Originally Posted by bigt61
ok. First off, let me say that I"ve already searched this topic. I have done the following things to my car as maintenance. I bought a 94 integra LS 125k with automatic transmission.
1. Sea Foam-ed the engine
2. Cleaned Throttle body, then changed the oil
3. New spark plugs, wires, and rotor cap
4. Alignment and rotate and balance on new tires
5. Changed transmission fluid- Honda ATF
6. Flushed radiator and changed antifreeze
I did all this on thursday. Then I filled up my car with gas thursday to the full mark, and put fuel injector cleaner in the gas tank when I filled it up. I have gone 104 miles since then, with the AC both on and off, and I have HALF a tank of gas!! What the heck is up?
The only other thing that I can think of off my head would be the O-2 sensor, but wouldn't the check engine light come on or something to let me know if I have a bad oxygen sensor and my engine is running rich/lean?
What else could I try to increase my MPG? This is driving me nuts, because I drive about 70 miles a day to work- and need good gas mileage! Help!!!!
Alright, let me see if I can talk you down a bit.
Up to this point, you've done all the right things in terms of maintenance. If the Oxygen sensor had died you'd be seeing a check engine light.
I'll bet that you are getting better mileage than your gauge leads you to believe.
Our gas gauges are horribly inaccurate. The only way to make a meaningful assessment of mileage is to do real math. (Divide the total miles driven by the quantity of gas consumed.)
Case in point:
I own a 97 LS 5spd with about 110K on it.
My weekly commute is shorter, but it is entirely stop-and-go suburban driving. By the time my needle gets to the halfway mark, I only have about 100-110 miles on the trip meter.
Now I reset my trip meter with every fill-up, and calculate my actual mileage on each reciept from the gas station.
When I do the math, my actual gas mileage averages between 24 and 26 mpg... perfectly normal for an enthusiastically driven manual Integra.
Here's the data from my last fillup.
5-12-05
Start Mileage: 107936
Ending Mileage: 108161
Distance Total: 225.0 miles
Refill: 8.600 @ $2.599/gal
MPG CALC: 225 miles ÷ 8.6 gal = 26.162 mpg
Run the numbers and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.