Timing and Gas Mileage

[festyfanatic]

Can the timing being off result in much lower gas mileage? My first 88LX carbed model consistently got 46-47 miles per gallon. Even after 280,000 miles I still got that kind of mileage. I actually drove that car to Harry's U Pull It and sold it. But I recently bought another 88LX and I'm not happy with the mileage. The car had 76,000 miles on it when I bought it this past summer. It now has about 81,000 miles on it. But the gas mileage has been so inconsistent. At first I was getting from 42-44 mpg. With the cold weather it is anywhere between 32-37 mpg. I changed the gas filter, plugs, wires, cap and rotor when I initially brought it home. It runs decent enough but there is another symptom I'm not happy with. When I shift, it hesitates and sometimes bucks when I accelerate, not every time though. And it doesn't miss at all at any speed. It's not clean acceleration like I had with my first 88LX. The only thing I didn't touch was the timing. I was just curious if the timing would have anything to do with the lower gas mileage and the hesitation. As a side note, this car had only 76K on it when I bought it. It appears to me that someone older had this car and used it very infrequently. The engine compartment and different components have a slight coating of rust on them. I have no leaks of any kind and it isn't using oil at all. I'm thinking this car sat outside all those years....not sure if that would affect anything. Any help from the professionals will be greatly appreciated.

[resuwrecked]

Cam and ign. timing can have a significant effect on mileageand should be checked anyway since the car is somewhat new to you. the carb may need to be tuned also. Since you have a hesitation/bucking problem I'd guess you need to check the carb first.

[Pu241]

^^^ 2x, what resuwrecked said!

A little carb cleaner in the gas might not be a bad idea either.
It wont fix a carb in need of rebuild, but could clean-up deposits causing fuel atomization issues.

[WmWatt]

Spray the carb and linkages with carb cleaner. Instructions on the can.

[skeeters_keeper]

seafoam is your friend! put some in the tank and run some through the carbs.

Not a guaranteed fix, but I've seen it do some pretty amazing things... if it sat for a while I bet the carb has some junk gummed up in it. After a treatment of seafoam, if it doesn't improve you may need some more serious carb work, but at least its a cheap and easy way to start.

[sanjeet]

My thinking is if it has been sitting around that you may have water in the fuel system, in the old days a cup of meths in the petrol tank usually did the trick, but you can also check the carb window to make sure the fuel level is OK, possibly the choke is sticking so I would check that its operating OK, also replace the air filter and I always clean/replace the small engine breather filter as well

[FestYboy]

wait wait WAIT!!! you sold your 88LX to Harry's and didn't tell anyone!?!?! i would have gladly taken it off your hands for what they gave you for it.

for future referance: i will buy your 88LX from you when you've had your fill of in (in any condition)

[festyfanatic]

Yeah, that was a stupid thing to do. That car was worth a lot more than the $125.00 Harry's gave me for it. Even though it had 290,000 miles on it the body and interior were actually nicer than 90% of the Festivas you see on Craigslist. It actually ran better than the 88LX I have now. If I get rid of my current one, you're first in line, FestYboy.