Teknical

97 Taurus 3.0 Vulcan, ~120,000 miles. (200,000km)

Seems that my gas milage has gone -way- down recently. Anywhere from
14-19MPG, depending how much I'm on the highway. There are no fuel system
leaks, and the system holds pressure. Also the engine has a very infrequent
miss at idle when warm (maybe once every 5 or 6 seconds, not on every
revolution), and will occasionally ping on uphill grades (I fill from a high
volume gas station, and my other car has no issues, so I'm pretty sure it's
not the gasoline i'm using) No codes, no service engine light, engine is
always run with mobil-1 synthetic (although it's almost due for a oil
change), air filters changed recently, plugs and wires changed last spring.

I'm thinking maybe it's running too rich, due to... MAF sensor? Maybe a
cleaning with 99% alcohol and a Q-Tip?

Tom Adkins

Teknical wrote:
> 97 Taurus 3.0 Vulcan, ~120,000 miles. (200,000km)
>
> Seems that my gas milage has gone -way- down recently. Anywhere from
> 14-19MPG, depending how much I'm on the highway. There are no fuel system
> leaks, and the system holds pressure. Also the engine has a very infrequent
> miss at idle when warm (maybe once every 5 or 6 seconds, not on every
> revolution), and will occasionally ping on uphill grades (I fill from a high
> volume gas station, and my other car has no issues, so I'm pretty sure it's
> not the gasoline i'm using) No codes, no service engine light, engine is
> always run with mobil-1 synthetic (although it's almost due for a oil
> change), air filters changed recently, plugs and wires changed last spring.
>
> I'm thinking maybe it's running too rich, due to... MAF sensor? Maybe a
> cleaning with 99% alcohol and a Q-Tip?
>
>
>
I'm assuming a recent tune up, including plug wires and all filters (and stock air
filter).
Contrary to popular belief, remove the Mass Air Sensor from the housing,you will
need a tamper proof Torx bit, Clean the MAF bead with alcohol(carefully). It often
helps with sudden poor fuel consumption and no other drivability issues. No guarantee
though.
Your Taurus has lots of miles\wear on it. If the 14-19 mpg is combo driving, that's
about right. I do a bit more highway and my 98 gets ~18 overall. It's not a miser, but
far from a guzzler like my 84 Mark VII (12mpg combined).

larwe@larwe.com

Tom Adkins wrote:

> Your Taurus has lots of miles\wear on it. If the 14-19 mpg is combo
driving, that's
> about right. I do a bit more highway and my 98 gets ~18 overall. It's
not a miser, but

!?? Our 94 3.0 Taurus sedan with ~145K on it got in the mid twenties on
mostly highway.

Repairman

<larwe@larwe.com> wrote in message
news:1111058809.738835.91530@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>
> Tom Adkins wrote:
>
>> Your Taurus has lots of miles\wear on it. If the 14-19 mpg is combo
> driving, that's
>> about right. I do a bit more highway and my 98 gets ~18 overall. It's
> not a miser, but
>
> !?? Our 94 3.0 Taurus sedan with ~145K on it got in the mid twenties on
> mostly highway.
>
Yep, my '94 3.0 w/162k gets 24 mpg on the highway at 70 mph on average.
--
John
"anything you say can & will be misquoted & used against you"
'01 FLHR ''Red"
'04 MXZ 600ho
'99 XC700
BRC mem

Teknical

"Tom Adkins" <newton5@remove.comcast.net> wrote in message
news:CYqdnZbEP_toi6TfRVn-1w@comcast.com...
> Teknical wrote:
>> 97 Taurus 3.0 Vulcan, ~120,000 miles. (200,000km)
>>
>> Seems that my gas milage has gone -way- down recently. Anywhere from
>> 14-19MPG, depending how much I'm on the highway. There are no fuel system
>> leaks, and the system holds pressure. Also the engine has a very
>> infrequent miss at idle when warm (maybe once every 5 or 6 seconds, not
>> on every revolution), and will occasionally ping on uphill grades (I fill
>> from a high volume gas station, and my other car has no issues, so I'm
>> pretty sure it's not the gasoline i'm using) No codes, no service engine
>> light, engine is always run with mobil-1 synthetic (although it's almost
>> due for a oil change), air filters changed recently, plugs and wires
>> changed last spring.
>>
>> I'm thinking maybe it's running too rich, due to... MAF sensor? Maybe a
>> cleaning with 99% alcohol and a Q-Tip?
>>
>>
>>
> I'm assuming a recent tune up, including plug wires and all filters (and
> stock air filter).
> Contrary to popular belief, remove the Mass Air Sensor from the
> housing,you will need a tamper proof Torx bit, Clean the MAF bead with
> alcohol(carefully). It often helps with sudden poor fuel consumption and
> no other drivability issues. No guarantee though.
> Your Taurus has lots of miles\wear on it. If the 14-19 mpg is combo
> driving, that's about right. I do a bit more highway and my 98 gets ~18
> overall. It's not a miser, but far from a guzzler like my 84 Mark VII
> (12mpg combined).


I averaged ~21-26 depending on highway use up to the last 2 months or so.

Tom Adkins

larwe@larwe.com wrote:
> Tom Adkins wrote:
>
>
>> Your Taurus has lots of miles\wear on it. If the 14-19 mpg is combo
>
> driving, that's
>
>>about right. I do a bit more highway and my 98 gets ~18 overall. It's
>
> not a miser, but
>
> !?? Our 94 3.0 Taurus sedan with ~145K on it got in the mid twenties on
> mostly highway.
>

I get 25-26 onthe highway but only 16-17 around town. When checked from fill up to
fill up the average is about 18-19. I have gotten as high as 28 on a long trip.