Octane question
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Octane question
I moved from NY to CA and brought over my Maxima... I was using 93 octane over there in NYC and now I'm using 91 here in cali as that's the highest they seem to have here... I'm getting horrible mileage... I barely broke 300 back home in NYC but now i'm getting like 230 or so... I do have my engine light on and have the knock and o2 sensor errors which I will be replacing soon... my question is will the octane affect my mileage that much? Thanks
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Originally Posted by Ukyo
I moved from NY to CA and brought over my Maxima... I was using 93 octane over there in NYC and now I'm using 91 here in cali as that's the highest they seem to have here... I'm getting horrible mileage... I barely broke 300 back home in NYC but now i'm getting like 230 or so... I do have my engine light on and have the knock and o2 sensor errors which I will be replacing soon... my question is will the octane affect my mileage that much? Thanks
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The obvious question is: Is your driving style different in California than it was in New York? What I mean is has the % of highway to city driving changed and if so how, more highway, less highway. Are you commuting? If so, longer, shorter? Its warmer than when you were in NYC so if anything your mileage should improve. I don't think 93 vs 91 octane makes much of a difference - perhaps on a trip with flat road surfaces at a respectable speed it might.
I seem to get more gas milage with straight 93, I have used 89 for a time because of the price hike awhile back, in essence it seems to still hold true that you get what you pay for.
The front 2 oxygen sensors control the air/fuel ratio so if one of them is bad then your MPG will suffer. My guess is that your KS code is set off by the bad oxygen sensor so replace the O2 sensor first and reset your CEL. Then manually check for the KS code a week later (since it's a ghost code)
everything bought up before me are good points.
sum it all up, they are all very related:
1) your octane level will affect your KS life. the better your fuel octane, less knocking will occur and KS will function properly. that's why for maxima's we use premium octane fule only.
2)your KS is very import in your fuel/milage ratio calculations. bad KS will lead to power loss and bad fuel economy problems. in your case, you are already CEL'ed on this thing. As long as you don't replace your KS, you'll not get your NYC's fuel econ back.
3)O2 sensor will not function properly consequently to KS. get your KS replaced first. reset the ECU, then see if O2 check light still comes up. If your O2 sensor is bad after making sure that KS is fixed, you'll get slightly bad fuel econ with O2 malfunction, but basically anyone can live with a O2 malfunction. Your KS, on the other hand will show noticeable change in fuel milage ratio.
4)Driving habit also reflects differences and variations. like murdoc answered, you cannot judge fuel econ to be similar in steady and aggressive modes. Obviously, dollar bills go as your foot gets heavier on that pedal. I spit so much money as a result of my addiction to get power outta my maxima with all the mods i got. I can't complain that i had to refuel that tank more than once a week=35 bucks per re-fuel...
hope this post helped
sum it all up, they are all very related:
1) your octane level will affect your KS life. the better your fuel octane, less knocking will occur and KS will function properly. that's why for maxima's we use premium octane fule only.
2)your KS is very import in your fuel/milage ratio calculations. bad KS will lead to power loss and bad fuel economy problems. in your case, you are already CEL'ed on this thing. As long as you don't replace your KS, you'll not get your NYC's fuel econ back.
3)O2 sensor will not function properly consequently to KS. get your KS replaced first. reset the ECU, then see if O2 check light still comes up. If your O2 sensor is bad after making sure that KS is fixed, you'll get slightly bad fuel econ with O2 malfunction, but basically anyone can live with a O2 malfunction. Your KS, on the other hand will show noticeable change in fuel milage ratio.
4)Driving habit also reflects differences and variations. like murdoc answered, you cannot judge fuel econ to be similar in steady and aggressive modes. Obviously, dollar bills go as your foot gets heavier on that pedal. I spit so much money as a result of my addiction to get power outta my maxima with all the mods i got. I can't complain that i had to refuel that tank more than once a week=35 bucks per re-fuel...
hope this post helped
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Originally Posted by JaTaN
The front 2 oxygen sensors control the air/fuel ratio so if one of them is bad then your MPG will suffer. My guess is that your KS code is set off by the bad oxygen sensor so replace the O2 sensor first and reset your CEL. Then manually check for the KS code a week later (since it's a ghost code)
Thread Starter
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 78
Originally Posted by cyu1
everything bought up before me are good points.
sum it all up, they are all very related:
1) your octane level will affect your KS life. the better your fuel octane, less knocking will occur and KS will function properly. that's why for maxima's we use premium octane fule only.
2)your KS is very import in your fuel/milage ratio calculations. bad KS will lead to power loss and bad fuel economy problems. in your case, you are already CEL'ed on this thing. As long as you don't replace your KS, you'll not get your NYC's fuel econ back.
3)O2 sensor will not function properly consequently to KS. get your KS replaced first. reset the ECU, then see if O2 check light still comes up. If your O2 sensor is bad after making sure that KS is fixed, you'll get slightly bad fuel econ with O2 malfunction, but basically anyone can live with a O2 malfunction. Your KS, on the other hand will show noticeable change in fuel milage ratio.
4)Driving habit also reflects differences and variations. like murdoc answered, you cannot judge fuel econ to be similar in steady and aggressive modes. Obviously, dollar bills go as your foot gets heavier on that pedal. I spit so much money as a result of my addiction to get power outta my maxima with all the mods i got. I can't complain that i had to refuel that tank more than once a week=35 bucks per re-fuel...
hope this post helped
sum it all up, they are all very related:
1) your octane level will affect your KS life. the better your fuel octane, less knocking will occur and KS will function properly. that's why for maxima's we use premium octane fule only.
2)your KS is very import in your fuel/milage ratio calculations. bad KS will lead to power loss and bad fuel economy problems. in your case, you are already CEL'ed on this thing. As long as you don't replace your KS, you'll not get your NYC's fuel econ back.
3)O2 sensor will not function properly consequently to KS. get your KS replaced first. reset the ECU, then see if O2 check light still comes up. If your O2 sensor is bad after making sure that KS is fixed, you'll get slightly bad fuel econ with O2 malfunction, but basically anyone can live with a O2 malfunction. Your KS, on the other hand will show noticeable change in fuel milage ratio.
4)Driving habit also reflects differences and variations. like murdoc answered, you cannot judge fuel econ to be similar in steady and aggressive modes. Obviously, dollar bills go as your foot gets heavier on that pedal. I spit so much money as a result of my addiction to get power outta my maxima with all the mods i got. I can't complain that i had to refuel that tank more than once a week=35 bucks per re-fuel...
hope this post helped
Originally Posted by JaTaN
The front 2 oxygen sensors control the air/fuel ratio so if one of them is bad then your MPG will suffer. My guess is that your KS code is set off by the bad oxygen sensor so replace the O2 sensor first and reset your CEL. Then manually check for the KS code a week later (since it's a ghost code)
Just to clarify ghost code means it won't turn on the light so after doing the O2 and resetting the ecu wait like a week or so and check the codes even if the light isn't on.
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 78
Originally Posted by Terran
Good point.
Just to clarify ghost code means it won't turn on the light so after doing the O2 and resetting the ecu wait like a week or so and check the codes even if the light isn't on.
Just to clarify ghost code means it won't turn on the light so after doing the O2 and resetting the ecu wait like a week or so and check the codes even if the light isn't on.
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