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Gas Mileage Question

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Old Apr 8, 2010 | 03:46 PM
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Gas Mileage Question

I am only getting about 13 miles per gallon city. I drive normal and i do not feel i have a leadfoot. I have the tires atthe correct pressure and have a clean air filter. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks for the help!
Old Apr 8, 2010 | 04:15 PM
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That may be about right for some of our cars. In the colder weather and winter gas mpg can go down.

Can you take a straight highway only trip and see what you get?

I get 22mpg mixed highway city. 26-28highway. So I am guessing my city is about 17ish.

I only run premium. 100k miles on my car
Old Apr 8, 2010 | 05:08 PM
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When was the last time you cleaned out your air filter (or changed it)? You'll need help, but if you rev your engine do you get any black or blue smoke? There is a slight chance you could be running rich and your fuel curve needs to be reset, but I haven't seen or heard of that problem with a Maxima. I average 24 mpg with city driving. If you have a really short commute that could also effect the mileage greatly.
Old Apr 8, 2010 | 06:23 PM
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ive got a 2000 se... i get arnd 12 tops cuz my commute is so short... just like 2 miles... so mostly in 2nd gear ... third tops.... when i drove to the city once this time it bumped it up to like 15- 16..... guessing if u got a long commute or highway driving it will def go up to atleast 20-22....
Old Apr 8, 2010 | 06:38 PM
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Originally Posted by savage698
ive got a 2000 se... i get arnd 12 tops cuz my commute is so short... just like 2 miles... so mostly in 2nd gear ... third tops.... when i drove to the city once this time it bumped it up to like 15- 16..... guessing if u got a long commute or highway driving it will def go up to atleast 20-22....
Mine is .7 miles, I know your pain.
Old Apr 8, 2010 | 06:57 PM
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I do have a short comute. its only about two miles if that. I will do what is suggested. Thanks for the help!
Old Apr 9, 2010 | 09:22 AM
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I have about a 6 mile commute, lot of stop and go, and I can average around 18-20 mpg. That's with an average speed below 25 mph on the enhanced trip meter. If you have one of those, check it out to compare. If you're seeing average speed below 20, or even 15, means you're sitting at lights for a long time probably. If you spend 7 minutes in a Drive-through for lunch every day, it's tearing away at your MPG's and average MPH too. I always park and walk in...over a lifetime I could be saving 30 gallons or more...my wife get's pissed at me when she's with me, but I tell her it's for the polar bears.

Also, I'm using the K&N drop in filter, saw an increase in MPG from that. Seafoam in the intake, let it sit, then blow all that crap out, that gave me some performance points, but I'm sure helped a little with MPG's. There's a thread around here with a video shows you how to do that, search for seafoam.
Old Apr 9, 2010 | 10:33 AM
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Wow that is low gas mileage mine gets an average 22.5 combined and 30 HWY.
Like the post above change your air filter and do you have the truck loaded down? Air pressure in your tires makes a small difference. And run Premium fuel it seems to up the mileage by a few. Do you have a Lead foot???
Old Apr 9, 2010 | 07:04 PM
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i haul *** everywhere, i get about 20-22 mpg average and 27 on the highway
Old Apr 9, 2010 | 08:48 PM
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Originally Posted by Drewhos
I am only getting about 13 miles per gallon city. I drive normal and i do not feel i have a leadfoot. I have the tires atthe correct pressure and have a clean air filter. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks for the help!
reset your mpg button by pressing it then holding it until it resets with **
or are you getting this by dividing your miles by gallons?
Old Apr 24, 2010 | 07:14 AM
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I get about 21-23 in city driving normally andusually about 26 on highway going 80
Old Apr 24, 2010 | 07:33 AM
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I normally get around 28-30 hwy, and I've seen as low as 17 city. A lot depends on driving habits. I normally clean out the air filter once every 3 months and change it once every 6.

I've heard the following can contribute to low mileage:
aging O2 sensors
aging spark plugs
too much or too little tire pressure
dirty air filter
clogged fuel filter (dunno about mileage...performance maybe?)
dirty/clogged injectors
dirty IM
aging/defective battery/alternator system (not providing enough juice to fire the plugs optimally to burn the fuel mixture)
lead foot

I'm not a mechanic and haven't verified much of those in that list, that's just what I've heard from various places. My car has 115k on it and still gets good mileage. Haven't changed the plugs or O2 sensors yet. The lead foot comes and goes too.

anyway...those are some things to check.
maybe seafoam it, change the oil and airfilter and see what happens?
Old May 7, 2010 | 02:35 PM
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Can anyone please point me to the thread where I can see how to change the air filter ?
If someone can tell me where the air filter for engine is that would be awesome, and I know the in-cabin air filter is behind the glove compartment but just wanted to see if a thread is already there or a writeup of some sort. I have already spent 45 mins here looking for a relevant thread. Either there is no such thread or I just suck at searching in this forum, any help would be greatly appreciated
Old May 8, 2010 | 11:49 AM
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Originally Posted by ShankerD
Can anyone please point me to the thread where I can see how to change the air filter ?
If someone can tell me where the air filter for engine is that would be awesome, and I know the in-cabin air filter is behind the glove compartment but just wanted to see if a thread is already there or a writeup of some sort. I have already spent 45 mins here looking for a relevant thread. Either there is no such thread or I just suck at searching in this forum, any help would be greatly appreciated
Have you tried reading the vehicle owners manual? They normally put stuff like that in there.

The air filter box is on the drivers side front in the engine compartment.
Old May 9, 2010 | 10:08 PM
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I was actually looking for the in-cabin air filter. I found it behind the glove compartment. Found a link to a video of a guy changing in a 6th gen maxima. It was super easy . The air filter for the engine is almost like how the infinity has it. I think I will look at it soon to see how dirty it is.
Old May 10, 2010 | 09:24 AM
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ah...yeah. Was it dirty? There was a thread a while back with the dirtiest cabin filters. Some nasty stuff there. My car smelled better after I changed it
Old May 10, 2010 | 01:29 PM
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Yeah here's some nasty in cabin filters in here: http://forums.maxima.org/6th-generat...in-filter.html
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