jwaj2002

mine idles at 750, clutch is fine, and has been, granted its soft for my tastes, but its fine

and the autos seem to get the better mileage

lazermule

I just installed the Scan Gauge II in mine (05 xA Auto) and it tells me that I am getting 37 MPG avg on my 56 mile trip home from work (20 miles in town slow and go freeway and 30 miles all out freeway). I did notice my coolant temp was only getting to 184 tops....are you guys getting hotter than that? It seems to me that this should be hotter and that would buy a few more MPG.

The Scan Gauge is great! I bought it at the local Autozone by my office, set it up in their parking lot ( a few minutes) and used it on the way home...

LM

Jan06xB

Typical coolent temps 182-186 with peaks of 188 to 190 is normal usually it will peak after climbing a hill and then stopping and idling or low RPM which reduces the coolent flow and allows the heads heat to soak through the aluminum to the coolent and heat it a little extra.

Jwaj2002 idle sounds good but it does sound like you are taching way too high at speed . . . you do get it into 5th right? You have to push the shifter to the right against the spring to to 5th / reverse gate.

jwaj2002

yes I go into 5th, I'm usually doing about 50 when I go into 5th, keeps the rpms around 2k

lazermule

I warmed up here a bit today (+30F) and I averaged 38.8 mpg on my 56 mile trip today. Pretty happy with that, cant wait to see what it does this summer.

LM

bugandxbandme

What are you doing to get that kind of mileage? My 2004 (manual)xB has very gradually been losing mpg's in the year and a half that we've had it. We could get 35 in the city when we bought it, now we are barely getting 28-29, even though we have done extremely regular maintinance, changed spark plugs, checked tire pressure, watched our driving habits, everything. Almost everything, havn't cleaned MAF sensor.
What is your secret?

Jan06xB

Check your tail pipe . . . if it isn't clean then you have a A/F mixture problem or are loosing oil. I start panicking when my average mileage gets below 40mpg. I usually average 43-46 mpg per tank. Short trips really kill mileage but if I can get at least 5 miles in before I cool the engine down it gets into the mid 40mpgs or high 40s all the time.

lazermule

Are you all stock? Or do you have some "tricks" done to get that kind of mileage? Freeway speeds? Above 3000 rpm?

Thanks,

LM

jwaj2002

tailpipe is clean, well not black/sooty, in 4th at 70 doing 5800 rpm

lazermule

My 05 xA auto runs 3K at 72mph in OD.

LM

Jan06xB

I am completely stock except for running Iridum plugs and Synlube in the engine, tranny and power steering. Installed the lube at 3700-3800 miles and now have 30306 miles on the same stuff with a filter change last month after 3.5 years. Yeah it makes a difference for sure on the mileage.

Jwaj2002 - you are shifting and reving way too high and that is where your gas is going. No need to unless you are hauling a lot of weight to rev that high. Just reving 3k is going to burn 0.6 gallons per hour or more just spinning the engine when you get up around 5k it is around a gallon an hour as I recall and that is enough fuel to move the box at 40-50 mph on level ground. Get that thing in top gear at 25-30mph and you will start saving gas.

SentraSE-R

I'm like Jan, no mods. I don't even run synlube in mine, although I'll switch to 5W-20W synthetic when I change oil this Summer.

Bugandxbandme, you've got a problem. O2 sensor is the first thing that comes to mind. Could be you're just doing too many short trips, but like Jan says, mileage should rise to 40 mpg after 5 miles of babying it.

The ticket to consistent 45 mpg tanks is to drive like a granny. I accelerate moderately from 1500 to 2200 rpm in all gears. My normal drive to the mall or store involves getting up to 40 mph in 4th gear, gliding back down to 25 mph, and pulsing again back to 40 mph. I take back country roads so I see as little other traffic as possible. If I have to get on a highway, I'll pulse between 50 and 60 mph, or hold a steady 55 mph. Coast/glide as much as possible, and keep the speeds down. I don't expect anyone to play the game like I do, but normal drivers can get high 30s all the time by just keeping that top speed at or below 60 mph, and coordinating city drives to minimize stops and maximize coasts. Our boxes hit an aerodynamic brick wall at 60 mph.

My experience at 50 mph steady state cruising is a 1 gph fuel consumption at 2600 rpm, and 50 mph at 1 gph = 50 mpg.

jwaj2002

well I've noticed a small increase in mileage, the trick, replace the factory batter with one thats good (mine was dead and had been since september, due to severe lack of funds, couldn't get a new one) I'm getting around 30 average on backroads

vintage42

Do you add that paint stripper solvent to your gas?

lazermule

Huh? Paint stripper?

Really?

LM

bB2NER

I think he meant Acetone.

lazermule

Huh? Acetone?

Really?

LM

bB2NER

Yep, some use it to help boost MPGs. I tried it and didn't see much return for the effort. There is alot of info on this subject on line.

SentraSE-R

It's mouse milk, and it corrodes paint. Snopes.com discussion.

bugandxbandme

Thank you Sentra SE-R, although there is no way I could get my husband to play the mpg game like you, I might try it to see what kind of improvements I can make. BTW, our car only has about 80,000 miles on it, would the O2 sensors be going bad already?We have an AEM cold air intake, if that makes any difference.