re: Gas Problems

[Dylan Jenkins <dylan@vt.edu>]

Whoah folks....before we get too carried away here, all the guy said
is that his guage reads 3/4 after a day of driving. Both my 4kq fuel
guages drop _very_ quickly the first quarter (like after the first
60 miles or so, which with an 18 gallon tank would equal about 13 mpg!)
then slowly the rest of the way. I don't know why the 4kq guages are
like this, but seems to be one of the many consistent quirks our cars
are infamous for. Obviously the car should be kept in tune, but don't
judge your mileage by the guage. Best mileage check is to fill up,
record odometer, drive it down to close to empty, fill up again,
record odometer and fuel used = mpg. Assuming your odometer works :) 

I'm not sure I understood your statement... "I know it is not my
driving style, because I drove with the gauge reading 25-35 mpg gallon
every where...." but 25 mpg is the top end mileage for our cars - if
you're getting 25 (highway) you should be happy; I have never heard nor
would I believe that a 4kq could get over 30 mpg. I generally look for
400 miles between fill ups with a combination of town/highway driving
and usually use about 16 gallons of fuel = 25 mpg. When it drops below
this I start looking at plugs, wires, rotor, air filter, etc, etc. 
(some or all of which may need changed in your 4kq).

What else besides your fuel guage is causing you to think that you are
getting poor mileage?

Dylan Jenkins
854kq*3

Jeryd wrote:

>Date: Sat, 25 Dec 1999 11:45:37 -0800
>From: "Jeryd" <Leuck@concentric.net>
>Subject: Gas Problems
>
>    Could some please tell me what could effect my gas mileage with my 86
>4kcsq?  I just filled it up yesterday and now it down to 3/4 tank...  I know
>it is not my driving style, because I drove with the gauge reading 25-35 mpg
>gallon every where....
>
>Any advice on what might be loose or what needs to be tuned to work right
>would be very help full...  I am going on a 450 mile trip and I would like
>to get the best gas mileage as I can...
>
>Thanks a bunch!
>
>Jeryd