I know that some people are gonna be mildly ticked about me not just posting this in the other mileage thread, but since there are 2 different cars involved in 2 different situations, I thought it'd be easier to get straightened out in it's own topic. Here it is.

I have done very little with my car lately as far as mods go. I put a K&N on a few weeks ago. Did a full tune up incl. plugs, wires, oil, dist cap+rotor, and filters. Now that winter is here, my mileage is going down the crapper! I can drive around for 10 minutes, and my gas guage will go down a notch! I'm not doing hard starts from a stop anymore, since I'd just loose traction anyways. I don't let my car sit warming up for huge amounts of time. Haven't done any other real changes lately. One change, though, is when I put my K&N on I just hung my IAT sensor right beside the filter. What could be causing my mileage to suck? Help, gas is expensive!

 

Oh, shirt, forgot to mention I hadn't changed my 02 sensor yet...could it be the culprit?

 

change it then tell what happened...its simple to change

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Flowmaster 80 series, Random Technologies Cat, 3" intermediate pipe, SS
Hand Made Tips, 3 1/4" out, Accel 8.8 wires, MSD Coil, MSD Ignition Module,MSD 6A Box
Currently Working On:
T5 swap
Next to buy:
Slp dual cold air intake!

 

Don't be too pissed...my mileage has gone from 22 down to 18 or so, but the car definitely feels a little stronger with the cold air, so I can't complain too much

Also, don't take ANY 3rd gen gas gague seriously. Since my car was new, the gague has been screwy. For instance, it'll normally say full until 90 miles or so, then it will drop to 1/2. Give it 5-10 miles, it'll go back up to 3/4. Finally around 130 miles or so it'll drop back down to 1/2, and be semi-accurate from then on.

GM gas gagues are screwy...don't let it mess with your head Heh, you think gas is expensive? I'm paying $1.82 a gallon for premium because of my chip!!

 

Same here, Jason, except I beat ya last night- $1.79 for 93.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

I got all yall beat on gas. I paid $1.33 for 87 yesterday. The 93 was only $1.43. And yeah, never trust a GM gas gauge. I drove it for 50 miles on E and went to fill it up and it would only hold around 13 gallons so that means I still had 2.5 gallons in there!

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1986 SC, 2.8L, newly rebuilt 700R4, 3.42 Posi. 132K miles and counting, K&N air filters.

 

You Americans, thing you have it so bad...a gallon is 4.5 liters, so I have to pay 3.32 CANADIAN per gallon. That'd be about...$$2.16, if my numbers are good. And that's just for regular 83 octane. Question for all of ya, if the guage is screwy, is there any chance it is telling me i'm empty when I'm not?

 

I don't think so...mine gets more accurate the lower it gets.

Do what I do...reset your trip odometer every time you fill up. Once you get to 250 miles or so, consider getting into a gas station!!!

 

The inside of the tank slants a bit. So "halfway" on the gauge isn't really halfway on the tank's volume. There's more gas at the top of the tank then the bottom, because of the ***** .


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

You'd think GM coulda set the thing up so that 1/2 tank EQUALS 1/2 tank. Bunch of putzes...all it would have required is the recalibration of the gas guage. I just may alter the face myself, now...

 

To 87 firebird
you are talking about british gallons, they are 277 cu in. U.S. are 231 cu. inch

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www.marion-becker-nidda.de
91 Firebird 3.1
Modsynomax ultra flow stainless steel

 

Yes, 4.54 liters = an Imperial Gallon. 3.785 liters = 1 US Gallon. Assuming 73.9/liter, that would convert to just over US$1.80/US Gallon at a C$1=US$.65 or C$1.55=US$1. Still a damn lot to pay for regular, with little chance of it going down.

In a couple of years, these prices may even be the "good old days" for gasoline.

 

that's right Glenn, here in germany I pay 1 buck a liter, that's close to 4 bucks a gallon

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www.marion-becker-nidda.de
91 Firebird 3.1
Modsynomax ultra flow stainless steel

 

Just paid 1.289 for 87 octane here in ohio.
As far as those gas gagues, mine will start at full drop to 3/4 go back up to full for about 50 mi then drop to 3/4. after that it stays fine untill it hits 1/2. at that, it doesnt move or a while. then, suddenly, within a mile of driving, it drops to 1/4.
lovely... huh?

 

Now that I think about it, mine follows virtually that same pattern! Nice to know at least I ain't the only one!

And to think I was gonna mess with changing the sending unit...not gonna waste my time now!

 

i pay 1.67 for premium usually every other day... i spend close to 70 bucks on gas a week...

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Flowmaster 80 series, Random Technologies Cat, 3" intermediate pipe, SS
Hand Made Tips, 3 1/4" out, Accel 8.8 wires, MSD Coil, MSD Ignition Module,MSD 6A Box, Air Intake Temp Guage, Brushed Aluminum Hood Pins
Currently Working On:
T5 swap
Next to buy:
Slp dual cold air intake!

 

Hey, Graeme's, why do you use premium? I don't believe that it is really necessary to run premium in our cars, unless you have some crazy high compression engine that isn't in you sig. Just my .02

 

Graeme, $1.67 for premium? Where did you find that? Cheapest I know is $1.69 at Reseda and Sherman Way. Anyway, are all f-body gas tanks the same size? If not, how much does an 86 camaro hold? I can't tell and I'm afraid of dying out somewhere.
BTW How do you people make all those happy faces?

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-El Douche
"Like a midget in a urinal I was gonna have to stay on my toes."

 

All third gens are the same, 15.5 us gallons. Done.

 

u sure? when i totally was out of gas(ran out) it only held 13.2 gallons...

------------------
Flowmaster 80 series, Random Technologies Cat, 3" intermediate pipe, SS
Hand Made Tips, 3 1/4" out, Accel 8.8 wires, MSD Coil, MSD Ignition Module,MSD 6A Box, Air Intake Temp Guage, Brushed Aluminum Hood Pins
Currently Working On:
T5 swap
Next to buy:
Slp dual cold air intake!

 

Dead sure. I can't find any references, but I'm sure of it anyways. The reason you ran out at 13.2 gallons was probaby because the tanks wasn't COMPLETELY FULL. 15.5 US gallons is the total capacity of the tank, when all air is eliminated. It is nearly impossible to fill a tank Completely full, due to the trapping of air at high locations of the tank. Thusly, even if the gas jockey's gas nozzle clicked off, telling them it was full, the air in the tank still accounted for 2.3 gallons. I could be wrong, though...

 

Graeme, $70 a WEEK????? damn, i only spend $20 a week.

 

I only spend $25 a week myself...I guess if I was Graeme's, I'd have a more valid reason to bitch about gas prices

And NO, not all 3rd gens use 15.5 gallon tanks...carbed V8s use 16 gallon ones...I forgot what carbed V6s use.

 

Jason, is that 1/2 gal difference because the carb'd v8's were missing some things from the tank? They didn't have the fuel pump inside the tank, and they should also be missing a baffle.

"New" for the GM fuel injected cars was a baffle inside the tank, which prevented the pump from sucking air when the car makes a turn. (Of course that baffle doesn't do a damn if you're low on gas...)

So maybe the combo of those two = 1/2 gallon?

I was never able to squeeze above 13.5 gallons into the tank... once I was so low, the car was cutting out in a straight line! (I've never done that again after replacing the fuel pump!)


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

yep 70 a week.....! Premium is all i use because the car stutters with regular...i get better gas mileage with premium too (12 instead of 10 in city..)

Talk about big v8's with ****ty gas mileage..cant wait for a new engine!

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Flowmaster 80 series, Random Technologies Cat, 3" intermediate pipe, SS
Hand Made Tips, 3 1/4" out, Accel 8.8 wires, MSD Coil, MSD Ignition Module,MSD 6A Box, Air Intake Temp Guage, Brushed Aluminum Hood Pins
Currently Working On:
T5 swap
Next to buy:
Slp dual cold air intake!

 

Man I thought I was the only one getting crappy mileage. My beautiful 2.8 has over 200k on it and runs great, but it only gets about 11 mpg city/ 13 highway. Guess its time for that 3.4 swap huh?

 

13 highway?????? i'd say your motor's not running THAT great. replaced O2 sensor??? maybe a faulty fuel pressure regulator???

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Dan
1990 3.1L RS
80 Series Flowmaster
It's fast(er than a 3 cyl metro)

 

Well the first thing is that its burning oil and smoking, even though I find it is still running strong, a friend of mine said that with the relatively low prices of a 3.4 I should'nt bother to rebuild it.

Another friend is willing to sell me a turbo setup from his 3.1,CHEAP, so I'm thinking of getting the 3.4L and go turbo, what do you guys think? Should I rebuild the 2.8l or step up to 3.1 or 3.4 ??

 

Hey, you'd probably get a bunch more answers to your questions if you started a new topic. Just a thought. I'd go with a 3.4 turbo setup, but my question is, will a 3.1 turbo setup make a huge diff if it's attached to an engine larger than it's built for? I'm no expert, but I'd think that it wouldn't run as well. Also, it'd probably be spinning a lot harder because you'd have more exhaust volume, therefore more pressure. Anyone?