Gas milage problems?

Question

I drive a 93 Mazda MPV mini van and if I have a full tank and drive to Poplarbluff (20 miles) and right back and have lost nearly half a tank. This dont seem good considering I was in a friends car lastnight for the same trip and his gas barely moved. does anyone have any ideas whats wrong or what can be done? I cant take it to get looked at because the mechanics here may as well want a human sacrifice for prices they charge. Thanks.

Answer 1

Change your air filter. . .buy it at WalMart or car parts store. Then change your gas filters. If you don't know where or how, go to a car parts store and buy a manual for your car. Then figure out how to do it. Sometimes a good oil change place will do it for a little. Beware of shops that want to "fix" something. I visited a friend, got an oil change and they told me my radiator was leaking. Stupid jerks didn't know I was parking on a steep hill but it only managed to run out in their shop. So try to avoid the idiots. You can usually tell. If one shop tells you something is wrong, go to another shop and see if they notice the same thing. Then change your spark plugs. They last pretty long these days. You can also look into the manual that came with your car and do a 60,000 mile check up. It will give you ideas about what needs to be done to keep your car running good. The polution stuff can deal you a fit too. Hope this helps! And do not put cheap spark plug wires on your vehicle. You usually change them when you have a problem with your car misfiring.

Answer 2

When cars are cold the have to run rich (choke mode) to let the engine warm up. If your water temp sensor is broken (or indeed your engine never warms up / broken thermostat) then it will run rich. But before you go changing ghosts measure your mileage accurately. (a) fill the tank to the max (b) get on the HWY - late night / no traffic hour (c) drive about 20 to 30 miles (at 55 MPH) (d) use cruise control - very important (e) note the EXACT MILES (f) get off and immediately get gas (g) note the EXACT GALLONS Now you can calculate the MPG by MPG = MILES (step e) / GALLONS (step g). The reason you start out with full tank is that is the "repeateable" condition. You want to avoid traffic so you don't use the brakes on the HWY. Braking will negatively affect the MPG calculation. You use the cruise control so you and eliminate your driving habit as a factor. Without a good MPG calculation you might be wasting your money chasing ghosts. Also you can repeat this test anytime you feel like you car is not running right. You can also try the same thing but off the cruise control to check how much your driving habit affect the MPG. etc. Good Luck.

Answer 3

Okay as a mechanic i can tell you this, If its not a gasoline leak, try the following change the spark plugs air filters and spark plug wires this should cost you around 150 dollars. if the spark plugs and the filters are clogged this can cause a major gas mileage problem since the car can not "breath" properly

Answer 4

Bite the bullet and take it to the mechanic. You're going to blow more than that in wasted gas by putting it off--that's VERY bad mileage. Ask around to see who people recommend.

Answer 5

you could have a gas mizer...they live in your area and can get in your tank and drink all your gas and you will think its your car doing it...but its a gas mizer....doing it...they can be a real problem,,,the only cure is to put diesel fuel in the car and it will kill the gas mizer and then your fixed....

Answer 6

you could have a leak or sumthing i cant think of any other solution

Answer 7

i dunno