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poor gas mileage?

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Old May 24, 2007 | 09:06 PM
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poor gas mileage?

i've been noticing that my max cannot stay under the 2000rpm mark. once, it hits ~58 mph, it stays above 2k rpm and never goes down. anyone know the problem with this? and this is wasting a lot of gas especially with gas prices going $3.00+, i don't want to waste that much gas.
Old May 24, 2007 | 09:32 PM
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My auto is like that too above 60mph. I thought it's just the gearing, isn't it?
Old May 24, 2007 | 10:08 PM
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when i drive normally my rpm is a 1500+ when just driving 70 Km/h to 2500 when starting from a light and the tranny shifts very nice. i have very good low end pull. thats what i love about this engine, it pulls good up hills at low rpm and i think this saves the auto tranny a little bit.
Old May 25, 2007 | 04:25 AM
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it's your gearing dude, live with it. MTs are above 3k at highway speeds.
Old May 25, 2007 | 04:32 AM
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o ok, i was just curious.
Old May 25, 2007 | 11:32 AM
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3300rpm at 80 MPH on freeway on 5th. were worse off than the autos.
Old May 25, 2007 | 03:23 PM
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Some overdrive..
Old May 25, 2007 | 08:24 PM
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is 17 miles/gallon in LA consider ok, i know its not good, i have auto. ??
Old May 27, 2007 | 12:59 AM
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You know, you may want to consider switching to synthetic oil if you are not already using it. I made the switch last November and my car's gas mileage has noticably improved.
Old May 29, 2007 | 08:57 PM
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Originally Posted by 712MAX
You know, you may want to consider switching to synthetic oil if you are not already using it. I made the switch last November and my car's gas mileage has noticably improved.
How many miles do you have on your car cause i heard switching to synthetic at high miles can mess your motor up
Old May 29, 2007 | 09:19 PM
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120,000 give or take a thousand
Old May 29, 2007 | 10:23 PM
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synthetic will do no harm at all to your engine no matter how many miles if anything is diminishing your gas mileage its probably the clogged up heat soaked metal intake were doomed with keep em cleaned out and you should notice some MPG improvment or get a SAFC fuel controller to lean your fuel curve out
Old May 29, 2007 | 10:51 PM
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Originally Posted by blimblam
i've been noticing that my max cannot stay under the 2000rpm mark. once, it hits ~58 mph, it stays above 2k rpm and never goes down. anyone know the problem with this? and this is wasting a lot of gas especially with gas prices going $3.00+, i don't want to waste that much gas.
I don't understand the concern here. There's nothing out of the ordinary here. Once you hit the top gear, the engine speeds will obvious rise as your car picks up speed. It's doing this in the lower gears too, but it's just not as obvious if you have an automatic. If you drive with a manual transmission, you wouldn't even be posting about this. Your slightly higher engine speed doesn't affect gas mileage as much as how much you depress upon the accelerator.
Old May 30, 2007 | 10:12 PM
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Originally Posted by slinky87
synthetic will do no harm at all to your engine no matter how many miles if anything is diminishing your gas mileage its probably the clogged up heat soaked metal intake were doomed with keep em cleaned out and you should notice some MPG improvment or get a SAFC fuel controller to lean your fuel curve out
good to know cause i was having somebody just tell me the other day that i should not switch to full synthetic cause i have have over 150k on my car

but now im gonna do it
Old May 31, 2007 | 06:17 AM
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What rpm were you expecting at that speed, 800?

Have you ever owned any other vehicles? What experience did you have with them?


Originally Posted by blimblam
i've been noticing that my max cannot stay under the 2000rpm mark. once, it hits ~58 mph, it stays above 2k rpm and never goes down. anyone know the problem with this? and this is wasting a lot of gas especially with gas prices going $3.00+, i don't want to waste that much gas.
Old May 31, 2007 | 06:19 AM
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I would recommend two AutoRX trials first to clean out the engine internals and minimize the risk of leaks at that mileage.

Originally Posted by Algertron
good to know cause i was having somebody just tell me the other day that i should not switch to full synthetic cause i have have over 150k on my car

but now im gonna do it
Old May 31, 2007 | 08:32 AM
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I 2nd Bobo's notion!!!!


I switched over to synthetic @ 126K miles, and now @ 130k, i just had to fix valve cover leak and currently experiencing a TC leak as well. I'm currently 300 miles into my 1st Auto-RX treatment and i'd definetly reccomend it before swithcting to synthetic!
Old May 31, 2007 | 08:50 AM
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Go to lubrication forum, and read stickies ...

Generally, if your car has high mileage ... (say 75k), and you have been using normal oil, then don't switch to synthetic oil. I read somewhere that synthetic oil will make some parts of the engine slip ... due to its high lubrication.
Old May 31, 2007 | 09:27 AM
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Also I have always used Premium fuel and a octane boost. I will get an extra 75-100 miles out of a tank of gas.
Old May 31, 2007 | 10:01 AM
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Originally Posted by heynow
I 2nd Bobo's notion!!!!


I switched over to synthetic @ 126K miles, and now @ 130k, i just had to fix valve cover leak and currently experiencing a TC leak as well. I'm currently 300 miles into my 1st Auto-RX treatment and i'd definetly reccomend it before swithcting to synthetic!
synthetic oil cannot cause a valve cover leak in any kind of way. what you dont realize is your engine is all aluminum with heat aluminum "grows" when it coolss it retracts, over time gaskets will leak because the surface is no longer how it was when it left the factory. so yes you will have a leak weather you use synthetic or regular oil over a period of time guranteed
Old May 31, 2007 | 10:04 AM
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Originally Posted by vnphantom
Go to lubrication forum, and read stickies ...

Generally, if your car has high mileage ... (say 75k), and you have been using normal oil, then don't switch to synthetic oil. I read somewhere that synthetic oil will make some parts of the engine slip ... due to its high lubrication.
uhhh engine parts to slip? thats the point of having a lubrication system in your engine, EVERYTHING must "slip" on each other. less friction- happier engine
Old May 31, 2007 | 12:53 PM
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Originally Posted by slinky87
synthetic oil cannot cause a valve cover leak in any kind of way. what you dont realize is your engine is all aluminum with heat aluminum "grows" when it coolss it retracts, over time gaskets will leak because the surface is no longer how it was when it left the factory. so yes you will have a leak weather you use synthetic or regular oil over a period of time guranteed

Thanks for the very informative explanation! ! But do you personally think that's it's okay for people with 120K on their engine to just switch to synthetic?
Old May 31, 2007 | 02:02 PM
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I think it's fine at any mileage. Synthetic oils do not develop leaks in engines, they simply seep where leaks were to happen anyway faster than regular dino oil. If you do not have any leaks now, you will most likely not have any with synthetic.

I'm finishing my 1st rinse phase of auto-rx and will be starting my second cleaning phase soon after. My car currently has 112k on it and will switch to a full synthetic after my second rinse phase.
Old May 31, 2007 | 02:07 PM
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Originally Posted by heynow
I 2nd Bobo's notion!!!!


I switched over to synthetic @ 126K miles, and now @ 130k, i just had to fix valve cover leak and currently experiencing a TC leak as well. I'm currently 300 miles into my 1st Auto-RX treatment and i'd definetly reccomend it before swithcting to synthetic!

which synthetic did you switch to that caused a spike in your mpg?
Old Jun 1, 2007 | 12:24 PM
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"good to know cause i was having somebody just tell me the other day that i should not switch to full synthetic cause i have have over 150k on my car

but now im gonna do it"


Not a good idea...go with Valvoline Maxlife or Mobile High Mileage oil...these are synthetic blends that won't hurt your engine like suddenly switching to a full synthetic at high miles...
Old Jun 1, 2007 | 01:08 PM
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if you look in the sticky's, you'll see that there's a general consensus that "blended" semi-synthetic oil sucks. If you wanna switch to a good synthetic oil, just go for the Mobil 1 Extended performance (the ones with the light-brown caps). If not just stick with good old dino like GC.
Old Jun 1, 2007 | 01:22 PM
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no royal purple is the best ive used i switched over at 120k with no problems that was a year ago no leaks no worries no problems
Old Jun 1, 2007 | 01:29 PM
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I hope i'm not perpetuating a myth:

I was told the molecules of full synthetic oil are small than that of regular motor oil which causes you in some cases to have leaks when switching, because the leaks in the seals where so small that the molecules of regular motor oil couldn't escape, but the smaller molecules of the full synthetic can. It not like you switch and wake up the next day with Full synthetic dripping under your car, it's more subtle, like over a period of time you start noticing a small residue of oil escaping around your seals.

* I have used Mobil 1 full synthetic from 96k miles to the current 164k miles and am perfectly happy with it. Although I do have residue here and there.
Old Jun 1, 2007 | 05:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Bobo
I would recommend two AutoRX trials first to clean out the engine internals and minimize the risk of leaks at that mileage.
yeah i was talking about it sombody today, and they said to switch to half syn half oil and see how it goes from there
Old Jun 4, 2007 | 08:31 PM
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get the idle checked out
Old Jun 5, 2007 | 10:37 PM
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Switching to synthetic at high mileage's is ok if you know the history of the car and the how it's been taken care of. People don't suggest switching to synthetic oil at high mileages because synthetic oil will clean out the sludge residue that has built up over the time of dino oil use which can possibly reveal holes that were being plugged by the dino oil, causing leaks. Properly maintained cars should be all right but if you don't know the full history of the car and it has high mileage it's not worth the gamble imo.
Old Jun 5, 2007 | 11:09 PM
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plus because its more expensive
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