fuel and milage going in the dumps

[blackbeast]

hello i need help on figureing out my fuel problem.... i have a 2001 oldsmobile alero with the 2.4L i tool a trip out to washington this summer we took off the air flow ristrictors was getting about 160m on a half tank and now i'm only getting maybe 130m on a half tank.
changed the plug wires and the boots and the fuel filter but no matter what i do i get crappy gas milage i drive in town not on the free-way alot ...so can anyone help me with this problem i have been dealing with this for about 3 yrs now i cant figure it out.

please if anyone can help would be much appricated

[billytheman1188]

its getting colder....

[Bad99Olds]

cold weather should be better for gas mileage? hence the premice of CAI?

[alerored04]

First off, what flow restrictors do you speak of? Secondly, how long has it been since you gave it a tune up. Plugs, air and fuel filters, etc?

[blackbeast]

the restrictors we took off are the ones going to the airflow box .....and for the tune up i replaced the filter 2 months ago and changed the plugs last weekend and also replaced the plug wires which are boots for the alero

[blackbeast]

i replaced the plugs and boots last weekend ...got the fuel filter done the first of october and replaced the k & n filter 2 months ago ....so thats what i'm wondering because i have never really had good gas milage besides when i first bought the car in 03 so still trying to firgure out what is wrong.... i know i only drive 13 miles one way to work and dont really drive on the freeway except about 1 mile or 2

[jayson_waltz]

i think i know what u mean about the flow restricotor, the thing under the airbox lid right? mines out too but its really not a retrictor much and it has no effect on gas milage. try th o2 sensors it sounds like the only basic thing that you haven't done.

[billytheman1188]

cold weather should be better for gas mileage? hence the premice of CAI?

nooooo........ obviously you never pay attention to your MPG.

[cherrington17]

check your tire pressure? and how much highway driving do you do now, as opposed to the long distance trip to washington?

i got like 33mpg going to ASS, i'd never expect to get that driving back and forth to school...

[rustyballs_69]

Could be the blend of fuel they sell at the gas station. I get better fuel mpg in the winter but I run my A/C probably 9-10 months out of the year.

[undecided02]

believe it or not it could be the way you drive. i have a heavy foot and I get terrible gas mileage. also is your check engine light on? it might be worth getting an OBD2 scan just to see if your car has caught any problems during a diagnostic.

[undecided02]

Oh and cold weather WILL cause poor mileage. colder air is more dense and thus requires more fuel to keep a proper air to fuel ratio. (cold air intakes DO NOT make your gas mileage better, trust me its quite the opposite)

[blackbeast]

no check engine light has only came on once but that was because when sears changed my struts the wrapped the abs wire around the ball joint causing the wire to split and ground out on the axel but other than that have never had the check engine light to come on ..... well i went to find the best gas stations on line and the better places to get gas is cheveron,conoco,kwik trip and havoline so the nearest one to me is kwik trip so i get the 89 octaine but other that that in the winter i usually get about 150 or so on a half tank ....other that that i do have a lead foot and no havent checked the tire pressure lately in about 3 weeks or so.... well if it aint the tire pressure i will check into replacing the o2 sensor

[Redog]

Unless you have an aftermarket PCM in the car, run 87 Octane.

I too used to run 89 all the time, then I put 87 in and I got 2-3 MPG better with regular city driving.

I'm being easy on the gas pedal, and I'm getting close to 22 MPG back and forth to work and ASS this year the worst I got was 32, and best was 34. Best ever was 37, but that was only 1 time :eek:

How heavy is that right foot? Keep all accels under 3000 RPM's or if you can under 2500, and you'll see a difference.

Yes in the winter, MPG will go down. I had a car that went from 18 to 10 :eek:

[zzyzzx]

How many miles are on the car?

[blackbeast]

i think im sitting at 83,000 miles ....so i got low miles being an 2001 alero but i have put plenty of parts in the car espically wheel bearings .... i just got the lower control arms and ball joints done about 3 weeks ago now seems to make a clunking noise every once in a while like something didnt get tightened down correctly ... so going to get that checked out tomorrow night..