Toyota Trucks: Getting better gas mileage - '94 4Runner

"Dave" <com> sez:
 

You need to supply more data to determine if 12 mpg truly is bad mileage or
not. Urban driving? Highway driving? A mix of the two? Is oxygenated
fuel in use in your area? Have you had a compression test of all cylinders
in your engine? How many miles are on the vehicle? Does it burn oil?
Replace the air filter lately? Lots of short trips (less than 10 mi.) with
a cold engine to start? Yadda, yadda, yadda ...

12 mpg would be about par in stop-n-go stoplight to stoplight driving with a
relatively short commute to work if you have a lead foot and/or the engine
doesn't have enough time to come up to full operating temperature.

Good wrenchin' to ya,
VLJ
--

"Dave" <com> wrote in message
news:google.com... 

There are lots of articles on the web on ways to increase fuel mileage -
Google is your friend. Here's a few things you can do cheap:

1) Make sure your tires are in good shape and properly inflated. This is a
biggie. Underinflated tires are a big hit on mileage.

2) Aerodynamics are critical. Make sure you're not flapping any body panels,
or anything else that might be acting as a drag.

3) Don't drive so fast. *smile*

4) Don't accelerate harder than you need to, and try to maintain a constant
speed when you can.

A cold-air intake might help a little, but not much. Do you get any blue
smoke? Have you tried checking spark for good voltage and cylinders for good
compression? Is your battery in good shape (so your alternator doesn't have
to work so hard) and is your alternator putting out good voltage? Is your
vehicle shifting smoothly into its highest gear (if automatic) or are you
using fifth gear at highway speed? Do you *drive* at highway speed, or is it
all stop-and-go? Do you make any long trips or is it all short hops?

See? Lots of stuff it could be.

D

"Dave" <com> wrote in message
news:google.com... 

Ensure EGR valve is not blocked.

Time since last tune-up?

Power-robbing features ala A/C, auto tranny, oversized tires, amount of
cargo weight etc etc.?





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Sounds like a V6 with automatic. ADD front hub? If so replace with Warn or
OEM AISIN manual hubs -- less moving parts. Use synthetic "oil". Clean
injectors with Chevron Techron or better yet send them of to be calibrated.
Add a new free flow Cat to the new exhurst and headers.

"Dave" <com> wrote in message
news:google.com... 

The aftermarket intake system will give a small hp increase at high rpm and
may cost a couple of hp at low rpm...at least that's what K&N's web site
dyno chart shows for the Tundra. It'll never pay for itself in gas savings,
nor will another exhaust system. If your catcon and muffler are not
clogged, there's no economic reason to replace them.

As the others have said, air up your tires, don't hope for good mileage with
big lumpy tires, don't carry hundreds of pounds of unnecessary tools and
other stuff, and get tune-ups on schedule. Oh, yeah, if you have oversized
tires, you're really driving more miles than your odometer shows, so your
miles per gallon computes lower than it actually is.

Don't waste money on exotic spark plugs, swirly gizmos for the throttle
body, and any of that other stuff--most doesn't work as good as stock, and
none of it pays for itself. Don't use 50 wt. oil (15W-50, etc.), do use a
top quality fuel system cleaner like Chevron Techron Concentrate. Don't
waste money on higher octane gasoline that your truck needs. ARCO gas
causes my truck to get about 1 mpg less than Safeway and other cheap gas.


Ken


"Dave" <com> wrote in message
news:google.com... 

"vlj" <v@l.j> wrote in message news:<s6DPb.56341$news.verio.net>... 

VLJ

All urban, stop-and-go driving. I commute <10 miles each way, taking
about 20-25 minutes. Not sure about oxygenated gas in my area. The
4runner has only 37,500 miles on it, and it doesn't burn oil (at least
not that much). The previous owner treated it better than I could
have asked for it. 5 speed manual transmission, brand new air filter,
good tires. I haven't tried the compression test on the cylinders yet
though, but I have had the car checked out by a mechanic.(For what
that is worth) Do you know of anything that can be done to improve
the in-town mileage? Thanks.