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terrible fuel mileage

vmax12

New CEG'er
Joined
May 25, 2007
Messages
21
Location
Nashville TN
My car is averaging 11 mpg. I changed plugs. They were badly eroded. Also changed PVC, fuel filter, and DPE valve (located by EGR valve which I had a CEL for). Cleaned MAF sensor. Still getting sub-par mileage. Next I plan to change plug wires. Is there a way to test MAF? Please help. Contour is getting all the extra beer money! Any help appreciated.
Thank you,
vmax12:help: :nonono:
 
Make sure your tire pressures are at least up to minimum recommended. I run 40 psi cold in mine. It reduces the rolling resistance of the tires, so that the engine doesn't work so hard overcoming it. Any little bit helps.
 
Tire pressure wouldn't make gas milage go the far down. From the Recomended 32psi all around reading on the door to 40 wouldn't make that big of a deal. Make sure your vaccum lines are good and you don't have any leaks.
 
I checked codes at home{I have my own reader{nothing comes up.Are the code readers at the box stores a more indepth reader than my little hand held jobby The car runs really well just drinks the fuel , And I am not rawhiding it, thanks for the held any suggestions on what wires to use:cool:
 
the code readers at a garage or auto parts store might dig a little deeper than your handheld. May be able to read pending codes and such.

That is some pretty bad mileage for running well. If its dumping that much fuel I would think you'd be running pig rich and sluggish as heck.

You say it is running well...have you ruled out other places for the fuel to go other than into the engine. Maybe a line leak or tank leak. Because gasoline evaporates so quickly it is possible for even a decent sized leak to go unoticed. Give it a good look and smell test after sitting a little while with a full tank (in case the leak is in the top half somewhere).
 
are you putting 12+ gallons in it when it's empty? my car after doing the 3L swap seemed to get about 15 miles per gallon and i had it diagnosed and the fuel level meter was off. we reset the ecu and then it was back to normal. i noticed it when i filled up the gas tank one day when i was sure it was empty and it only held 8 gallons.
 
are you putting 12+ gallons in it when it's empty? my car after doing the 3L swap seemed to get about 15 miles per gallon and i had it diagnosed and the fuel level meter was off. we reset the ecu and then it was back to normal. i noticed it when i filled up the gas tank one day when i was sure it was empty and it only held 8 gallons.
The fuel gauge is about the worse way to check fuel mileage or fuel level since they're so flakey. The last time I put gas in my car, the fuel light was on and it still only took 9 gallons or so to fill it. Just figure mileage by the odometer - miles driven divided by gallons put in the tank. I reset the trip odometer every time I fill it up.
Karl
 
My gauge goes really far under E. Really push the gauge sometimes and still have a gallon or 2 left.
 
What does the level of the fuel gauge have to do with anything???? To check your fuel mileage fill your fuel tank completely until the gas pump automatically stops. Now reset your tripmeter on your odometer to zero. Drive as normal until you have used half a tank, 3/4, or even a full tank it really does not matter. Now fill your fuel tank completely again until the gas pump automatically stops (it is best to use the same gas station for the test since some gas pumps stop automatically at different levels than others). Now take the miles on the tripmeter and divide by the # of gallons of fuel used to fill the gas tank. This will give you true fuel mileage.
 
I'm not sure if this would do it but compared to most cars, when I drive mine it seems like the RPMs are a little high when cruising. I can go 55 and be at 2250k, then when i let off the gas instead of the RPMs dropping rapidly they seem to be directly connected to speed and slowly go down as the car decelerates... and that gas meter (i know its a bad way to judge) is goin down real fast. Anyone have a ballpark estimate for how many Mpg a stock atx duratec should be getting (driving relaxed)? I'm guessing over 18... right? (I did the maf fix already with the copper pipe cap)
 
I'm not sure if this would do it but compared to most cars, when I drive mine it seems like the RPMs are a little high when cruising. I can go 55 and be at 2250k, then when i let off the gas instead of the RPMs dropping rapidly they seem to be directly connected to speed and slowly go down as the car decelerates... and that gas meter (i know its a bad way to judge) is goin down real fast. Anyone have a ballpark estimate for how many Mpg a stock atx duratec should be getting (driving relaxed)? I'm guessing over 18... right? (I did the maf fix already with the copper pipe cap)
3k RPM is about 80 MPH. I get consistent 18 MPG city and 22 Highway (24 or 25 if I drive 55 MPH). You car sounds about right.
 
For those with an auto, check for torque converter lockup. Steady 60 mph on a level road. Gently tap brakes while maintiaing constant throttle pressure. Watch for engine RPMs to rise up to 300 rpms for several seconds, then drop back down. That's the TCC unlocking and relocking. If you don't get that rise in RPMs, the TCC wasn't locking and your fuel economy will definitely suffer. BTDT.

As for the OP. Use a scan tool to look at your long term fuel trrims and see if they're significantly elevated. If so, you're running on the rich side although with your reported fuel mileage, I'd suspect something else, like a happy foot.

Steve
 
im getting awful gas mileage in my 3L, it is untuned but i dont think that would cause horrible gas mileage, even on the high way the 60 miles home is 1/4 of a tank. at 70-85mph the whole way.
 
that doesn't sound too bad, I just refilled my 2.5L and it took 12.5 Gallons from a dry tank, I got about 247 miles on the tank (rural driving 45-60mph, about 19 and change mpg). so assuming your tank is the same size I'd say you're getting about 19.5mpg and thats on a 3L so it doesn't sound too far off... I could be completely wrong.
 
within the last two days i got 130 miles to 3/4 of a tank....EEEK!

i think im getting the tuner finally this week from randycsvt so hopefully that will end some worries.
 
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