Ok so i just bought a 2000 nissan maxima se. It is my 2nd car but my first 5 speed. Alright so i am just having some questions about it. It seems like i am getting pretty bad mileage, my first tank i got about 9mpg! I figured that was since i am just learning to drive a stick and all that. My 2nd take i averaged right around 15mpg. I know this is low and my friend said i am still learning to drive it (I rarely kill it now and never really over rev) also it is winter my friend says and thats making the tires slip to get less. I am wondering if thats really all it is for the low mpg or if it is something i should get looked at.

 

Well, let's see... there are so many potential causes for low gas mileage that it could be a lot of things. A lot of cars sufferer lowER gas mileage in the winter in states where the weather gets colder due to the mixture in "winter gas." Also make sure the tires are inflated properly as that can affect your gas mileage and also you might verify that the wheels are properly aligned.

I also see that you mentioned that you're just learning to drive a stick shift - are you driving it just for short periods of time? If you're driving for short stints, especially if you're not letting the engine get warmed up and if it's cold, that could also affect gas mileage.

Other than that, you might try doing some searching here on the .org. There have been a good many threads about low gas mileage and what can cause it. Hope that helps!

 

Ya i usually let it warm up for about 5-10 minutes before i drive. I think that would be another reason too. I already checked the tire pressure and its all good. I will check my alignment next time also.
I think its just a combination of about everything ha. Thanks!

 

Could be a combination, especially if you just picked it up... hard to know how vehicles have been maintained! Depending on the mileage, you may also want to do spark plugs on it, too. Welcome, BTW. Hope you enjoy your new Max!

 

5-10 minutes. no wonder it gets poor gas millage.

 

It has 117k miles and i am changing the spark plugs this weekend. Ya i really am enjoying the new max, alot nicer than my stratus r/t ( totaled it )
I went to change them last weekend and couldnt find the things! But after about 2 minutes searching on the site i found them.

 

your max should average anywhere from 20-24 combined driving, depending on your driving styles, unless of course you gun it at every stop and change geers at redline, then you'll never get even close to that.

Ease of the gas, change oil, oil filter, air filter, gas filter, spark plugs. Don't let the engine rev more than 3k RPM and warm up your car 4 minutes instead of 10, a combination of all of these should improve your gas mileage. have fun with your max, drive carefull.

 

how long do you expect him to warm it up for?

 

I warm my car no more than 2-3 minutes

 

yeah i let it warm up for 2-3 mins. THis max is also my first 5 speed, but i still average 300-350 a tank. 2000 GXE 5spd

 

The long warm up time will lower your MPG average. The cold weather hurts too. If you're doing a lot of slow driving in the snow that will bring it down too.

It should increase when the weather warms up or you take a long trip where you're cruising at an even speed. If not, look up info on the mass air flow sensor (MAF).

 

Change:
Air Filter
Fuel Filter
Spark Plugs
Clean the MAF
Run 93 octane (and potentially a few tanks of either Shell or Chevron Techron to clean out the injectors)

You should see a change in MPG based on those maintenance items being performed. If not, you've got other issues.

 

Looking to piggy back if I may.
With the mention of fuel, do you guys suggest only using Premium vs Regular?

 

Hey jazz stick to regular. Your vehicle does not require it. You may just add some premium to see if it feels more responsive. I had an 02 F150 that when I filled up with premium, the truck seemed to want to "get up and go" more that when it had regular. Higher octane is better but for you, not required The VQ 3.5 engines, do need it though.

Hey ohitzme, glad to hear you have a Max. I am wondering how you are keeping tabs on the gas mileage. Did you fill up the tank until the pump stopped on its own, reset the trip odometer then drove the car until you gas light turned on; fill up the tank until the pump stopped on its own and then divide the miles on the trip odometer by the amount of gallons you just added? The gas gauge on the Max is off...My theory is they are all off by 2-3 mpg lower than indicating.

 

Thanks for the insight.

 

i put regular in my car the first week i got it then i went to premium and noticed a pretty significant difference in performance and gas mileage.

either that or i just learned to drive the car better

 

Blasphemy

Regular gas *can* work in the Maxima but at least 91 is recommended. Forgot the particular thread but one test result showed -25HP running on regular.

 

I used 91 Octane in my max. I tried regulare once,and felt a big decrease in power

 

use premium plz, it's just a 2-3 dollar difference, but your engine works better and longer.

 

I also had bad mileage when I got my 2000, I did a full tune up and found the problem. I had 3 bad spark plugs and had to replace the coils on them too. I was glad to see my mileage skyrocket. It wouldn't hurt to clean them injectors either.

 

Ya thats what i did, it is still going up thought my last refill was about 18 so i am thinking it was just me learning to drive stick and all of that. Thanks everybody!

 

Uh... every maxima since 1989 has reccomended 91 or higher octane. The vg engines didn't really need, but the VE's and all VQ's reccomend it for a reason. Use premium or trip your knock sensor and get worse mileage. about only the 3.5 needing it is not true. Any engine will run on regular, but the knock sensor will be taking care of business if it does. only the 3.5 needing it probably came from the 3.5>3.0 complex that rules the 5th gen forums. Yes it is better, but 3.0's aren't crap and need premium like any other maxima.

 

.. nah man they aint better. put 15 psi on both and see which one lasts you know

 

Of course the 3.5 or any or the 3.0 can use regular but the 3.5 should use premium for several reason I am sure but the two that stick out are, the "infamous, "pre-ignite" issue and the "slight lack of power on acceleration" problem. Even the dealer will tell you to put Premium on the 3.5 especially if you complain about these issues. I know for a fact since I had already had this discussion with them a few moths ago.
As for the 2000/2001 models having these issues? Dunno, have you had these issues augiedog964? It seems ohitzme was having a poor gas mileage problem and not one of the two issues I mentioned. I do not see premium making a significant difference in increasing mpg's. If Jaz feels the difference in acceleration using premium then that is great....I know it makes a diff using it.

 

find that thread. i can't imagine at all that the difference b/wn regular and premium could cause -25hp. that can't be true. My bro runs regular in his 96 and there's no way it's 25hp short of what it should be. He gets better mileage w/ twice the amount of miles on the car. That thing might even be faster than my 01.....

 

it depends on the engine, I bet it'll be more than 25hp if it's a ferrari engine.

 

+1

 

30 seconds is all you really need unless it is 0 degrees or less. The engine warms up faster when you drive it and gets into closed loop (normal temperature tuning) much more quickly. Just keep it under 3500 rpm for the first few minutes.

A bad thermostat that stays open also hurts mileage because it takes longer for the engine to warm up. You typically get an SES light and code if it is bad though.

 

Maybe, but this is not a ferrari.....

 

I'de rather warm it up for 10 mins then scrape ice of the windshield.

Last year I took paint off trying to scrape the ice of my fuel door and my drivers side door opening.

 

why would you scrape your fuel door?

 

It was completely iced over and I was on empty...

I now carry a few cans of the ice melt spray crap.

 

I spend way too much time warming mine up then. With remote start and futzing around, usually 4-5 min is the norm.

 

i am sure that de-ice stuff is terrible for your paint as well...

 

Just in case there haven't been enough responses to this post, no jazz, do NOT stick to regular if you want your performance and gas mileage to be all it's intended to be. The VQ engines don't NEED premium fuel to run, but as the gas cap says, premium fuel is recommended for optimum performance. You get poorer performance and poorer gas mileage with regular fuel. This means that you actually do NOT save money by using regular gas because the money you save at the pump is negated by the money you'll spend having to fill up more often as a result of the worse gas mileage.

 

It's -4 here today so I can make an exception and let the car warm up way longer

 

i just switched out my spark plugs and wow, my old spark plugs gaps all measured .072"-.085". Good thing i switched them puppies out