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Eating Gas

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Old 11-02-2000, 06:54 AM
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What up yall.I have 97max se and having a problem with gas.
It seems to me that every time I fill up the tank goes empty with little driving. I kill a 1/4 of a tank in a night with modorite driving. I don't know how to read the odometer to test the milage per gallon. What is the deal.
The car has 37,000 miles and was sitting on the car lot a
while before I bought it. Maybe the plugs need to be changed. What are the best ones for our car? What's up
with the Denzol double platinum plugs? Did anyone use them?
Some one Holla, the gas prices in N.Y. is killing me!

God Bless
Maxi-milliyon
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Old 11-02-2000, 07:47 AM
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The Maxima guage is crap... no really, it is. What you need to do is take down the mileage at fillup, at the next fill up, not the new mileage... take the new mileage minus the old, you will get a number. Not how many gallons you filled up. Take the mileage number and divid it by the gallon, that will you give miles per gallon.

-Shing

Originally posted by maxi-milliyon

What up yall.I have 97max se and having a problem with gas.
It seems to me that every time I fill up the tank goes empty with little driving. I kill a 1/4 of a tank in a night with modorite driving. I don't know how to read the odometer to test the milage per gallon. What is the deal.
The car has 37,000 miles and was sitting on the car lot a
while before I bought it. Maybe the plugs need to be changed. What are the best ones for our car? What's up
with the Denzol double platinum plugs? Did anyone use them?
Some one Holla, the gas prices in N.Y. is killing me!

God Bless
Maxi-milliyon
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Old 11-02-2000, 08:57 AM
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Spark plugs are a good place to start, but I don't think that they would have to be replaced yet. You might also want to check the air pressure in your tires. An underinflated tire can make a big difference. I do alot of stop and go driving and I get about 300 miles per 13 gallons or 23 MPG. It's not that bad, but with highway driving I get much better mileage.
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Old 11-02-2000, 09:00 AM
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I had the same problem with my 97 SE, come to find out it was low pressure in my tires. I didnt think the car would be that sensitive to it, but it is. I lost maybe 2-3 miles a gallon, so now I make sure my tire pressure is where it should be. So far my mileage is where it usually is, around 24-25 miles a gallon.

ALSO, use your trip meter, just reset it each time you fill up, then it will give you the exact amt of miles on that tank, less math to do
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Old 11-02-2000, 09:29 AM
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Try not wearing them lead filled Nikes. :) nm

nm
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Old 11-02-2000, 09:59 AM
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Trip odometer

It's easy, set the trip odometer to 0 with a full tank. Burn the whole tank, fill it and divide the number of gallons on the pump by the number of miles driven. It should be in that range 19-23 if not better. I get about 22-24 driving around, and if I go for a trip somewhere, I can easily go 375 miles on a tank. This is with 93 or 94 octane, I believe it makes a huge difference IMO.
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Old 11-02-2000, 11:06 AM
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I'm not sure if all models of the max came with the trip odometer. So if not, just get a piece of paper and right the milage and gallons of gas everytime you get gas, then it's just simple math to find the MPG. If your that stressed about it, try spark plugs and MSD ignition. Not sure if MSD really works that much, but it might be worth a shot.
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Old 11-02-2000, 11:12 AM
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Well, the trip meter is the smaller mileage guage on your speedometer. Press the switch to reset it to zero when you will up on gas. Then, the next time you fill up, it will read the number of miles driven since your last fill up. Divide that by the number of gallons you fill up, and that's miles per gallon.

Also, if you are lazy, just note the total miles (the six digit guage) and number of gallons for each fillup, and every few weeks calculate your gas mileage.

It's not unusual to get low mileage, like 16-17MPG if you drive mostly city. Highway should get you into the mid 20's, like 23-24MPG. I drive approximately 50/50 city/hwy and I get around 20 MPG on average.
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Old 11-02-2000, 11:20 AM
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Yeah, that sounds about right. I do about 90% city, and I get crap mileage (usually 17-18mpg)
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Old 11-02-2000, 12:11 PM
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I just changed my daily commpute from 85mph to 75mph and I now get 2 more mpg on my tank. I'm now up to about 25mpg per tank - 95% highway miles.
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Old 11-02-2000, 12:11 PM
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I just changed my daily commpute from 85mph to 75mph and I now get 2 more mpg on my tank. I'm now up to about 25mpg per tank - 95% highway miles. High speeds really suck up gas!
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Old 11-02-2000, 12:39 PM
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If you can keep it at 70-75mph for long periods of time you will get incredible mileage. I know...

while driving through Va, I was doing 70-75mph the entire way... got some 35mpg....

-Shing

Originally posted by bgruver
I just changed my daily commpute from 85mph to 75mph and I now get 2 more mpg on my tank. I'm now up to about 25mpg per tank - 95% highway miles. High speeds really suck up gas!
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Old 11-02-2000, 01:05 PM
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35 mpg....WOW, that's awesome

.
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Old 11-02-2000, 02:19 PM
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Re: 35 mpg....WOW, that's awesome

I put the cruise on 70 one time on a trip from mass to ct. I got 34. I couldn't believe it
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Old 11-02-2000, 02:48 PM
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Check alignment too.

ZuM
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Old 11-02-2000, 02:58 PM
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Tire pressure does play a big role in gas mileage. Try checking to see if they're inflated to the right psi.
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Old 11-02-2000, 03:04 PM
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Just curious...what is the proper inflation for a 98 SE on stock rims?
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Old 11-02-2000, 03:40 PM
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the recommended pressure is marked on the tire.

Originally posted by kingpin
Just curious...what is the proper inflation for a 98 SE on stock rims?
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Old 11-02-2000, 05:55 PM
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Stock inflation is 32/29.

ZuM

Originally posted by kingpin
Just curious...what is the proper inflation for a 98 SE on stock rims?
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Old 11-02-2000, 08:10 PM
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One time, i got 400 miles off of one tank, and that's the cheap stuff while driving mostly in the city. It was the greatest day of my life, except for the part where i had to watch the red light for like 30 miles. It took like 4 seconds for the engine to start the tank was so empty.
 
Old 11-02-2000, 08:19 PM
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bad gas mileage

while you are at it you should change out your air filter, cause if its dirty, it will cause your car (and any other car) to use more gas.
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Old 11-02-2000, 08:23 PM
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my 97gxe 5 speed has been getting 26.5 mpg..that's about 430+ miles per tank with fuel to spare. funny thing is, my mom's 95 SE auto is lucky to get even 350 miles per tank. that car gets somewhere along 20-22 mpg driven around town. the transmission makes a big difference. maybe with the addition of a cone filter my mileage will improve. has anyone noticed a drop in mileage during the cold winter months? what is it? reformulated gas? cold air?
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Old 11-02-2000, 11:02 PM
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I do all city driving in San Jose, CA... Continuous stop and go driving for 30 miles round trip... I am usually getting 18-19MPG with an automatic...

On long road trips to Reno, NV with the car fully loaded, I can get close to 30MPG running about 75MPH-80MPH...
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