Poor Fuel Milage - Help Please!

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run some injector cleaner through there once just to see if that may help, don't do it too often though. sometimes once a bad injector is cleaned too much it'll become brittle.

i must ask though, is your Check engine light on? if it is, then theres a good chance that your O2's are out. i have an off-road x-pipe on mine and the light finally came on when i burned out the O2's.

check your air filter, don't think the cats would be clogged, and i doubt its a fuel leak. change your oil NOW if you haven't done it in a while, invest in some GOOD oil too. if none of that works then I would have someone look at it, bad gas mileage can be a 'Kiss Me''Kiss Me''Kiss Me''Kiss Me''Kiss Me''Kiss Me'.
 
Yeah I would definitely clean/change all the filters. I have to clean my air filter when it gets warmer out. I'm have a 2002 with only 15,000 miles on it and right now i'm only seeing 14-15 mpg. Doesn't help that i commute to school driving about 5 miles there and 5 miles back usually twice a day, and also going up 12% + inclines that seem to never stop, i can just here the engine chugging along b/c its a 35mph zone so i'm only at about 1500 rpm going up the hills. Then its stop and go traffic and circling the parking lot for about 20 minutes looking for a spot, so yeah that kills my gas mileage :bang: Can't wait till school is done with. Around my house back in jersey i get about 19-20 around town, depending upon how light or heavy my foot is.
 
I noticed my mileage has dropped over the winter........do you let your car idle for a while before getting in it to leave for work/school/etc????? That could possibly account for it, aside from the other stuff the others have suggested, but it would require to letting the car run for 30 min. each day.......not normal
 
I have to agree to check the air filter. I was in the same boat you are before, turned out to be dirty air filter. Check it, I'm pretty sure that is probably the culprit.

Doc
 
I have the same problem, I pay about $5.00 at the pump for mid-grade, I have a 00' v6 auto and I get about 55 miles for the 3.5 gallons ($5 worth) that got filled at the gas station.. I live in the suburbs of s. jersey and I get about 15.7 miles to the gallon..wtf

The car has 66,000 mi on it, the air filter is a k&n and was cleaned recently. I think i need to check the o2 sensors, there are two right? One located in the maf and one in the cats? I'm also going to run some injector cleaner, and replace my plugs and wires.. could the problem be clogged cats or dirty fuel filter?

Edit: Where can i get my car checked about this kind of stuff besides the ford dealership? Pep boys?
 
I own a 2002 V6 Mustang 5 speed manual with 19,3xx Miles on it. I just filled up the tank today at the EMPTY mark. The fuel gauge was ALL the way into the EMPTY mark. I had 310.3 total miles on the odometer when I filled up the tank with a total of 15.098 gallons of gasoline.

My current total average gas mileage is 21.5 MPG.
I change the oil RELIGIOUSLY every 3,000 miles or every 3 months. Whichever comes first. And I also do the scheduled maintenance that's required.
 
AlexIX said:
Tire Pressure!?!? :D Hardly think undeflated tires would cause a loss of 10+ mpg.




I had my oil changed last week with Moblie 1 synthetic oil, had the plugs and wires changed less than a month ago.

My 'Check Engine' light isn't on, so I hope its nothing to do with the O2 sensors. I do smell sulfur when I get out of the car sometimes, isn't that a sign of the cats being clogged??

I've had the car for about 1.5 years and with over 230,000 km on it, I've never had the air or fuel filters changed yet. The car has been in the family since it was brand new, and they have never been changed I dont believe. I'll ask around to see if that has been done recently...

Any other suggestions? :D

Cheers,
Alex


Yep, tire pressure can cause up to a 40% loss in gas mileage. Run your tired at 35psi for 1 tank. Then run them at 25psi the next tank. Then you will see the difference im talking about. Btw, 4psi low is considered dangerous.