Why am I only getting an average of 300 miles per tank?

[rudefyet]

i don't know what the hell size tank my car has...but it runs $30-$35 to completely fill

[Goph]

I have got 300 miles to a tank one time with my 2000. I get around 21 MPG and that is with about 70% highway miles on it. I am hoping that for normal highway all the time it will go up.

I'm wondering if there is a sensor that may be needing replaced and then i may get better mileage.

[Penix Bowties]

Well, we scanned the car today, and it turns out that it was a bad IAT (Intake Air Temperature) Sensor. We think oil from the newly installed K&N air filter caused it to short out. I have also noticed a nice gain in power and mileage now that most of the oil (which was on it fresh out of the box/bag) has been sucked off. It will be nice to see how it runs after the sensor is replaced.

 

So, even though the O2's aren't cause'n a code to come up, I think I'm gonna replace them anyhow. How much did you guys say they were at RockAuto.com? Anyhow, I'll post the results of that aswell.

 

Thanks for the help guys.

 

- Joel

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

Hmm maybe I should check my intake to see if I oiled my K&N too much in the fall. :shock:

 

I'd be lucky to get 300miles/tank (highway) and that would be pushing it. Got at least 100km more during the summer.. :?

[Penix Bowties]

WTF!?!? I ordered up the IAT sensor for my car yesterday at my local NAPA Auto Parts Store, which was cool cause it only cost me $16.77 after tax and they said it'd be in today around 9:00 AM. Now, what they failed to mention was just how early they planned on closing today! I got down there a little before 11:00 AM to find the store closed. The sign on the door, which was not there yesterday, said "Closing early for New Years! Store hours Friday are from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM. We'll be open again Monday at 8:00 AM" Now I have just one question... Just how drunk do these guys plan on getting today? I mean come on, how you gonna close after having only been open for 2 friggin hours?

 

On another note, I've noticed lately that with every tank of gas I've put into my car since all the work was done (repairs and upgrades), my power and mileage has been steadily increasing. Even now, when my IAT sensor isn't work'n. With the way the current tank is go'n, I should be gett'n around 350 MPT. So here's what I'm think'n... I know Chevron has that "Techron" stuff in it which I know for a fact cleans engine parts better than other gasolines. You ask how I know? Well, one day while clean'n engine parts for a rebuild, I had a gas can full of Chevron's 87 octane and a gas tank full of 76's 87 octane. I got an idea, why not see if what Chevron says is really true? So I filled two small buckes, one with the Chevron and one with the 76, then dropped a hand full of nasty greasy nuts and bolts into each bucket to let them soak. The next day I poured each bucket out onto a screen, and to my amazement, the parts soak'n in the Chevron 87 octane were almost completely clean.

 

Anyhow, back to what my idea was as to why I'm getting better mileage... Maybe my O2's aren't bad enough to be replaced and the "Techron" in the Chevron 87 octane is slowly cleaning them up. Think this is the case? I don't know but at this rate I might be getting all my mileage back fairly soon here! Oh, BTW, I'm not runn'n my ram air right now either since the inlets got stolen, which means I'll be getting even better mileage once I get the new ones!

 

Just thought I'd keep y'all up to day.

 

- Joel Penick

[Penix Bowties]

Well, I picked up the IAT sensor today, though I'm not putting it in till tomorrow so I can have the code cleared at the same time. Anyhow, I got 367 miles out of this tank before I filled up, and it only took 14.1 Gallons to fill up, so that means I got an average of 26 MPG. Doing the math, I guess that would mean I could have gotten around 430 out of her had I pushed it...

 

Keep in mind, this is without a functional IAT sensor and the ram air setup removed. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the new IAT sensor in, then again with the ram air setup re-installed.

 

BTW... That mileage is via my normal driving habits, about 30% lead footed and about 70% light footed, so yeah I'm happy!

 

I'll post the results of the IAT sensor being installed, and then again with the ram air setup re-installed, once I get the inlets from RamAirBox.com that is.

 

Thanks for the input guys!

 

- Joel Penick