MPG loss after TRD air intake install..?

Slow and steady in troubleshooting this one, but I think I got it figured out.

I switched the re-usable filter back out for a paper one and the first few drives after replacement are very promising. My MPG seems to be better. Filter may have just been dirtier than it looked or was otherwise too clogged to let enough air through.

 

Check your mass air flow sensor. May need cleaning.

 

Wow 8 mpg tacoma? At 8 mpg you could be driving a real truck.

 

8 MPG?

I’d drive to the nearest dealer and trade it in for a Tundra. You will love that V8 sound and getting 12 MPG!

 

OP might think this is a joke but I would bet money on it. You’re just driving it harder to hear and feel your new mod. This happened to me on a few previous cars

 

I have a 2017 TRD-off road 6mt with the TRD-intake and TRD exhaust, and routinely get 19-21mpg, and I drive the truck Like Colin McCrae. Something is wrong with the goofy motor tune/software.

 

Did you put in a used filter? Those oil filters do catch a lot of contaminants although they are supposed to go 20,000+ miles under normal driving conditions before needed cleaning and reoiling. If you're getting better MPG with the old OEM paper filter, maybe buy a premium aftermaket dry filter or go back to a new clean OEM. Also, you might check the secondary charcoal filter and see if there's any issues there.

 

What was your mpg before the intake?

 

@ICU1 Yep. This was actually the first thing I did. It was bright and shiny beforehand and my cleaning didn't change anything.

@GTS Bruce @Aldo98229 Ha! No doubt. At one point I had a GMC 2500 that got 10 mpg whether it was loaded down with a 300 gallon water tank and pulling a trailer or if it was empty. I really did like that truck.

@scifidelity @BadKitty There may be some unintentional extra throttle, but not not that much.

@LTG4087 Yeah, it was used. It looked brand new, but I'm guessing that it was clogged up in some way. Now that I have this figured out, I think I am going to go with a quality dry filter.

@skierd So the drive I am using as my primary comparison is my commute to work. I drive through downtown and part of my drive is a pretty steep incline. Prior to these changes, I was getting around 15-16 mpg on this drive. Then 8 mpg, and as low as 7.6. Highway driving went from around 18 to 13.

 

Yes my mpg's got worse by 0.8 MPG so far with zero increase in power and double the surging and stumbles at low rpm shifts. What a fucking load of junk. My truck is a manual. I got my TRD intake at a used price (Display model at dealership). **Also to note my intake did not have the Charcoal filter in place, it had been cut out)

I have done a MAF cleaning and two ECU resets which helps for about a week then it goes back to driving like shit.

I'm in the process of swapping back to the stock airbox.

 

A reusable oiled filter may get some oil on the MAF and cause screwing readings..... and the computer will use those screwy readings to adjust the AF ratio.

 

8mpgs, dang you rolling on 37s or something

 

On stock sized wheels/tires, shouldn't get less than 12 or 13mpg even if you are running around floored all the time. Something definitely off mechanically. I second cleaning the MAF sensor; be sure to use the fluid made specifically for newer Japanese vehicles. No mechanic I ever talked to recommends using those oiled filters, btw. There is NO PROOF they do ANYTHING other than fouling up sensitive MAF's. I had a MAF sensor go bad on a 2013 Subaru, from a K&N. They replaced it under warranty, but I never used those shit filters afterwards. On my truck, I went out of my way to get the dry filter for my CAI.