auto Festy getting horrible mileage

[Larry Hampton]

Wife drove Fajita today, she put gas in this morning, $20 worth, it was empty so that was about 3/4 tank. She said it burned 1/4 tank, she drove about 30 miles maybe 40.

No check engine light, doesn't smell rich, seems to run fine, no high idle, no emergency brake dragging.

My plan right now is to fill it up full, and drive it, then fill it and check the mileage.

I just want to know if there is something I should look for.

[TominMO]

Might just be the way the gauge moves; but also the O2 sensor might be broke and making it run rich. Has it been tuned up recently or has it been a long time? I'd check the plugs for clues on how it's running.

[WmWatt]

The guage is not linear. When full it doesn't move for a long time. When it starts to move it's slow at first but speeds up as the tank empties. Better to do a fillup and odometer calculation, IMHO

[Larry Hampton]

Tom, I just recently bought it. I'll pull the plugs and check them, and do the odo calc.

I may drive it to work a couple days next week (44 mile round trip) and check it out that way.

If all else fails, I may throw an O2 at it as I'm betting it's never been changed. (95k)

I bought the car with the intention of my wife driving it during the week as her Windstar gets about 15 in town, my thought is the Festy ought to get 30+ being an auto. I have another 5-speed car I can swap trannys with if she'll let me.

[Movin]

Check the timing...

[Darlo]

Before you do anything, I would suggest filling it completely up, and then drive it until the guage reads close to empty (if you are really concerned, take a gas can). Then fill again to calculate the mpg for the entire tank.

The reason is this: In my car, sometimes the gas guage is funny about when it decides to go down and stay steady......I can drive 100 miles and it will barely move, but when I drive the next time, it will suddenly move up to 1/8-1/4 tank!

Do this, come back and report, BEFORE messing with stuff, lol......just my opinion.......Saves needless work and worry

[Darlo]

I have another 5-speed car I can swap trannys with if she'll let me.

This should take you from 30mpg to as high as 46mpg (that is what I average in my 5spd, including winter driving).........