well...if I stand out side of my car and smell the exhaust..somehow smell like fuel...
is this normal?....or is there something wrong with it?
No no..it is not oil...nothing colorful...just the smell of gas....
oh yeah...when I dynoed my car stock, it has this problem already and has good FWHP reading comparable to newer stock maxes with same tranny.....I get very poor gas mileage in the city (stop and go)
but I get 36 Mpg highway if I am conservative...
now..
what do you all think?
btw...no engine light etc etc...car running fine...but I am curious...
thank you

 

Hello:

I also have a 95Max with an auto-tranny... I get decent highway mileage but pretty dismal mileage in stop and go traffic... My last fill-up was shocking to me... I only attained 13.5MPG over the course of a full tank... I've normally gotten 16-17MPG... I am starting to think something could be wrong...

With Stillen intake, ECU, cat-back exhaust, and underdrive pulley, I managed 162HP @ 5500RPM on the dyno. I guess that might seem kinda weak considering those mods.

I don't smell fuel though... are you getting that smell at cold startups... could be the pre-cats not "lit up" yet...

I don't have any lights on the dash to indicate any problem...


With my TECHTOM diagnostic unit, I noticed something peculiar... I've always known that leaving the tranny in
"DRIVE" while stopped at a light burns more fuel than leaving the tranny in Neutral... because the engine has to spin drag the torque converter across the stationary gears... I just never realized how much until now...

TECHTOM device shows injector open time is 3.3 milliseconds with the car in drive and then only 2.6 milliseconds with the car in Neutral at a stop light.
So that is up to 30% more fuel burned in that example... So if your stop and go driving is a lot more stop as compared to go, then leaving the car in "Drive" at stops could be significantly affecting mileage.


cjv

 

hey..what does that thing do or I should say..not do...
wow...
well...my dyno number is modest for stock..I was using stock wheel too...
kinda hard to dyno auto...my number ranges from low to mid 150 at 5500RPM....
thanks for the tip on the idle...I will remember that...
I could smell fuel definately during cold start up...but I think I still smell it after I drove around....but not as bad...I'll check later after my drive around...
yup...I think we have similar car..hehe..bad mileage on stop and go...oh well =]
Thank you

 

On my 3rd gen, I get very low milage, only about 200 miles on a full tank, mixed highway + city driving, though its all NYC highway , which is around 50 mph, not more. (dont know if that can be considered real highway)
I am supposed to average about 18 city, I get about 13, mixed. I know cold weather has an impact on it, but should it be that much?

About the Neautral thing, do you suggest we can shift to neutral at intersections or long red's and save gas? Will this be harmful to the tranny? thanks

 

I usually tend to leave the auto tranny in Neutral on long stops...

Don't know if its necessarily good or bad... Within a few months, I'm going to do a torque converter and maybe valve body upgrade and probably all that Level10 stuff... I'll have the mechanic tell me if after 70,000 miles if my tranny looks all beat to hell or not...

cjv

 

AND YOU THINK YOU HAVE A PROBLEM! Must be a type-o. Bad gas mileage+smell of gas could be a dirty air filter.

 

It was 36MPG....I was cruising constanly averaging 70Mph
the key is I am cruising constantly....
no sudden or hard accel....
I get high 20 to 32 MPG if I drive fast on the HWY...
anyhow
=]

 

I think you're milage may be low because;

1. You live in NYC, so do I Traffic will kill your average.
2. You have those beautiful 97-99 SE RIMs on your baby. They're heavier than your stock wheels.

If that is not the case because you've had better mileage with those wheels and your driving conditions haven't chenged, then you may need a tuneup. A dirty air filter and worn spark plugs will bring your mileage down.

As for the "drop your tranny in neutral" suggestion, you gain something and give up something else. You gain better mileage, probably not much, but you reduce the life of your tranny by putting it thru the constant engaging/dis-engaging.

Just my 2 cents.

DW

 

Cold air will improve your mileage, not make it worse. The reason you tend to see worse mileage in a cold air season is because of snow, rain etc. Slippery conditions will make your car work harder. But on a dry cold day, your car is at its peak.

DW