I have read several post on the gas mileage these cars get, some as high as 30mpg. I am lucky I get 21mpg on a highway trip and 18mpg to 19mpg around town. I have a 2003 2.5L automatic with 17inch wheels and the other standard stuff. The car has only 24K miles on it. I am a very conservative driver and have used the sport mode once. Any comments?

 

I would say that's about the kind of mileage I was gettiing with my 02 2.5 automatic x-type, highway was always 25, and in town 17 to 21. About a week ago I put in some injector cleaner. To my surprise it made a large difference, I've always been a machanic since I was 12, just turned 57. I've always to my friends and customer to keep there injectors clean, I never listen to my own advice. The difference in mileage was so good, I was really surprised. I've been getting 6 miles more per gallon. I now get 30 to 31 on the highway and around town I haven't gotten less than 22 MPG. Just a suggestion, try going down to a half a tank of gas put a bottle of injector cleaner in and see what happens. I always reset my mileage everytime I fill up, the first fill up after the cleaner was put in the first 20 miles I was showing 39.8 MPG the rest of my driving since has all been around my area, which is a lot of mountains and I'm running any where from 22 to 27. Try it, never could hurt to see if there's any gum up in the injectors. Hope this helps your mileage.

 

I agree about the injector cleaner. 21 with an auto might not be totally out of the question but I'd expect 24-28 highway unless you are driving in the mountains all the time. An 03 with 24k means it was driven less than 4k a year. Likely you had gas sitting in there for fairly long periods just going bad. Just like with a motorcycle carb the fuel injectors rely on a very fine mist of gas through a tiny pin hole. Any gunk or gumming will impact the flow pattern. Get yourself a couple of bottles of a 'brand name cleaner" and see what happens. I've also had injectors cleaned. Best to do if you have a spare set to send out but cost wise it isn't likely to be cost effective over the long run unless you put a ton of miles on the car.

 

Thank you all for the advice. I've always used sonoco 91 or 93 octane gas in my cars and had very good performance and mileage, but as someone said, this car was only driven 4K plus miles a year so, sludge and other stuff could have built up in the fuel system. I am going to run the tank down half full and pour a can of cleaner in and run it down to empty. Anyone suggest a good brand?

 

I Use STP Fuel Injector Treatment 250ml in my X
http://answers.halfords.com/answers/.../questions.htm

Hope this Helps M8

 

I'd go with a valvoline cleaner or one of the more expensive cleaners first then go with a store brand every year or oil change after that. If you have pep boys out your way you can usually get a rebate that covers most of the cost of the $10 valvoline bottle too.

 

I have used Lucus Oils fuel system cleaner and I have had good results. I have a 04 2.5 manual trans and get 24-26 mpg with hwy/around town driving. I have gotten upwards of 30 mpg's on long trips on the hwy with lite around town driving.

Deff try it out.

 

I tried techron fuel injector cleaner. It made a difference for about a month, now I'm back to 18.5 MPG around town. I think I'm going to add another bottle in since it says a second time may be required for better results.

 

I find your mileage interesting. I have an 03 S type with the 3.0 v6 and just got home from a 1,000 mile trip from Salem, Oregon to Boise, Idaho averaging 68 mph and got between 30 and 32mpg. I rarely get below 26mpg unless it's all town driving. I do use the sport mode sometime, but that doesn't seem to lower it that much and I always have the AC auto climate control running. I do have 16inch wheels and nice michelin tires. Do you have the S type or something larger?

 

I bought the quart sized bottle of Lucas for around $10 - then you meter out 3oz or so per tank - good buy for the money and allows me to use 1 bottle and divide it up amongst my fleet.

Not really any big difference in mpg observed however with injector cleaner. 18-19 on daily commute of mostly twisty/hilly back roads with speeds between 35 and 50 (and spirited driving), good bit of stop and go. Highway 24mpg is about average in the last 5 years or so (80mph cruise usually).

So your around town sounds about right, your highway sounds a little low. Check your tire pressure?

 

I just put 20K on mine in the last year and it seems to be going strong. Mileage has been steady through the year, I average 23-27 mpg which is pretty impressive. I added injector cleaner 2 times so far and didn't notice too much of a difference. the one time I saw a noticeable dip, I saw that my back left tire was very low. that seemed to do the trick, so check your pressure before you invest anything further than injector cleaner.

 

thanks for the advice on the cleaners, all of them are available around here. I have use the Lucas before so I think I will go with that. Lucas has a couple of different sizes of fuel system cleaner, will the small bottle do the job?

 

Add it to 1/2 of a tank of gas

 

I use BG Products of Wichita, KS 44K. A little expensive but it does what it claims to do. Cleans the fuel system from tank to combustion chamber. How much is needed depends on how gunked up your system is. I've been using it for about 10 years now and will use nothing else. I was directed to 44k by an Oldsmobile service writer. I had a '89 Olds 3.8 at the time and mileage had dropped from 30mpg to around 20 over a short time. After 1 can the mileage was up to 25 or so and after a second can it was at 30+ and with regular use mileage remained in 30+ range til I traded at 175,000 miles on a 2003 Buick 3.6. I used 44K regularly on the Buick and it's mileage was always in the 30+ range. Now that I have the X-Type I use 44K regularly usually 1 can in the spring and another in the fall. I get 17-21mpg town and 25-30+ highway, some where in between with mixed driving. Of course if I let my foot get a little heavy the mileage will drop off a bit )

 

I have owned a lot of foreign cars and none of them had PVC vales. But my 03 has a Ford engine, so my question is does it have a PVC valve. If it hasn't been changed or cleaned it could effect the mileage I am getting.

 

I think used this product back in the 90's (I think) on a Porsche Carerra I had, Car ran terrible. I poured a can of the product in a almost empty tank and filled the tank 1/2. The car did run much better after this. I saw it advertised, I think, in the Porsche Club of America magazine. As I remember you could only buy it from the manufacturer?

 

The dealership (of course no longer Olds but Honda) still carries it here in Lincoln. It's also available at Advance Auto stores.

 

Adam, I have moved your thread off to your existing thread since your main topics are related to gas mileage
It may sound trite but I have to say your right foot mainly affects this rather than how big engine you have or what kind of octane you are using

 

I will look for it at Advance there in one in the neighborhood.

 

You have to ask for it. They keep it behind the counter.