my gas mileage sucks. why?

have a 1996 single cab with the 2.4 and a 5 speed. siting on 31's with 456 gears. my gas mileage sucks. giessing im getting 1500175 miles a tank. why ??? if i had a trip meter i could be exact but i dont get why its so terrible. everything is bone stock, engine wise. any clue whats going on ? i have 174xxx and have plenty of power. starts great runs pretty good. no drips, leaks, nothing. im lost.

 

when is the last time you changed the fuel filter? spark plugs? air filter?

 

funny you should ask that. just after i posted i went to check my filter, sweet jesus. its a drop in K&N that was completely sealed with shit. i actually just bought the truck last week. this weekend i will be doing the full treatment, plugs, oil, maybe a new filter too, this one is really really destroyed. i know they are cleanable but this one might be beyond saving. and i havent even looked, but where is the fuel filter located on this truck?

 

Get yourself an AFE Prodry if you ditch the KN, you won't have to oil it ever.

 

price difference between the two ?

 

i think your fuel filter is under your intake manifold. kinda a bitch to get to...but definitely worth it to change it.

 

thanks, il check it out saturday weather permitting. cheaned the air filter, dont know how it was still in tact. it looked to have never been cleaned. ever. ill change the plugs, fuel filter, oil, and ?? should i change over to full synthetic because of the miles ? what miles are these motors good for ? im at about 174xxx. never been rebuilt, runs great.

 

Check your differentials and transfer case (if 4x4). Sounds like a full tune up is in order. If maintained, it's common for those 4cyls to exceed 300k miles.

 

wow. thats impressive. its a standard 2wd. ill change the diff fluid though.

 

i wouldnt run synthetic......only because with that many miles, it could actually clean the motor/motor seals too much and cause some leaks. im not saying it definitely will...but there is a chance that it could. i'd stick with a good high mileage oil for it.

 

didnt think about that. good point

 

Man, that's a lot of miles. Seriously, though, that .456 rear gear might have something to do with it. I doubt if you'll ever get real good mileage with a gear that low.

 

ok, i figured out the 1500175 is 150-175 mi/tnk. I'm gonna assume after the 4.56, the 31s being bigger and the odometer miles, that it dropped from normal to lowr.

I never had a 96 toyo so, in general , do a tune up/check: spark plugs and cables, distributer if it has one, the rotor inside it, o2 sensr(s), and air filter as mentioned above. Check tires, did you offroad and a buddy air you dont to 18 psi? I'm sure there could be more but I'm not a mechanic,and I didnt sleep at a hoiday inn.

 

Another good point. I wonder if it came stock with a 4.56. I doubt it. Are you sure your speedo has been re-calibrated to compensate for the lower rear gear and bigger tires? You might be getting better mileage than you think.

I used to have a 64 Chevy C-10 with 36.5's and a heavy duty Dana 3/4 ton rear end that came out of a big ol' ambulance. Talk about a pulling truck. The speedo was worthless. You could be running down the interstate passing everybody and it would say you were going about 45.

 

im going off of the fuel gauge and how its always on E !!! but yes, my speedo tells me im doing about 90 when im doing about 60. my gearing is killing me. so i have to either go up to 33's or change my gearing. i might do a rear end swap. i could go over to a ford 8.8 out of an explorer. would be nice to have disc brakes too, and i believe teh gearing would work stock.

 

Hey man doubt you remember me from PWC today from over the summer. Was trying to convince you to ride the stand ups in canyon lake, but time was an issue. Are you sure you have 456's? Mine has 456's and my speedo says 80 while the gps say 70. I'm getting about 23mpgs with a 2.4 5 speed long travel set up.