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Gas Mileage - OverDrive, Heat, Seats

hunt3r

New CEG'er
Joined
Sep 3, 2007
Messages
10
Hey , uhmm. I just have a couple questions that i have been needing to ask for quite some time, these questions have been bugging me forever.

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MPG-
I have a 1998 4-cyl Zetec Contour (auto), and I was just wondering, how can i get the best gas mileage for driving around in town? Should i click the "O/D OFF" button in so that it turns overdrive off? Or should i leave it on?
Im getting about 17 MPG In town, and that kind of ticks me off cuz these cars are supposed to get 20+ in town...

When you click in the O/D OFF Button, and the O/D OFF light shows up on the console, that means Overdrive is off, right?
*Should I drive with OverDrive on, or off?

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Next question,
My heating isnt working very good anymore, If I turn the fan speed past the third dot, it doesnt blow anymore hot air out, it blows out cold air.. and then i have to turn off the fan for a couple of minutes, and then it will blow hot air out but only on low speed....
*Do you know why its doing this?

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Seats-
Recently Someone thought it would be cool to singe the back of both of my seats with a lighter...:mad: I would like to go to a junkyard or something to get some, I was wondering if any year Mystiques and/or Contour seats, would fit in my '98 Contour... ?
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Last question,
I was looking at Jcwhitney and noticed this http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/...stom-1/p-2005683/N-111+1998+200728635/c-10101

^^does anyone have this? Or do you know if this really works? And if it works, how well does it work, and how hard was it to install?
Also, Would this work if i were to get an aftermarket intake-like one of those K&N ones that everyone has on here?

Thank you,
Terry
 
the first thing to do to increase mpg is to perform basic maintenence. make sure the tire pressures are correct, your filters are new, new plugs and wires if older then 60k, new O2 sensors if older then 100K, replace fluids, etc.

heat could be a sticking thermostat or a bad water pump. what is the engine temp guage reading?

any year seat will fit, but if you get a power seat you may or maynot have the proper wiring if your car doesn't have power seats.

and yeah, if it sounds to good to be true it most likely is, the turbonator is junk, don't waste your money, put it towards basic maintinence.
 
as far as the overdrive part, leave the overdrive on unless you are pulling a long steep grade or you are towing something (i don't know why but have seen it on a contour before). 98 zetec is supposed to be the best on fuel mileage of any other year contours/mystiques. the other thing beyond the maint. mentioned in the previous response is to have the egr valve checked, i have been battling a bad egr valve on one of my zetecs and its cause the egr valve, of course there is alos a light surge at 30-45mph intermittently. i am also assuming the check engine light is not on. with that assumption the other thing that can effect mpgs is a bad coolant sensor telling the computer the engine is too cold so the puter makes the air/fuel mixture too rich thinking the engine needs it but doesn't throuw a code because it thinks it's doing good. the only thing is the only way to check is too hook it up with a handheld diag. tool.
 
Last edited:
I find it almost impossible to get good gas mileage in the winter time. The gas formula changes, which results in poorer mileage. The engine idles more, the blowers are on more, etc. Try being gentle with the gas pedal and not mash it down all the time.
 
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