Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Gas Mileage

I have a 4 cyc 95 and it has always gotten decent/good gas mileage but the past 2 weeks or so its really gone down. I put gas in last wednesday, put it to on the high side of 1/2 a tank. The only driving i have done since then was home from the gas station (maybe a mile and a half) then to school and back thursday, not even a mile, and i just kick it into neutral 1/2 the way to school cause its all down hill. then the same thing friday, except the school run twice. saturday i drove maybe 2 miles, sunday i didnt do anything. It is already down to almost a quarter tank. what are somethings that would make the gas mileage go down that much or whats going on??? thanks...

Contour/Mystique gas guages are funny little things. At least on mine. Mine doesnt move till 3/4 then it drops from 3/4 to 1/4 in about 50 miles...then its really slow to go to E. Maybe your guage is going out

on the rare chance i actually get to fill it all the way, the gauge stays at full for a long time and then goes down evenly then when i get down to about a 1/4 it drops a little faster, but other than that it has always been about the same speed throughout. I had a problem with brake fluid not long ago, the light had been on for a long time and i put new fluid in and solved that problem, did something maybe happen with the brakes that is causing it to go down? my brakes still feel normal and it doesnt really feel like its dragging or anything..

Hmmm I havent had that problem but I do know that it existed on early model contours when it would freeze causing the E-brake to really never disengage. Had any really cold weather lately combined with any sort of H20?

yes, i am from western washington so thats about all we get. it hasnt been really cold lately but like 2-3 weeks ago we were getting highs of like 40 so it was quiet cold and snowy and rainy... how do i get this checked?