Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General yet another gas milage post

Well, people have said they have both bad and good gas milage here, but does anybody's have a mind of it's own? when I first got my car, I got 23 mpg beating it, which I was fine with. The next tank I get 20 driving the same, so I decided to be nicer to it. That got me 24 and I was like, okkk dosn't make much sence but oh well. the next tank I drove easy so it shifted at 2000 rpm or lower the whole time and didn't go over 55 on about 1/3 city, the rest highway and I got 20. now I am at 17 or so and it has gotten colder, but not that much! the heater is on so I don't freeze but rarley on defrost. It has had a mind of it own no matter if it is warm or cold, because sometimes I go home about 10 miles and the needle hardly moves, the next day it will move 1/8 of a tank after i go the same distance and I drive the same way!! Is it the plugs or something because I am desperate and ready to use the sledge on it if I get mad enough. What is wrong????? any advise would help. thanks

Fuel Injection has helped reduce acceleration differences = varying gas mileage. That's probably how some who bag theirs get not much different Mileage.

Follow the routine maintenance schedule and determine if you need to change ANYthing.

How exactly are you measureing your fuel mileage?

If you are looking at the gauge and estimating, that may be the problem.

You should fill, drive and refill - preferabley at the same pump so the cut off will be consistent. Also, if you just drive a little it will increase the error of fill inconsistency. It's best to use a full tank.

im measuring it by reseting the trip odometer when i gas up and at the end of the tank divide the miles by gallons. right now I am at 180 miles at 11 gallons My 91 Explorer got better than that!!. I think I am gonna change the plugs and the fuel filter when it warms up a bit. I talked to my Grandpa, who i got it from and he said that ford said they needed to clean the jets and it would cost $800 so he didn't do it because they probally just wanted money. would that help at all cause it only has 37,000 miles on it. any other suggestions?

I'd advise you to take a look at all the basic maintenance checks. Fuel filter, air filter might be dirty...change oil? There's endless possibilities.

On a side note, congraulations! If your car has 37,000 and matches the one in your sig, then you've only averaged ~3700 miles a year. I've put 10,000 miles on my car in seven months!

-SAV

Your grandpa probably must have misunderstood. There are no "jets" in these cars, he was probably thinking back in the days of carburetors. Even then, they sure as heck didn't cost $800 to clean. At 37,000 miles, you should need no fuel injection system cleaning. However, you should be getting about 10 miles per gallon better than you're doing, unless you're driving it like most teenagers...pedal to the metal all the time. You need to take it to a mechanic and run a diagonosis on it.

Is the engine reaching operating temperature? Maybe the thermostat is bad and it is so cold there in Frostbite Falls that the engine is in "cold enrichment mode" all the time.

Alternatively, maybe the big streo and horn are causing excessive parasitic drag on the alternator

Remember the EPA changes the gasoline when the cold hits. This will reduce gas milage by as much as 3 to 4 MPG. The 6 went from 24 consistantly to 22 on the last fillup