dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
2028

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues

Premium Member

[Help] Fixing my gas mileage

My 2005 Ford Escape seems to be a bit of a gas sucker lately
it's an Limited AWD 3.0 liter engine with the 4 speed transmission

Currently I'm averaging
16.9 litres of fuel /100km
13,9 miles /us gallon
16.7 miles /imperial gallon

I have a daily round trip commute (mostly stop and go.. it's horrible) of
70km or 43.5 miles.

My problem is that a round trip is roughly a 1/4 tank
15 litres
3.96 US gal
or 3 Imperial gallons

My understanding is that the platinum plugs are good for 100,000 miles and I currently have a little over 63.3, thousand miles on it.

Outside of brakes and some issues with the electrical system I've had no problems with it.
I've changed the air filter, but not in a few years that's about it.

Any suggestions as to how to get the mileage up?

CylonRed
MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County

CylonRed

MVM

What was the car averaging before? Any decent changes on ambient temps or weather changes?

aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA

aurgathor to elwoodblues

Member

to elwoodblues
said by elwoodblues:

I have a daily round trip commute (mostly stop and go.. it's horrible) of
70km or 43.5 miles.

Any suggestions as to how to get the mileage up?

Measure it on a highway trip.

Seriously.

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues

Premium Member

said by aurgathor:

said by elwoodblues:

I have a daily round trip commute (mostly stop and go.. it's horrible) of
70km or 43.5 miles.

Any suggestions as to how to get the mileage up?

Measure it on a highway trip.

Seriously.

A round trip , which is 2./3 highway (or highway like speeds 50miles/hr) . of 258KM or 160 miles, uses about 1/2 tank
elwoodblues

elwoodblues to CylonRed

Premium Member

to CylonRed
I can't say, this is a new job with a the commute, prior to that I was either taking transit or riding my bike.

Weather wise, its Winter in Canada, a little colder and more snow then average.

CylonRed
MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County

CylonRed

MVM

Then I don't understand how you have decided you are suddenly getting worse gas mileage then.

dennismurphy
Put me on hold? I'll put YOU on hold
Premium Member
join:2002-11-19
Parsippany, NJ

dennismurphy to elwoodblues

Premium Member

to elwoodblues
said by elwoodblues:

said by aurgathor:

said by elwoodblues:

I have a daily round trip commute (mostly stop and go.. it's horrible) of
70km or 43.5 miles.

Any suggestions as to how to get the mileage up?

Measure it on a highway trip.

Seriously.

A round trip , which is 2./3 highway (or highway like speeds 50miles/hr) . of 258KM or 160 miles, uses about 1/2 tank

What is it with Canadians who can't figure out gas tank sizes??

"About 1/2 tank" is useless information.

Fill up, drive, fill up again. Divide the miles driven by the volume of the second fill up.

Anything else is meaningless.

Cho Baka
MVM
join:2000-11-23
there

Cho Baka to elwoodblues

MVM

to elwoodblues
Wait until the warm weather comes. You will see a 20-30% improvement in mileage.

Beezel
join:2008-12-15
Las Vegas, NV

Beezel to elwoodblues

Member

to elwoodblues
To increase mileage, the best steps are. 1. Less restrictive exhaust. 2. Less restrictive air intake. The more efficient the engine breathes the better the economy. 3. Tire pressure, type/size of tires can also have some impact on mileage.

With stop and go driving, it will be harder to keep an eye on. Since rate of acceleration, idling, speed will factor into it also. City miles and stop and go are different types of driving.

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues to dennismurphy

Premium Member

to dennismurphy
What's with Americans who can't figure out math. if a 1/4 tank is roughly 4 gals, then half a tank must be 8.

Read the original post.
elwoodblues

elwoodblues to Beezel

Premium Member

to Beezel
Tires are fine, replaced them 2yrs ago, they]re full of nitrogen, so leaking is much less (just rotated them a few weeks back).

My commute is pretty much all stop and go, there are few exceptions.

dennismurphy
Put me on hold? I'll put YOU on hold
Premium Member
join:2002-11-19
Parsippany, NJ

dennismurphy to elwoodblues

Premium Member

to elwoodblues
said by elwoodblues:

What's with Americans who can't figure out math. if a 1/4 tank is roughly 4 gals, then half a tank must be 8.

Read the original post.

You're assuming that your gauge reflects reality. In fact, most do not. They are not precise and not linear.

Do not rely on the gauge to tell much of anything - calculating the actual MPG is the only reliable way.
mischief007
join:2011-03-07
Ingersoll, ON

mischief007 to elwoodblues

Member

to elwoodblues
With this winter being so cold, my fuel mileage has suffered. I'm getting anywhere between 5 and 10 mpg lower than usual but I also drive a diesel. The diesels hate the cold weather especially on start up. I can't wait for the weather to finally warm up. Drove on the highway yesterday with it being a little warmer and I noticed my fuel mileage has gone up.

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues to dennismurphy

Premium Member

to dennismurphy
said by dennismurphy:

said by elwoodblues:

What's with Americans who can't figure out math. if a 1/4 tank is roughly 4 gals, then half a tank must be 8.

Read the original post.

You're assuming that your gauge reflects reality. In fact, most do not. They are not precise and not linear.

Do not rely on the gauge to tell much of anything - calculating the actual MPG is the only reliable way.

It's fairly accurate, if it's "empty" I'll need between 55-60ltr of fuel. .

Anon23
@wayport.net

Anon23 to elwoodblues

Anon

to elwoodblues
Your problem is the stop and go traffic. You get zero miles to the gallon/liter when you are stopped. It also takes more gas to come up to speed from a stop.

Try driving the same distance when there is no traffic and see what your mileage is before trying to fix something.

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues

Premium Member

said by Anon23 :

Your problem is the stop and go traffic. You get zero miles to the gallon/liter when you are stopped. It also takes more gas to come up to speed from a stop.

Try driving the same distance when there is no traffic and see what your mileage is before trying to fix something.

I don't know where you live the concept of "no traffic" doesn't exist in Toronto. Maybe at 4am....

Anon23
@wayport.net

Anon23

Anon

OK. Low traffic where you are not stop and go. Perhaps that is easier. Or, just go on and try to fix a problem that probably doesn't exist.

Sheesh, try to help and I get attitude.

I live in the Bay Area of California. I used to travel 22.5 miles to work in stop and go traffic (round trip of about 45 miles).

hortnut
Huh?
join:2005-09-25
PDX Metro

hortnut to elwoodblues

Member

to elwoodblues
1. Make sure maintenance is up to date
2. Is tire pressure correct per manufacture's recommendation on door post? Tires lose pressure over time.
3. Measure based on miles/km driven and actual gallons/liters used. Do not use 'roughly' 1/4 tank. At empty, my F150 still has 3 gallons +. At 1/2 - 11 gallons. 25 gallon tank. At full can drive 50 miles before needle moves off full mark.

If 6 cyl, 4spd auto, awd, US Epa says 16 City, 17 combined, 20 Hwy.

lostinms
Moo
join:2001-11-29
Grenada, MS

lostinms to elwoodblues

Member

to elwoodblues
Do you have to warm you car up in the morning to get frost or ice off the windows? If so that is where you access gas is going to. When summer time gets here your fuel mileage will go up but during the winter most people will go warm their vehicle up prior to going to work do to frost/ice on the windows. It may not seem like you are burning that much but you are since the car Idles high when cold.

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues

Premium Member

Nope, start and go, that's how my Dad taught me. If I've got a fair bit of snow and and ice to scrape maybe. But in general no.

aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA

1 edit

aurgathor to elwoodblues

Member

to elwoodblues
Stop and go traffic in an urban area and measurements such as 1/4 tank make your results null and void for most purposes except approximate stop-and-go traffic mpg.

If you want to measure a useable true highway mpg (or km/liter, whatever) schedule a weekend trip to some place with not too much traffic on the road. Once you leave the Toronto area, completely fill up the tank and note the mileage on the receipt. Do that for every subsequent fill up until the last one before getting back to Toronto traffic.

Compute mpg based on those receipts.

mattmag

join:2000-04-09
NW Illinois

mattmag to elwoodblues

to elwoodblues


You simply can not go by the gauge position to determine fuel consumption. Period. As noted above, which is correct, the gauges are not consistent across their face. They tend to move slower when full, and faster toward mid-levels. In any case, just do it the proper way, which is fill the tank, write down the current miles. Drive it, letting it get as low as you can, then fill again and write down the miles and amount of fuel added. Divide the miles by the fuel added, and for good measure, do it all over again to be sure you don't have any anomalies.

And as also noted, cold weather makes fuel mileage suck all on its own.

Beezel
join:2008-12-15
Las Vegas, NV

Beezel

Member

said by mattmag:

You simply can not go by the gauge position to determine fuel consumption. Period. As noted above, which is correct, the gauges are not consistent across their face. They tend to move slower when full, and faster toward mid-levels.

Tell me about it, my VW is a good example of that. I always reset the trip odometer when I fill up. I keep track of it in relation to the gauge. I pretty much know about how many miles I get for the various driving I do.
wth
Premium Member
join:2002-02-20
Iowa City,IA

wth to hortnut

Premium Member

to hortnut
said by hortnut:

If 6 cyl, 4spd auto, awd, US Epa says 16 City, 17 combined, 20 Hwy.

And the EPA test is done using unleaded gas and not ethanol, so it's about impossible to get the EPA mileage, since ethanol produces less btu's/gal.
As for gauge accuracy, we have a 2013 RAV4 that has a 15.9 US gal tank. When the gauge reads 1/4, you can only get 10 gal in it, at empty, your lucky if you can get 13.2 in it.

hortnut
Huh?
join:2005-09-25
PDX Metro

1 edit

hortnut

Member

Good point. Isn't the OP in Toronto? I did not bother looking at Canadian rules. I thought I would let him do the conversions. Guy did not seem to want to check some of the basics like air pressure as he had checked it 2 months ago.

With alloy wheels I have developed a slow leak in what seemed to be overnight a couple of times. Doesn't take much to lower tire pressure and in my vehicle it affects my gas mileage right away. F150, 4x4.

Edit: Found in an article on accuweather: "most tires lose 1 pound per square inch (psi) for every 10 F of temperature drop. So, checking inflation as the air gets colder is critical. For example, a fully inflated tire at 70 F is five psi under-inflated at 20 F. Under-inflated tires do not perform well and are subject to damage or failure especially in snow and icy conditions."

You got me curious - here is Canada's equivalent to the EPA site:
»oee.nrcan.gc.ca/fcr-rcf/ ··· ex-e.cfm

Info on their testing methodology, 5 cycle -
»www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/e ··· ing/7495

LazMan
Premium Member
join:2003-03-26
Beverly Hills, CA

LazMan to elwoodblues

Premium Member

to elwoodblues
Ya, that mileage isn't great...

I'm getting 14.7L per 100k in a 5.0 f150... And I have a heavy foot.

Check your tire pressures - the cold will have reduced the pressure in the tire, which increases rolling resistance. Don't bump it too much, though - then they'll be over pressure after they heat up, which negatively effects traction.

Other factor is that cold air is more dense, thus the computer adds more fuel, to keep the mixture from becoming too lean. That hurts mileage, but nothing helps that but moving south...

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues to hortnut

Premium Member

to hortnut
First and foremost, I had the tires rotated about 3 weeks ago, and they're filled with nitrogen so the low pressure is a not a factor.

On average, tires filled with air lose about 1.5 psi every month, whereas tires filled with nitrogen will lose that amount in about 3-4 months.

And n 3 months I'd have the tires rotated again., it;s free because i bought them at costco.

The pressure in nitrogen filled tires will change when the temperature changes, just as it does with air filled tires, because nitrogen and oxygen respond to changes in ambient temperature in a similar manner.

However, nitrogen does not contain the moisture and other contaminants found in compressed air so, as you drive and the tires heat up, nitrogen filled tires will fluctuate less in temperature and pressure than air filled tires while driving. The bottom line is, you will still see pressure changes with nitrogen but, overall, your tires will run cooler and at a more consistent pressure than if they were filled with air.

»www.getnitrogen.org/sub. ··· eeffects

And yes part of the issue in Ontario is gas can contain up to 10% ethanol.

ROCINANTE
Original Member 007
Premium Member
join:1999-06-29
Hartsdale, NY

ROCINANTE to elwoodblues

Premium Member

to elwoodblues
I have a 2004 Escape and I just did a complete tune up on it because one of the coils was misfiring and the CEL was blinking. I was afraid of damaging the cats. The older Escapes are fairly easy to work on, you can take apart the manifolds, clean all the valves, and replace the coils and spark plugs. The fuel filter is also easy to change once you figure out how Ford clips them on.

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues

Premium Member

Thanks, but as i say to many people, I'm not my fathers son. He was a handy guy, I'm not.

mattmag

join:2000-04-09
NW Illinois

mattmag

said by elwoodblues:

Thanks, but as i say to many people, I'm not my fathers son. He was a handy guy, I'm not.

Sounds like my dad when I was growing up. If the car made some sort of noise, he would fix it by turning the radio up louder...