Fuel Mileage Issues-New User, please be gentle

Hi everyone!
To start, I am a brand new member of this site, so if I posted in the wrong section, please forgive me, and direct me to the right place!

Okay, so I just bought a 2006 Tacoma with a 2.7L 5 speed, and I am not getting anywhere near the gas mileage I expected. (Just got rid of my F250 because I was tired of the mileage). I am getting around 17-18 mostly highway MPG. I have done a bit of research and it seems like a stock Tacoma access cab like mine should be getting somewhere in the 23+ range doing mainly highway miles. Since I bought the truck, I have changed both the cabin, and main air filter. I plan on cleaning the MAF sensor tomorrow, and ordering new iridium spark plugs. Is there anything else basic here that I should be looking for, the only thing I can think of is that the Catalytic Converter might be clogged and causing back pressure. Any suggestions, or similar stories and how they were solved would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much for any help!
Ken.

 

17-18 mpg highway is pretty bad, but I wouldn't expect 23+ mpg unless you're at sea level and drive like an old lady.

I drove my truck off the lot brand new and have never gotten close to what they claimed on the window sticker. Granted I was living at 4-6k foot elevation with not even close to flat roads. I was averaging about 19 mpg combined with 20-21 mpg highway and 17-18 mpg city. I moved to basically sea level last year and now almost all of my driving is highway miles. After I moved, I was consistently getting 22 mpg. Since then I've installed a header and cat back exhaust and mounted bigger tires that have dropped me back down to about 20 mpg.

You might try running fuel system cleaner for a tank or three to see if that does anything for you. I dump in a bottle of fuel system cleaner after every oil change. Not sure if I'm actually benefiting from it, but I figure it can't hurt.

 

Run some seafoam treatment though it if it is a higher milage truck. Also consider your driving habits and your location. Also freeway or stop and go.

A few more things is your truck stock. Stock wheel size. Lift that sort of thing.

 

Check the 4 Cylinder section. Lots of discussion on the topic.

 

What size tires are you running?

Tires larger than the stock size will reduce your "apparent" MPG due to the larger circumference. With a larger tire circumference, the truck travels further with each wheel revolution which reduces the miles traveled shown by the odometer.

I went up one tire size on my 2012 and now the speedometer is spot on. I'm not sure if the odometer is accurate but I have noticed that I can't travel quite as far on a tank as I could before but I also noticed that I apparently don't drive as far as I used to when I drive to the same places. Space/Time warp? No, just larger tires.

As far as MPGs go, I really don't pay much attention to that. I just put gas in the truck when I need to.

 

Might be quite a lot of difference but my 2000 3.4 5 speed gets between 12 and 14 mpg and I thought that was good

 

Sorry for the lack of response here guys, new to the site, never saw the notifications. ANYHOW, so problem is more or less solved. Cleaned MAF sensor, reset ECU, changed plugs, oil, all fluids put some more Dielectric grease on the ignition coils etc etc. Basically just gave her a strong tune up, and I have been getting 20+. Not quite sure which hammer hit the nail, but I can live with that. Thanks for all your help!