Burning way to much gas. Need Help!

[Arthur]

Hey, I have a 2005 chrysler sebring coupe base 2.4. I have been monitoring the gas for a while now and it has dropped significantly. Usually i would get around 220 miles all street driven miles on a full tank (16.3 gal). Which is still worst than what it needs to be based on the mileage the company reported which should get 300+ on a full tank that is only treet driven. Today I hit the half way mark and i looked at how much I drove and it was like 65 miles. Yikes!. Is there any reason why its like this, or is there like an additive i can use to deal with the issue. Thanks a lot in advance, regards, Arthur.

Topic

[asim]

[b]hi

did you check O2 sensor?
🙂 [/b]

[Dave]

The first thing I would do is stop putting ethanol blended gas in it ethanol drops your gas mileage significantly.

[Dustin Hicks]

[quote=”arthurio55″ post=57988]…. Usually i would get around 220 miles all street driven miles on a full tank (16.3 gal). Which is still worst than what it needs to be based on the mileage the company reported which should get 300+ on a full tank that is only treet driven. Today I hit the half way mark and i looked at how much I drove and it was like 65 miles. Yikes!. Is there any reason why its like this, or is there like an additive i can use to deal with the issue. Thanks a lot in advance, regards, Arthur.[/quote]

Okay, here we go.
First, you will NEVER get the rated mileage from your vehicle. Lots of reasons for this. EPA tests use a fuel called indolene that has a 92.25 octane rating. This is because all refiners use different grades and additives. (BTW, octane rating has little to no effect on fuel mileage, it’s an antiknock rating.) EPA mileage ratings are only good for comparison to other vehicles of the same vintage. In fact, the calculations were redone a few years ago, and older vehicles rated mileage cannot be compared to vehicles built after the recalculation.
Second, your mileage varies due to the total weight the vehicle has to move. More weight = less mileage.
Third, driving habits differ from one person to the next. Jackrabbit starts, different cruising speeds, number of starts & stops, total idling time, etc. For these the more or higher, the lower your mileage gets.
Fourth, and here’s one of the biggies, how you maintain your vehicle. If lubes, oil and filter changes, alignments, tire pressure checks, part replacements, etc aren’t done often enough or on schedule, your mileage WILL suffer. This one is one I’d almost guarantee.
Fifth, the fuel you use and the time of year. Petroleum based fuels are reformulated for winter or summer use. To let a vehicle start easily in cold weather, or not stall or idle & run rough in hot weather requires different amounts of volatiles in it’s fuel. You WILL see lower mileage in cold weather. Also, other than diesel, all fuels (E10, E85, propane, natural gas, etc.) contain less energy than straight gasoline. In fact, if you have a ‘flex fuel’ vehicle and run E85, you gain 2-5% in power, but lose 20-30% in mileage (Other fuels can be even worse!).

So, make sure your tires are inflated correctly, plugs & ignition wires are changed as/if needed, and the filters (especially the air filter)are kept clean. You may also need to ensure the injectors aren’t starting to clog, and the O2 sensors are operating right. The only additive that MAY help is a fuel system cleaner, but it isn’t guaranteed.

Also, average your mileage over a couple of tanks of fuel-not partial tanks, it will be more accurate. You might see really bad mileage on one part, and really great mileage on another because of how the fuel level sensor is working.

Hope that helps,
Moparfan

[Steve]

You didn’t give a lot of info other than poor gas mileage. Any decrease in performance? Difference in idle? Rough transmission shifts while driving? Etc., etc.? Seems a significant decrease in miles per gallon would be accompanied by something noticeable on the performance side??

[Arthur]

Thanks for the info, think that what im seeing is normal gas mileage, give or take some, as moparfan7008 said that the EPA uses different type of gasoline for testing. So I would be seeing less fuel mileage because here they mix somewhere around 10% ethanol, which obviously is less fuel efficient.

[college man]

Have you tried doing a tune up? Wheel alignment good?
tire pressure checked.

[JesseTech2000]

10% ethonal shouldn’t make that big of a difference, everywhere is using it and in our Kia shop we are not hearing of complaints that big. If the engine runs good I would check for stupid stuff like brakes hanging up or a partially ingaged e brake. Something is increasing the drag on your engine.

[Author]

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