Tacoma Fuel Economy

[L8ight]

Originally Posted by HankB

What kind of driving pattern do you see? If you have a short drive to work, that will hurt mileage. Worst mileage is right after startup due to cold enrichment. If that's a big portion of your driving, mileage will be lower.

Come to think of that, if your thermostat is stuck open and results in slow warmup or the engine never comes to temperature, that will result in more cold enrichment and could also affect mileage. So, in addition to stuff already mentioned (basically engine tune - plugs and filters) also make sure the thermostat is OK.

Oh, and are you trying really hard to be light footed or actually succeeding.

Yes, I have a very short drive to work. It's only about 3 miles away! I thought of that too, in addition to the fact that I never go any faster than 40 mph on the way there, lots of stopping and going. I knew that would hurt economy, but my concern grew when it got the same economy whether I was towing a 2,000 lb trailer or not! It didn't seem to matter how I drove either, just got 13 mpg regardless. High speed, low speed, longer trips, etc... no matter what, same crap.

Well, last night I took a little road trip to the next town over(bout 50 miles away). Well, on the interstate I cruised about 75+. We took the hwy home, so top speed was in the mid 60s. There's 170+ miles on the trip OD, and almost half a tank left! I'm so pleased! I sea foamed the fuel tank, and intake, replaced the plugs, and air filter, changed the oil and oil filter. It felt peppier, but was still getting crap economy. Last night, it finally did what I hoped.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

P.S. I'm pretty sure my thermostat is ok, the engine gets up to operating temps in reasonable time, so I'm pretty sure it's ok.

[HankB]

Originally Posted by L8ight

Yes, I have a very short drive to work. It's only about 3 miles away!

OK then, here's what you're up against. I just ran to the grocery and since I now have a Scanguage II, I checked mileage. (Note, I'm still on the first tank of gas since this addition so fuel flow has not been calibrated. My numbers may not be precise, but they should be comparable to each other.) It's just a bit over 8 miles, but it is well worth the trip it as they have great produce.

At three miles from home - first trip of the day - the truck is just reaching operating temperature of ~185° F. Trip mileage at that point is about 14 mpg. The rest of the tip it rises to nearly 19 mpg. On the trip home, starting with a warm engine, transmission, etc. I achieve nearly 27 mpg. This is at an ambient temp of 55°, but the difference between 55° and 185° vs 30° or 70° to 185° just isn't that great.

So... I'm going to say that a 3 mile typical drive has a huge impact on your fuel mileage. In fact, I think most manufacturers would classify that as severe duty and you should consider scheduling maintenance accordingly. Those short trips allow moisture to build up in the engine oil that would ordinarily be driven off during longer trips.

[L8ight]

Hmm, good advice. Maybe I should look into an electric car... hehe

[mountainwolfpup]

My fuel economy sucks compared to you guys, sigh. I did find that super unleaded makes a positive difference in my MPG, but only slightly.

I drive a 60/40 mix of city/highway. With my heavier tires and that heavy new OME suspension, steel bumper, winch, shell, etc I guess I've done it to myself.

But hey, if I wanted good mileage I'd have gotten a diesel. Oh, oops.. that's right Toyota won't sell theirs in the US yet.. or I'd already be driving one.

[L8ight]

Man, I'm stil a bit confused. I get low 20s at 75 mph, and 10 mpg around town...

It's getting harder and harder to start. I'm having to add throttle to get it to fire, otherwise it seems to turn over excessively. There's no CEL, so I'm curious. What do bad fuel economy and hard starts typically mean? Fuel pump, dirty injectors, FPR?

[HankB]

Originally Posted by L8ight

Man, I'm stil a bit confused. I get low 20s at 75 mph, and 10 mpg around town...

It's getting harder and harder to start. I'm having to add throttle to get it to fire, otherwise it seems to turn over excessively. There's no CEL, so I'm curious. What do bad fuel economy and hard starts typically mean? Fuel pump, dirty injectors, FPR?

Does your CEL go on when you turn the key on before you start the engine? (Is it possible that a previous owner disabled it or the circuit is faulty?)

I would try to pull codes anyway just in case there are some that get stored but do not cause the CEL to go on. I think you can also ask a dealer to scan your truck as there may be additional conditions beyond what causes a CEL or registers a code that get stored.

Beyond that... Make sure you have the basics covered like plugs and air filter. If you suspect injectors, run a bottle of Techron (or your favorite
FI cleaner) through it. That made a significant difference on our GTI - adding nearly 5 mpg.

It seems pretty clear that if you have to depress the accelerator to start, something is not right. Good luck figuring it out!

[L8ight]

Thanks for the suggestions. I did the whole, filter, plugs, etc... It seems peppier, and I did get some really good economy on the interstate. I know the CEL works, it came on when I sea foamed the intake(prolly confused the O2 sensor). So I unplugged the battery for about 20 minutes to make sure I didn't damage anything. It reset, and hasn't come back on since.

When the light was on, I did get the local autozone to scan it for me. The codes that came back basically said it was an O2 sensor, or one of the injector banks, and it also mentioned the fuel pressure regulator. I think you could be on to something, it may have codes yet it doesn't turn the CEL on. I fear what the local stealership would charge to just check codes. I'll have to call and see...

[OffroadToy]

I guess I'm in the minority. Since I bought my truck in 07 I've never checked the mileage...mainly because I could care less what it gets. I knew going in that the mileage of a truck usually isn't that great. If I was concerned about mileage I would have got a 4 cylinder or compact car. I bought the V6 Tacoma because of it's power, reliability, and trade-in value.

[L8ight]

Originally Posted by OffroadToy

I guess I'm in the minority. Since I bought my truck in 07 I've never checked the mileage...mainly because I could care less what it gets. I knew going in that the mileage of a truck usually isn't that great. If I was concerned about mileage I would have got a 4 cylinder or compact car. I bought the V6 Tacoma because of it's power, reliability, and trade-in value.

I got mine specifically to tow. I anticipated about 18-20 mpg... I'm still getting 10mpg around town. It should get at LEAST 15...

[bryan83taco]

Originally Posted by OffroadToy

I guess I'm in the minority. Since I bought my truck in 07 I've never checked the mileage...mainly because I could care less what it gets. I knew going in that the mileage of a truck usually isn't that great. If I was concerned about mileage I would have got a 4 cylinder or compact car. I bought the V6 Tacoma because of it's power, reliability, and trade-in value.

I'm with ya on that one. Except I plan on driving the taco till the wheels fall off so I'm not concerned about trade in value.

[TheMaster]

Originally Posted by L8ight

I got mine specifically to tow. I anticipated about 18-20 mpg... I'm still getting 10mpg around town. It should get at LEAST 15...

It depends on how much you are towing, driving style, how hard you accelerate and how fast you are going.

If I tow about two-and-a-half-tons and travel at an approx. 75mph, I get about 10.08 mpg with aggressive driving. When I drop my speed to 62.5 mph and with smooth take offs, I get about 13.78 mpg. These are highway numbers BTW.

So your 10mpg around town is not going to improve unless you shed some weight or your trailer.

[T@co_Pr3runn3r]

Originally Posted by bryan83taco

I'm with ya on that one. Except I plan on driving the taco till the wheels fall off so I'm not concerned about trade in value.

The wheels falling off is no big deal, put'em back on & go more,lol.

[jdavis92]

Originally Posted by OffroadToy

I guess I'm in the minority. Since I bought my truck in 07 I've never checked the mileage...mainly because I could care less what it gets. I knew going in that the mileage of a truck usually isn't that great. If I was concerned about mileage I would have got a 4 cylinder or compact car. I bought the V6 Tacoma because of it's power, reliability, and trade-in value.

I've perpetually kept a log of my MPG on every single vehicle I have ever owned, regardless of what kind of vehicle it is.

I use lowered MPG as an early warning sign. A decrease in fuel economy has been helped me avoid what could have been costly repairs to a coupla vehicles.

[Ese Loco]

I got the best MPG's that i have ever gotten yesterday driving 147 miles from Miami to Vero Beach.

I was driving on I-95 in 6th gear cruising around 70-73mph with a 4 mile stop in Ft Lauderdale. This kept my RPM's at 2500 and because of this i got 19.33MPG

It was a good feeling seeing what type of fuel economy i can get if i just take it easy and not got 80-85 the whole way

[whippersnapper02]

My truck is still breaking in and I'm getting 17-18 MPG. I'm happy.

[JasonY]

I just passed 5000 miles and the ScanGauge II shows me at around 24mpg (up from 20ish when new). I'm really happy about that.

[summerboy1958]

I've only had my '01 V6 5 speed for about a month. I got 15.5 mpg on the 1st tank full, all city, short drives. I got 15.3 on the next 1/2 tank mostly driving my daughter around in the snow in 4wd last week.

I just changed all of the transmission and gear fluids to AmsOil. I plan to Seafoam the engine and change to AmsOil engine oil if it ever gets warmer or drier. I also have a AFE air filter to install with a deckplate. I was thinking about a scan gage. I'd like to boost my milage and I'll bet I am my own worst enemy. Anybody know where the best deal is these days?

[David K]

My 2005 V-6 DC 4WD got 16 mpg around town and 19 mpg pure hwy. At 102,000 miles, I swapped it for a 2010 (same truck model) with just 10 miles on the odo, last month. So far, getting 14-15 mpg with under 2000 miles on the odo, (around town) and 16-18 mpg hwy. I call this poor mileage the break-in period... Looking forward to a bit more mpg, soon!

[GEARAHOLIC]

Average with stock gears, 6" lift, 33" tires and roof rack is about 15....all that plus loaded with 4 people for a trip to SD to see the chargers play...12.8 MPG!!!!!!!

[wiscdave]

17.6mpg in the winter here mostly hwy miles under 65 - very soft on the pedal