Only got 270 miles out of my tank....

I was getting about 14 to 15mpg when I got the truck. About two months ago I cleaned the throttle body (which was filthy!), changed the fuel filter and flushed the radiator out pretty well (it looked like the previous owner had poured sand in there!).

I now average 19mpg, and my last tank was 20mpg! I also seafoamed, but I didn't notice any difference in handling, performance, or fuel economy. To be honest, I think it actually damaged my truck a bit, as I now idle at around 500 rpm. Smoked a shit ton though, which was pretty fun to watch.

I noticed the biggest increase after cleaning the throttle body, so I'd recommend doing that first. I used a can of MAF brake cleaner and a terry cloth. After that I'd look into the fuel filter.

My experience might be different from yours, I'm pretty sure my truck was beaten every day of its life before I got her.

EDIT: I get about 320 miles per tank

 

I get about 260 miles on the odometer for each tank. When you factor in 33" tires (speedo is about 10% off) I actually get about 290 real miles per tank or about 18.1 mpg. I thought that was pretty good lol

 

Just what are you calling a "TANK" when you say how many miles you got (per tank)?

The number of gallons is kind-of important to go with your 'miles' figure!

Are you all going Empty, a true "tank" (21 gallons)?
Filling when the needle is on 'E' (18 gallons)?
Filling when the low fuel light comes on (17 gallons)?
Filling at the 1/4 Tank Line (13 gallons)?

My Tacoma is getting 16 MPG daily driving, so a TRUE TANK is 336 miles (16 x 21)
but more often I fill between the 1/4 line (208 miles) and the Low Light (272 miles).

 

No offense but thats BS

 

x2

 

x21635254 no way on earth you could get over 450 on our tanks. and thats being super generous
edit: even with chart still not seeing how that could ever happen.

 

-infinity
You guys are wrong.

No offense.

 

We are both in Boulder, stop by Avery for a beer if you want to discuss.

 

I believe 30+ mpg with a two wheel drive 4 cyl. on the road most of your fuel economy starts with the right foot. When I tow my 18' camper is when I only get 250 per tank usually I get around 400 miles out of a tank. When you say X miles out of a tank it really does not mean much it's how much fuel it used not how full the tank was. If I fill my tank till the pump kicks off I still can get another 2 gallons or more of gas in it so that means I can go another 40 to 60 miles on a tank. If you want fuel economy a 4X4 truck is not for you my commuter is a VW TDI diesel and it all ways gets at least 50 mpg the Taco is a weekend driver and fire wood fetcher.

 

Where in the US is a 8% grade hill the goes for 751 miles? This is almost 37 MPG. That is Prius MPG stuff. Did you do a motor/engine/battery swap with said Prius? Were you being towed? Are we talking about a V6 4.0L Dbl-Cab here? This is just hard to believe.

Mine averages somewhere between 18-20 MPG and it's 100% pure stock. That's about 50/50 city and highway. From a full tank to light on I get about 310 miles. I do not baby the truck and usually drive about 70-75 on the freeway along with the rest of the traffic.

 

Is 270 when the light comes on? My light comes on about 285; if I don't or can't stop I can make 330-340 (in other words, when the light comes on, there is about 2.5-3 gallons left)

 

If you want to figure you're mileage don't look at what you get a tank. Tank capacities all very in size slightly. Did you include what gas is in the filler neck?
Do this: totally fill the tank, record the odometer, drive(the farther the better), totally fill up again, record the odometer, subtract the smaller from the greater, devide by the number of gallons you just topped the tank off with. That's your mileage!

Wake up! No Tacoma v6 4x4 gets 35mpg unless it's on a trailer.

 

x2 I do this everytime, reset you trip odometer every fill-up, when you fill-up next time, divide the # of miles you got by the # of gallons you put in. If you reset everytime and fill up everytime it will be accurate, even if you don't run in it dry. You can test yourself on conditions outside, your driving, additives, etc. that may help or hurt you. I've done this since day one that I bought mine with 13 miles on it, 125,987 miles later still tracking.

Not sure what you meant here though? (are you referring to the total mileage as opposed to using the trip A or B?)

 

The light comes on when you are down 17 gallons (have 4 left in the tank) this is +/- 0.5 gallon...

As noted, where we stop filling up will be variable unless you actually go to where the gas spills out... and that is a no-no in the USA.

FULL: 21 Gallons
3/4 LINE: 16 (down 5)
1/2 LINE: 12 (down 9)
1/4 LINE: 8 (down 13)
LIGHT: 4 (down 17)
E LINE: 3 (down 18)

 

Yeah, sorry should have quoted the OP. I was asking him if he means his light is coming on around 270 or if he means he is running out of gas broke down at 270. Mine varies every time like you said, whether it is the fill-up point or I try driving like a grandma that varies.

 

I have 2008 4x4 trd double taco. My mileage is all over the place and only because of type of driving that I do.

When carrying people only I get 350 miles to a tank (highway only/cruise control)
When carrying scuba gear+tanks only I get 327 miles to a tank (highway only/cruise control)
Daily riding gets me about 270-300 miles driving through traffic slower than 50mph at all times.

 

Not sure how much I was getting out of a full tank, but at my last fill up, I was at 1/4 tank with 270 miles.... 21.1MPG with the 4.0 DB LB. Lets just say I am SUPER stoked on this... Of course this was about 70% Granny driving.. 50/50 highway city driving.

 

Some people don't know how to drive economically!! If you drive in town, you won't average very well, probably around 15-17 mpg. If you drive a combination like I do, I average around 19 mpg. If you let the car idle all the time, you mpg's will suck. Shifting below 2000 with hurts my mpg's, I just go with traffic, shift when I need to, 55-65 is my best mpg speed...around 25 on flat ground. We all know hills can be a bitch, figure out what gear and speed gets you the best mileage up hills, use your inertia to get up the hill and slowly feather it.

If you just drive short distances, your mpg's will suck. I was at 17.5 on Kodiak Island, stop and go with 4 miles of highway. I use 87 octane and run Lucas injector cleaner every few months and keep the air filter clean. And get a gauge to track it, you'll be surprised how much better you get watching mpg's average.

 

With 1600 miles on my 2011 taco I went 286 miles and put in 16.2 gallons. that gave me 17.6 mpg. that was mostly city driving back and forth to work which is 6 miles each way.

I hope when she breaks in I will see another mile or two per gallon better.

Hell my 07 3500 dually chevy with a duramax adverage 15 mpg around town and I saw 19.5 on the highway..

 

That is good... anything over 16 is good, if mostly city driving (V6, AUTO, DC, 4WD that is)