Car Guys: need Help

[ChrisYaughn]

My truck is an 03 Toyota Tundra. Quad cab. We bought it used 4 years or ago or so. It had around 30/40k miles on it. It is now getting very close to rolling over 200k.

I have changed the oil pretty close to every 10k miles (synthetic oil). And changed the transmission fluid/filter once. Thats it. No other issues or maintenance.

This truck pulls a tandem axel trailer most of the time, plus it carries a load of tools in the bed ALL of the time. I am wondering about my gas mileage. Checked it on the interstate the other day, at 75mph. With no trailor, I got 13mpg. Granted, my camper shell sticks up above the cab , so there are aerodynamic issues, but That number still feels bad.

What can you do to a vehicle to improve the performance? change the plugs and wires? Any additives to the fuel or oil?
Anything else? just thinking the truck should get better mileage than that.

[clhilde]

If it runs fine a tune up would help.I can say that since the switch to ethanol in gas my mileage is no where near what I can get on good ole straight gas and I have to rebuild my carbs on my four wheelers and lawn mower if they sit more that 3 months with gas in them.

When I bought my truck it was supposed to get around 20 on the hwy but it stays in the 16 - 18 mpg range unless I do 65 everywhere My install truck(1994 isuzu w/350 chevy engine) does not run to well on the new gas either.

Try to find a station with ethanol free gas and fill up to see if it changes anything.

[kevinp]

What size engine does you Tundra have? I believe on some engines, extra loads can really kill the gas mileage, depending on gearing and computer settings.
My Dodge 2500 quad cab gets 12 mpg at 70mph pulling a 16ft extra tall enclosed trailer full of motorcycles if the wind is right.
I know the V10 I had in a previous Dodge kept close to the same gas mileage empty or loaded.

[Mark Gamble]

I have been checking out the f150 v6 ecoboost. They are getting good mileage number and is meant to tow heavy

[Matt Lansing]

At 200k miles your spark plugs are most likely worn to nubs and should be changed. Also need new wires, filters, and anything else in the tune up category for your truck. Not sure what kind of distributor you have but it may need new points and rotor if it is not solid state. Old school there. Check air pressure in your tires. It can make a huge difference in gas mileage with only a few pounds. I like to slightly over-inflate my tires as it will pick up a few mpg this way. Can also replace or clean the fuel injectors as these can become worn too.

[Mark Gamble]

Also replace the fuel cap every couple years. My emissions shop told me that.

[ChrisYaughn]

Tires are good,

Probably gonna change the plugs and wires as they have atleast 160k on them. It has been a really good truck.

It has a V8, not sure if they had two size V8s in this model or not.

[Tynan]

Chris - If its an 03 it probably has injectors designed for gas only, if you do replace the injectors make sure the port is designed for ethanol...that crap is horrible for your engine and really screws up your gas mileage.

You should also replace the air fliter with a K&N low restriction filter, when I put one of them on my truck my mileage instantly got better.

Oh, see if you can find something called "Dry Gas" it helps to neutralize the ethanol...hope this helps brother!

[Qualey Granite]

I wouldn't waste a cent on it. Other than basic maintenance, 13mpg is great for a V8 with a load on it.

[Stone Dude]

You guys are getting ethanol and methanol mixed up

Methanol is the stuff race cars use and is an additive in gas. This is so bad for your engine. You want methanol free gasoline

Ethanol is the stuff made from corn. Its a thicker fuel so it requires larger injectors and a reprogrammed computer to compensate. It is equivalent to approximately 104 octane and decreases your fuel mileage. It runs super clean

13mpg for what you're describing is normal. The quad cab alone kills mileage not to mention all the other stuff

Not many vehicles have used plug wires for the last decade. I f you have wires just out new wires and plugs. There is no such thing as a tune up for this vehicle

[Stone Dude]

You guys are getting ethanol and methanol mixed up

Methanol is the stuff race cars use and is an additive in gas. This is so bad for your engine. You want methanol free gasoline

Ethanol is the stuff made from corn. Its a thicker fuel so it requires larger injectors and a reprogrammed computer to compensate. It is equivalent to approximately 104 octane and decreases your fuel mileage. It runs super clean

13mpg for what you're describing is normal. The quad cab alone kills mileage not to mention all the other stuff

Not many vehicles have used plug wires for the last decade. I f you have wires just out new wires and plugs. There is no such thing as a tune up for this vehicle

[Dan R.]

Ethanol may burn clean but I just saw a filter out of a diesel truck that had a slimy black soot on it from the ethanol in the the low sulfur diesel fuel. It was pretty nasty.

[Stone Dude]

That's a all the crap from before. Ethanol will clean out the system. It releases all the funk caught up kn the system.

They aren't producing it anymore. They announced a week or two ago they have decided to stop

[DavidL]

Cam - Are you sure they aren't producing ethanol or were you refering to the diesel issue Dan referred to? They are producing ethanol (corn). That is one the of the "green" initiatives. Currently most of Florida is at 10%. Some stations carry as much as 15% (E85). Yes it cleans gunk out of the fuel systems, thus clogging injectores, filters, pumps. Older vehicles and mainly boats, where fuel lines were not engineered for it have problems. Many boat older (10 years) have to replace there fuel lines unless they fuel up with Non-ethanl gas. Additionaly, when ethanol sits and isn't being used you can experience phase separation. You will end up with a layer of water in your fuel tank. Common on boats, lawnmowers, etc, for things with fuel tanks that don't get used often enough. Fuel stabilizers work well (Stabil being one them) in controling this.

[ChrisYaughn]

Cam, shows you how often I am under the hood lately ? Next thing you know you are going to tell me there isn't a carbearauter either

I miss my old Jeep CJ5 where you could sit IN the hood and work on and see everything.

[Stone Dude]

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/ ... heres-more

[DavidL]

Yep, they are just ending the tax subsidy, doesn't mean it will go away.

"That ends on Jan. 1, when the companies making ethanol will lose a tax credit of 46 cents per gallon, and even the ethanol industry is OK with it -- thanks in part to high oil prices that make ethanol competitive."

As long as the oil companies can keep barrel prices high, it will still make economic sense for the ethanol suppliers to continue to produce. If barrel prices dropped long-term, this might not be the case. But, then you can bet our very smart elected officials (said with all sarcasm possible) would vote back in a subsidy in order to "save and industry".

I'm not a fan of the product...

[GbD]

Definately change the spark plugs. Fuel filter also.

i've found that spark plugs start widening their gap after 70,000 miles. The gap gets too wide, the spark can't make the jump and results in missfires. Every missfire means that bit of gas is burned in the cat rather than the cylinder- so you have a net loss of power and mpg.