Crappy Miles to the gallon

Weazel240 · Post by **Weazel240** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:42 pm

Hello all! i been trollin around the board for awhile.. i just picked up a 94 legacy sports sedan last week,
it has 80k miles on it.. and everything runs smooth so far.. just a lil knock from the driver side front, on sharp turns and lil bumps. im guessin it might be a loose suspension part.
but my main question is.
is 200miles to the tank normal?
the motor is bone stock. i drive it normally.. and of course.. i punched it a lil just to test it out the first day i had it.. but other than that.. i drive it like a normal person.
over the weekend i filled it up.. From Reading PA, i drove it to Philly, and back, and did reg weekend shoppin around town. i did mostly highway drivin.

200mile to the tank.
is something wrong?
i know for sure i filled it up before i went to philly, and when i got bak home it was half tank.
thats alot!
thanks for any input

snowboarded · Post by **snowboarded** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:28 pm

Is it a 4eat or 5mt?

Post by **DLC** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 10:28 pm

It seems like I was getting 275-300 on my moderately modified 93 TW. 200 is definitely on the low side.

Subaru_Nation555 · Post by **Subaru_Nation555** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 11:07 pm

I get 220 a tank driving from Huntingdon to Philly (200 miles @70ish mph) 200 does seem a little low but any city driving will really bring it down or it does with my car.

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 11:24 pm

I get about 200/tank on my auto tw. I drive crazy and stop and go as well though.

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 11:24 pm

Might want to check MAF or O2 sensor. Those usually cause gas mileage to go to crap.

Tleg93 · Post by **Tleg93** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 11:31 pm

200/15.3 = ~13 mpg. Something isn't right there. I get around 20-24 most times.

I drove to DC and was at 263 with 5 gallons left.

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 12:57 am

on road trips my car's capable of pulling 26 mpg(once) but I get in boost alot during daily drivng. I got 14.8 mpg last tank

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 1:22 am

LaureltheQueen wrote:I got 14.8 mpg last tank

My corvette gets better gas mileage than that

91White-T · Post by **91White-T** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 2:03 am

Thats pretty bad. My car goes at least 300 every tank, 350 if I go easy, and I'm running 1 bar.

jamal · Post by **jamal** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 2:10 am

How much fuel are you putting in when you fill up every 200 miles?

Fill up, reset the tripmeter, and then do the math when you fill up the next time (at the same station for better accuracy). The tank is 15.9 gallons, but I can't use more than 13.5 without the car starting to sputter.

I tend to go until 275-300 on the tripmeter and will put in between 12 and 13.5 gallons. The last time I filled up I put in 13.7 and was worried about running out on the way to the gas station. I guess the shape of the tank means I'll never get to use the last two gallons.

91White-T · Post by **91White-T** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 2:18 am

I routinely put in ~14.5 but it WILL run out at 15.5, I know this for a fact...lol

Busdriver · Post by **Busdriver** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 3:38 am

Does your exhaust smell rich?

lol!!

Mine does, as well as soobsters!!
I ususally get 24mpg city and highway combined going ~75
got 32 on a long road trip to S.F. keeping the RPM's below 3k.
but still I think soobster is not burning clean, smells rich all the time....
any clues?

Weazel240 · Post by **Weazel240** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 4:39 am

wow thanks for the replies.
its a 4eat.
on the gas lid it said unleaded premuim.
but i DID put the regular crap cuz i got used to pumpin reg, so i dunno if that is a factor.
i didnt check the o2s or MAFs, i had no codes.
i do however have a cracked muffler. and i DID change my air filter this morning.. the orginal one was all GUNKED up. so on my way to and bak from school RDG to EXton and back is approx 40 more or less round trip.. and it DID seem to be a LIL better.. but i have to fill her up and see for sure. this time i will take not of how many gallons it take to fill it up.

and my engine temp and gas guage flops around too.
temp guage goes from reg operating temp, to cold.. and back to reg op temp, and gas goes from where ever its at.. and drops to empty for a few minute and come bak up.. whats up with that?

thanks

snowboarded · Post by **snowboarded** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 2:12 pm

Weazel240 wrote:wow thanks for the replies.
...
but i DID put the regular crap cuz i got used to pumpin reg, so i dunno if that is a factor.
...
and i DID change my air filter this morning.. the orginal one was all GUNKED up.
...
and my engine temp and gas guage flops around too.
temp guage goes from reg operating temp, to cold.. and back to reg op temp, and gas goes from where ever its at.. and drops to empty for a few minute and come bak up.. whats up with that?

thanks

Regular 89 gas is a lower octane so it won't burn as well, which will hurt your mileage. Not to mention its bad for your turbo legacy.
A gunked up air filter will definately kill your mileage. You never want to have anything restrict air flow.
I am not sure about what is causing it but the flopping arround probably isn't good. The gauge dropping to E isn't good, but it might not be a bad thing either. If you take a hard turn the needle will dip down a lot, due to the slushing arround of the gas in the tank. It will go back up to where it's supposed to, but it takes a while. If you have a 1/4 tank or less, then it will dip down and hit E, where it might stay for a little bit, but gradually go back up.

snowboarded · Post by **snowboarded** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 2:13 pm

Welcome, it's good to have another 94 SS here. What color is it?

Weazel240 · Post by **Weazel240** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 2:24 pm

It is Red
http://www.t-mobilepictures.com/weazel2 ... 9123461955

snowboarded · Post by **snowboarded** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 3:32 pm

Nice, it looks really clean. Have you had problems with a leaky sunroof yet?

Weazel240 · Post by **Weazel240** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 4:18 pm

HAHAHAH YES! HOW do i fix that! everytime i come to a stop.. it pours on me

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 6:58 pm

snowboarded wrote: Regular 89 gas is a lower octane so it won't burn as well, which will hurt your mileage. Not to mention its bad for your turbo legacy.

Actually, the octane rating on gasolines is in reference to their ability to withstand combustion. That's why turbocharged and super high compression engines require high octane gas. Gasoline with a higher octane prevents predetonation and knocking

Howstuffworks.com wrote:The octane rating of gasoline tells you how much the fuel can be compressed before it spontaneously ignites. When gas ignites by compression rather than because of the spark from the spark plug, it causes knocking in the engine. Knocking can damage an engine, so it is not something you want to have happening. Lower-octane gas (like "regular" 87-octane gasoline) can handle the least amount of compression before igniting.

snowboarded · Post by **snowboarded** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 7:20 pm

Ok, thanks Laurel. I need to take another trip to howstuffworks.com and get my learn on again, stupid memory.

And the simplest and in my case most effective solution for the water dump on stop is to attach a small tube like utensil to an air compressor and blow out the drains. gotta be careful to get it in the drain and then blow, so as to not take out the drain tube itself. There's a write up on it somewhere here. I think it might even be stickied. The other method involves removing the glass and reaplying a seal arround it.

snowboarded · Post by **snowboarded** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 7:31 pm

Found it.

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=183

Post by **DLC** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:15 am

I firmly believe that a better flowing intake and exhaust, combined with a DIS-2, is why my TW got over 20MPG and passed the sniff test without cats. I'm sure there are many engines out there that wouldn't pass for other reasons, such as bad oil rings, but these cars run far too rich at stock settings.

Someone has to find the fix for these guys getting 13mpg!

91White-T · Post by **91White-T** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 2:07 am

Is that red a stock color?? Every 94 I've seen is either silver, white, burgundy or blue.

Weazel240 · Post by **Weazel240** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 4:17 am

thank you snowboarded for the link on the drain hole. ill get to it on the weekend when i have time.

and as for the color. i believe it was repainted.
it was grey i believe (engine Bay)

and one more question that i have that is goin to hijack this thread again...

when i make tight turns ( u turn on a street, or a tight turn to park at the mall, shoppin center etc.)
the car would come to almost a stop. and when i would give it gas the car shakes. and the tires schreech as if its lockin up( i noticed its coming from the rear.)
HELP!

THANKS

legacycentral bbs

A forum for 89-94 BC-BF(BJ) Legacy Owners and Fans

Crappy Miles to the gallon

Crappy Miles to the gallon