I know gas mileage goes down in the winter but come on...

[TominMO]

Here is a link to an article that explains most of the reasons for lower gas mileage during colder weather.
http://wxbrad.com/why-cold-weather-g...r-gas-mileage/

Very informative, thanx.

[ryanprins13]

Is unplugging the fan a good idea?


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It shouldn't come on until the engine gets too hot right?


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[ryanprins13]

34 last fill up, winter gas sucks and I think Festiva radiators are sized for a 5.9 cummins. To get heat I block radiator and unplug fan otherwise mileage drops even further

Lol, the automatics? The rad in the manuals are the smallest i have ever seen.


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[dhnorris]

Had radiator go bad and an automatic radiator was all I could find. I think my fan comes on too soon fan comes on about 3/32 above line heat is about 1/8" further

[ryanprins13]

Had radiator go bad and an automatic radiator was all I could find. I think my fan comes on too soon fan comes on about 3/32 above line heat is about 1/8" further

Ok, yes, the fan coming on that early is not normal at all.


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[TorqueEffect]

haven't even broke 200 miles and my gas gauge is at a quarter tank.

That's miserable, i'll be lucky to break 30MPG this tank.

[ryanprins13]

Ouch, thats terrible! There has to be something wrong though. Worst i ever got in 8 1/2yrs was 32 mpg (UK/Canadian) with a broken O2 sensor, cat converter removed with no pipe, i spent 2 hours bombing around on a lake and it was below -30c for the whole tank of gas.
Do you have a hole in your gas tank? :/


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[TorqueEffect]

Well there is lots of stop and go, allot of driving 5 miles to work, and it only just gets warmed up then then it's back off with the engine. Also on the 5 mile drive to work, I accelerate up to speed on the highway, it's either that or a crap ton of traffic lights.

[jimdigs]

I think I may have a brake sticking or something. My last two fill ups were 36 mpg and this last one today was only 34 mpg. Its been pretty cold but I think something else must be going on.

[ryanprins13]

I think I may have a brake sticking or something. My last two fill ups were 36 mpg and this last one today was only 34 mpg. Its been pretty cold but I think something else must be going on.

Find any problems yet?


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[jimdigs]

Not yet. Been either to cold or I'm to lazy.

[Meepersly]

haven't even broke 200 miles and my gas gauge is at a quarter tank.

That's miserable, i'll be lucky to break 30MPG this tank.

I feel your pain

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[PbFlinger]

While all of the previously mentioned factors conspire to make a car use more fuel in the winter, in my opinion the gasoline itself is a huge factor. I've watched it go up and down seasonally for many years. I pretty meticiulously track the gas mileage on my stuff, for several reasons:
1. It's easy.
2. I never trust a gas gauge, and rarely even look at it.
3. It can tip me off when something's wrong.
4. Im a nerd
Every fill up I fill it to the top of the neck, so I know within an ounce or two what I used. Divide miles by gallons, and there's my mpg to several decimals. (Every trip/mileage computer I've had was way off). This makes for the most accurate reading possible, gives me the highest possible range, and I know pretty closely what that range is. After I top off I reset the trip odometer. That's my gas gauge. My Festy odo was a pad of sticky notes. Whenever I gassed up I wrote the miles down on one & stuck it on the speedo. If you trust gas gauges, you will someday be walking.

For example my truck gets about 13.5 mpg on the summer gas, 10.5 on the winter junk. It has a 26 gallon tank, so theoretically it would go about 275mi winter, 350mi summer. However running any injected vehicle low, let alone out of gas nearly guarantees a fuel pump change; so regardless I start looking for gas at about 200 miles.

Now what does this drivel have to do with seasonal gas? I have driven that truck almost every day for 15 years, and every fall/spring watch the mileage go up & down that 3mpg. It just bumped up last week. Now I do warm it up some when it's real cold so I write some of it off to that on this vehicle.

But the biggest tipoff is my Vette. I've had it for 16 years. It averages about 21.5 mpg when i drive it back & forth to work I've got 30+ out of it on trips before. I generally put it up for the winter about the first of November. I always put it up full of gas. Well usually we'll get a dry week sometime during the winter so I'll drive it for a while. Running out the summer gas it was put up with, in the middle of winter it'll get the same 21.5. Fill it up with the winter stuff, straight down to 18 or so. Get it back out in the spring, 18 on the winter stuff it was put back up with; next tank, 21.5 on the summer stuff. Same thing has happened a dozen or more times.

As a side note there is a station nearby that sells 100% premium gas, no ethanol. All of my stuff gets about 10% better than the normal summer E-whatever. (All of our regular gas here is at least 10% ethanol).

Just my experience.

[Meepersly]

I can see your reasoning with that the fuel here smells terrible especially the diesel they must put a lot of junk in it.

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[jimdigs]

MPG is starting to go up. I have been averaging 36 this winter. The last fill up I averaged 38.7.