called the toyota dealership in town (I haven't had much faith in them) and they said not to be worried, shifting "a lot of gears" and that it is just a big vehicle to be moving.

I am just having such a hard time accepting I'll be spending more on gas then my car payment a month! I get about 240 miles per tank. Are there any big signs I can look for or things I can check on my own? Everywhere i have looked online (mainly this forum) seems like I should be getting more! thanks guys!!
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The mileage that you are getting does seem low compared to my experiences with my 03 Limited 4WD V8. I get about 16-18 in town depending on outside temperature (lower mpg in the cold winters).

Things that you can look into for excessive fuel consumption would be (1) dirty or clogged air filter element (2) incorrect tire size (3) dirty or clogged fuel injectors (4) dragging brakes.

Air filter is easy to check, and replace if necessary.

Tire size (and incorrect tire pressure) will impact as well. I run my tires at 32 psi.

A fuel injector cleaner (added to your gas at fill-up) or service may help as well.

The T4Rs are known to have issues with seized front brake calipers.

Hope you get that mileage up a bit with an easy fix.
 
Chaz, I had viewed one of those articles you linked to but in the end it looked like if the car was running fine, tires were inflated, and didn't seem like a loss of power, a V8 Full Time 4WD 4Runner in cold cold weather with high city driving just does bad gas mileage.

The majority of my driving is cold weather...drive car...by the time I get to destination it is just getting warm. Then repeat this again in about 4, 5 hours for lunch and again after work. Must be tough as the steering is always very rigid and the truck gives that groaning.

I have had some odd starting issues though (seem's to start up right away some mornings, other mornings it whirs for a bit) that don't seem to correlate with weather. when it was 32 one here it barely seemed like it started but when it was just -22 this last week in the morning it started after just a few. Would this indicate anything?

I've only driven this in the cold, in the city, and haven't had to take it on any long trips yet to test true highway only mileage.

Is there anything else that can be done on my side that may improve it? Are synthetic oils worth it, air filter upgrade, etc?
 
Bossman said:
The mileage that you are getting does seem low compared to my experiences with my 03 Limited 4WD V8. I get about 16-18 in town depending on outside temperature (lower mpg in the cold winters).

Things that you can look into for excessive fuel consumption would be (1) dirty or clogged air filter element (2) incorrect tire size (3) dirty or clogged fuel injectors (4) dragging brakes.

Air filter is easy to check, and replace if necessary.

Tire size (and incorrect tire pressure) will impact as well. I run my tires at 32 psi.

A fuel injector cleaner (added to your gas at fill-up) or service may help as well.

The T4Rs are known to have issues with seized front brake calipers.

Hope you get that mileage up a bit with an easy fix.
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Tire Size looks to be correct and they are inflated about average. Toyota door says I think 28 or 30 and my tires go up to 45 so I have them in between around 38.

Is there a good fuel injector cleaner you would reccomend?

I did some reading on the air filter and see that some people say it only helps with power, not MPG. That the MAF sensor will affect mileage rather the Air Sensor.

Any signs for a seized brake caliper? I did do some reading on this and saw some people just hear about it at the routine checkup and never notice it until then.
 
I traded my gas hog Tundra in for a 08 Limited 4x4 V6 and I get 18-22mpgs. I thought I made a mistake by not getting the V8 so I went down to a local dealer because they had my same truck but with the V8 4WD, I drove it for about 30 minutes around town and the computer showed me 12mpgs. I got back to the dealer and he said my truck and 8 grand and our trucks had identical mileage. Needless to say, I left with my wimpy V6.

I think your poor mileage is normal. City driving with a big V8 is never good for gas mileage.
 
since u checked a few things already, the next things to do would be try a new oem air filter, use seafoam, then reset the ecu.
 
seafoam in crankcase, intake, and gas tank, inflate tires to 38psi for p series or 45psi for lt series, replace air filter, spark plugs (after seafoam), and if you're running A/T tires expect to get 102 mpg lower than if you were running hiwghway tires. Try to use the brakes as little as possible (i.e coast as much as possible), and brake early for stop lights (this way you are on the gas a little less and you might be able to catch it where you're still rolling when the light turns green). All of these things together will bump you up a little bit.


Edit: Don't forget to change out oil, diff and transfer case fluids to synthetic.
 
hayes55987 said:
The majority of my driving is cold weather...drive car...by the time I get to destination it is just getting warm. Then repeat this again in about 4, 5 hours for lunch and again after work. Must be tough as the steering is always very rigid and the truck gives that groaning.
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That appears to be your problem... driving just a few miles to and from the hours to work, to and from lunch, back and forth in cold weather.

I'll bet you also have condensation and sludge build-up as you're not giving your engine time to heat up and 'boil off' the water and excess that is beginning to accumulate, mile after mile, day after day of this short trip cycle.

This is about as tough on a vehicle as anything you can do to it.

I would imagine you have clogged filters and an engine that is clogged as well including clogged injectors. Change filters, change oil, change many of the fluids and re: the oil and filter, change more often.

Get 'er out on a highway for at least thirty minutes one time a week to heat 'er up and get the 'juices' flowing.

Good luck with your re-conditioning.
 
I do a bit of traveling, and I believe we just have really crappy fuel here in MN. My MPG is about where yours is hayes55987.
 
Climb14er said:
That appears to be your problem... driving just a few miles to and from the hours to work, to and from lunch, back and forth in cold weather.
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+1 I have the same routine and get the condensation "foam" under the oil fill cap. I use synthetic oil and change every 5k to be sure. But short trips are a mpg killer even for the V6.
 
Climb14er said:
That appears to be your problem... driving just a few miles to and from the hours to work, to and from lunch, back and forth in cold weather.

I'll bet you also have condensation and sludge build-up as you're not giving your engine time to heat up and 'boil off' the water and excess that is beginning to accumulate, mile after mile, day after day of this short trip cycle.

This is about as tough on a vehicle as anything you can do to it.

I would imagine you have clogged filters and an engine that is clogged as well including clogged injectors. Change filters, change oil, change many of the fluids and re: the oil and filter, change more often.

Get 'er out on a highway for at least thirty minutes one time a week to heat 'er up and get the 'juices' flowing.

Good luck with your re-conditioning.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree. That is your problem, short trips and cold weather. that will definitely kill your MPG average.
 
Thanks for all the input guys!! I'm thinking once it gets summer and underbody carwashes and longer trips it will start to even out. I really like this car but just can't imagine driving it if the mileage doesn't get better then 11mpg. My brothers F-350 diesel gets better then that! haha
 
KB084RUNNER, do you find changing to synthetic oil is worth it since you are somewhat in the same boat as me?

I just drove highway only today for about an hour and car computer read 19.2mpg at the end. So possibly around 17mpg?

that seem's about right for me to highway which is a good thing! I think I can rule out any real mechanical issues as far as brake seized, etc...
 
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