gone 90kms and burnt 3/8s of a tank of gas?

[89TownCar]

What could be why my fuel consumption is so high? I filled the tires to the proper PSI and will probably be doing new plugs and wires very soon. All the driving is city driving with no hard accelerations at all.

[L1011tristar17]

It could be quite a bit of things. However I don't entirely think the fuel gauges are that accurate. Mine shoots down to half a tank pretty fast and then goes a lot slower to E. And when it's at E, it still has about three gallons left.

You definitely have the right idea with plugs and wires. While you're at it, I would also check the timing. Vacuum leaks can also cause bad mileage (depending on the leak)

[IPreferDIY]

I've read a lot about lazy oxygen sensors causing increased fuel consumption, but I'm no expert.

[sly]

city MPG will probably be around 13-15mpg (whatever that is in km/g) when running right. I've also had the pump at the filling station click off too soon on me and didn't actually fill the tank up and end up looking like a used more gas than I actually did.

That said, check for smell of gas under the hood or wet looking places anywhere along the driver side frame rail from the gas tank all the way to the engine. Leaky fuel lines will make for terrible mileage too.

[89TownCar]

It could be quite a bit of things. However I don't entirely think the fuel gauges are that accurate. Mine shoots down to half a tank pretty fast and then goes a lot slower to E. And when it's at E, it still has about three gallons left.

You definitely have the right idea with plugs and wires. While you're at it, I would also check the timing. Vacuum leaks can also cause bad mileage (depending on the leak)

Mine literally took about 150kms to shoot down from full to half. and then took another 100 to go from half to 3/8s. Definitely doing plugs, wires and a distributor cap swap next pay

[gadget73]

Well, its an American car. They get terrible fuel economy on metric gasoline.

[IPreferDIY]

Well, its an American car. They get terrible fuel economy on metric gasoline.

For those who might actually be interested in knowing the difference between the American and metric methods for calculating gas consumption (eg. Americans who love Canadian cottage country), the American method uses how far you go with a given amount of gas (miles per gallon) while the metric method uses how much gas you need to go a certain distance (liters per 100km). There are lots of conversion calculators on the internet, so I won't bother with further details.

Something that bothers me about my so-called American car with a 4.6 LITER engine is that it has both metric and standard fasteners.

[gadget73]

Well, you have a Canadian car. Yours was built in St Thomas. Lincolns were all built in Wixom, Michigan. Its also got a 302 cubic inch engine, so again, metric gasoline doesn't work.




it's a joke, relax. The pertinent suggestions were already made.

[IPreferDIY]

... it's a joke, relax. The pertinent suggestions were already made.

Just joking back. No worries.

[84GrandMarquis]

I never trust the gauge itself, I always divide the gallons of gas used by the miles driven since the last fill up if I want the most accurate reading.

Btw whenever people joke around (or appear to joke around) on the internet I always think of Poe's law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law As great as technology can be that's the Achilles heel of internet communication in my opinion. Sorry to jack your thread there for a second

[johnunit]

How much idling did you do? How many cold starts? You could have just had an unusually bad set of circumstances for mileage. My daily commute can be anywhere from 10 to 15 l/100km.

[gadget73]

I never trust the gauge itself, I always divide the gallons of gas used by the miles driven since the last fill up if I want the most accurate reading.

Btw whenever people joke around (or appear to joke around) on the internet I always think of Poe's law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law As great as technology can be that's the Achilles heel of internet communication in my opinion. Sorry to jack your thread there for a second

well, as people get to know me, they should realize that the only thing I do in the extreme is mess with people. I'm not ambitious enough to have any truly extreme leanings about anything.

[89TownCar]

How much idling did you do? How many cold starts? You could have just had an unusually bad set of circumstances for mileage. My daily commute can be anywhere from 10 to 15 l/100km.

Very little idling, idk. I filled the car today from half for $35 at 1.26/L and zeroed out the tripmeter so we'll see how much I actually burn. Im going to CSCS tomorrow in Cayuga so i'll be doing mostly rural driving tomorrow. I also got some injector cleaner and put it in, I doubt it will help much but every little counts.

[nfldfordltd]

My 88 Town Car (about 245,000 kms, original engine) with a fresh tune up (plugs, wires, distributor cap+rotor button) cleaned K&N air filter, Lincoln Logs (1990 Town Car tubular exhaust manifolds), stock 2" dual exhaust with H-pipe, Flowmaster 50 Series mufflers and empty cats, new O2 sensors, fairly new MAP sensor, A/C inoperative (no passenger side drive belt) averages about 11.5-12 litres per 100 km highway (little to no stopping, speeds of 90 to 120 km/h), meaning I can get up to 500+km per tank. Excessive kick-down in passing traffic and speeds in excess of 120 km/h will cause economy to go south.
In town with lower speeds, stop-and-go driving, more idling, it goes down to 350-400 km per tank. I do find that short idling (< 5 minutes at a time) actually saves gas rather than shutting down and starting up every time I stop. Also, outdoor temperature affects fuel economy. 30 degrees Celsius will realize better economy than < 20 degrees.
Your best bet is to do a basic tune-up, adjust your driving to optimize fuel economy, and ensure good intake airflow/exhaust flow and eliminate any restrictions. Make sure you have no fuel leakage anywhere as well. Then you will get the best fuel economy possible.

[IPreferDIY]

well, as people get to know me, they should realize that the only thing I do in the extreme is mess with people. I'm not ambitious enough to have any truly extreme leanings about anything.

I don’t take too many things too seriously. If you’ve ever seen the beginning of the Bill Cosby “Himself” video where he talks about people who laugh when they don’t know what they’re laughing at, I had experienced that sort of thing once, many many years ago. I’m the sort of person who would have a humourous disposition even when severely hung over (again, many many years ago).

I just can’t help but think that there might be a naive American with an American-made car who is thinking “Gee, I guess I shouldn’t drive to Canada after all. They sell metric gas, and my mileage won’t be as good.” I’m not judging or anything, just sayin’ (though I will note that the phrase “Funny ... but wrong” from Cheaper by the Dozen does come to mind).

If things degrade to personal attacks and name-calling, that’s when I start thinking my time might be better spent elsewhere. I just don’t see the point of that sort of thing.