Gas mileage and Fuel Treatment

[Guest Tailguuner762]

What is y'alls favorite fuel treatments and injector cleaners?

[Caster]

Injector cleaners that go in the gas tank are a no go for me. Think about it. It's made to clean build up and residue. It's not sentient, it's a chemical. SO, it starts cleaning on contact which means it cleans any crud in the tank and washes it to the filter. Diluted by the cleaner, some of it makes it past the filter and into the injectors. No thanks. You'd be better off with frequent filter changes and knowing your local gas station. By knowing I mean, know when they get gas in. NEVER buy gas on the day the get in fresh. Wonder what gets stirred up when the fill the underground tanks???

If the injectors need cleaning, have it done. They can detach the line from the fuel rail and feed the injectors directly. Had to do it to an old mustang my wife had when were first got together. That tired old 5.0 was running like a 4 cylinder. It made a pretty big difference.

IMHO filters as preventive maintenance is where it's at. Change, change change. I change mine every year or every 10K [no, I don't drive much]

[Erik88]

I will sometimes use Lucas or Seafoam in my gas tank but I often wonder if they really do anything to help. My Acura mechanic told me to NEVER use the stuff because he has seen it actually cause problems. Seafoam is overpriced anyways.

[Guest pfries]

I am with Caster + run quality gas.

I have run the numbers and on all four of my gas cars, I get the best mileage from shell and BP mid-grade or better and it is worth the price difference up to around 30 cents per gallon.

[Caster]

I am with Caster + run quality gas.

I have run the numbers and on all four of my gas cars, I get the best mileage from shell and BP mid-grade or better and it is worth the price difference up to around 30 cents per gallon.

I don't run ethanol if I can keep from it. There's a [very] noticeable difference in my Toyota when running 93 octane ethanol free gasoline.

[Ropin4gold]

+1 on BP 89. I get the best with that. I put a can of seafoam in every oil change. Don't know if it helps, but it makes me feel better.....

[Guest Tailguuner762]

I currently drive a '95 Toyota 4Runner, no matter what "brand" of standard grade gas (83?) I get somewhere abouts 13-14 mpg. I've tried severly combos of standard grade gas and fuel treatments/additives and still in the same ball park mpg. What should I do to get the milage up? All my filters, sparks plugs, spark plug wires, are good and my oil and transmission fluid just got changed. My 4Runner currently running on 31 a.t.'s, but I can't afford to get small tires due to the area I live in (mountains, rough roads, bad snows, etc.). Please give some help. TY!

[Caster]

I currently drive a '95 Toyota 4Runner, no matter what "brand" of standard grade gas (83?) I get somewhere abouts 13-14 mpg. I've tried severly combos of standard grade gas and fuel treatments/additives and still in the same ball park mpg. What should I do to get the milage up? All my filters, sparks plugs, spark plug wires, are good and my oil and transmission fluid just got changed. My 4Runner currently running on 31 a.t.'s, but I can't afford to get small tires due to the area I live in (mountains, rough roads, bad snows, etc.). Please give some help. TY!

I dunno what to tell you. I don't get much better. 15-16 max and mine's a '07 FJ. Sucks, but at least we can go anywhere.

[Steelharp]

There's a Kwik-Sak in the middle of Gallatin that sells non-ethanol gas. I get 100+ (yes, 100+) more miles out of my cars on a tank of that over the "Enriched with 10% Ethanol" brands.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I need to re-do the experiment, but when I first got the 2010 Jeep Wrangler I ran several tanks of ordinary regular ethanol mix from the minimart down the road.

The jeep has a meter on the dashboard that has a 'real time' readout of gas mileage. If you sit stopped a long time in traffic you can see it start ticking down a tenth at a time. Run for awhile on the highway and it starts ticking back up.

Anyway, got used to the mileage meter usually reading in the ballpark of 17 to 18 mpg running regular ethanol gas.

Then I ran a couple of tanks of higher-octane ethanol-free gas thru the Jeep, and the mileage meter tended to run noticeably lower, in the 15 to 17 mpg range. That seemed puzzling because it is frequently claimed that mileage is poorer from ethanol gas because ethanol is a lower-energy-density fuel.

Then after switching back to regular ethanol gas, the mileage went up again.

Maybe my driving habits were different when running ethanol-free gas but my driving habits are boringly constant. Perhaps modern vehicles have been fine-tuned to run as good as possible on ethanol-mix gas?

Sometime I ought to do a more rigorous test. Maybe the results were spurious.

[Guest Tailguuner762]

I'm going to start testing mid-grade fuels now see if they do anygood. Gonna start with Sunoco, then BP, Shell, Exon, and see what happens. I'm gonna avoid Wal-Mart, Raceway, and other no "name brand" gasoline. I'm currently using Lucas Upper Clyinder and Injector Cleaner with a no name brand just to see what it'll though. lol

[jtmaze]

I need to re-do the experiment, but when I first got the 2010 Jeep Wrangler I ran several tanks of ordinary regular ethanol mix from the minimart down the road.

The jeep has a meter on the dashboard that has a 'real time' readout of gas mileage. If you sit stopped a long time in traffic you can see it start ticking down a tenth at a time. Run for awhile on the highway and it starts ticking back up.

Anyway, got used to the mileage meter usually reading in the ballpark of 17 to 18 mpg running regular ethanol gas.

Then I ran a couple of tanks of higher-octane ethanol-free gas thru the Jeep, and the mileage meter tended to run noticeably lower, in the 15 to 17 mpg range. That seemed puzzling because it is frequently claimed that mileage is poorer from ethanol gas because ethanol is a lower-energy-density fuel.

Then after switching back to regular ethanol gas, the mileage went up again.

Maybe my driving habits were different when running ethanol-free gas but my driving habits are boringly constant. Perhaps modern vehicles have been fine-tuned to run as good as possible on ethanol-mix gas?

Sometime I ought to do a more rigorous test. Maybe the results were spurious.

After 12 yrs as the parts manager at a dodge dealer, one thing I learned is all mopar products(late model) are made to run on 87 octane. We used to have numerous complaints about overrun and knocking running high test.

JTM🔫

Sent from my iPhone

[Guest pfries]

After 12 yrs as the parts manager at a dodge dealer, one thing I learned is all mopar products(late model) are made to run on 87 octane. We used to have numerous complaints about overrun and knocking running high test.

JTM

Sent from my iPhone

This is why I run the numbers with all my vehicles for some in the past it has made little or no difference

[Guest WyattEarp]

to improve gas mileage

1.) use quality gas (shell or bp) is what I put in my car and I get the best results

2.) If possible find gas stations that don't have any ethanol added (getting harder and harder but there's some out there). ethanol decreases gas mileage efficiency

3.) change your fuel filter regularly

4.) keep your vehicle cleaned out (lots of heavy objects like bags, boxes, tools, and equipment add weight which means your car uses more gas to go)

5.) rotate your tires regularly. uneven wear creates friction, friction creates drag, drag reduces fuel mileage.

6.) if you have a manual transmission, shift at lower rpm's and gradually increase your speed at a slower rate. don't wait till you hear the rpm's of the engine leveling out to shift, shift 500 or 600 rpm's earlier, your engine will also thank you later on by lasting longer.

7.) driving 55-65 on the highway will increase your fuel mileage. changing your driving habits over all will increase your fuel mileage, slower acceleration, not driving as fast, not flying around corners or revving at the light.

8.) on the highway use your cruise control (in areas where the highway has tall hills, disengage the cruise and manually keep your foot steady on the gas to maintain speed, because cruise control will keep you steady till the speed falls off, then it kicks and accelerates to get back to that speed and that uses extra gas)

9.) when going down steep hills, shift into neutral and coast

10.) remove objects from the exterior of your vehicle that are not supposed to be there (window deflectors, bug shields, sports flags, brush guards, sun roof wind deflectors, large cb/cell phone antennas) anything that creates drag and resistance and takes away from the natural aerodynamics of the car

11.) changing your oil and air filter regularly will help. a dirty air filter, means the car can't properly regulate the air/fuel ratio, and if you're getting too much fuel, and not enough air, you're running rich and burning up more fuel, which decreases gas mileage. more of the modern day cars compensate for dirty air filters by electronically adjusting air/fuel.

12.) heavy braking also decreases fuel mileage, riding your brakes, stomping on them, or hitting them at the last minute. gradually apply them and slow down before you need to stop. let off the gas and coast to a stop when possible.

13.)Fuel additives generally don't work, but I use HEET in the winter to and I've seen minimal improvements. it's the only thing I ever put in my gas tank other than gasoline or Seafoam

14.) doing regularly scheduled maintenance, and taking care of your car, will keep your engine healthy and performing at optimum performance and efficiency levels.

15.) purchasing lighter wheels/rims will reduce weight, and increase fuel efficiency.

HEET

Deprecated Browser Error

Seafoam is good, it cleans carbon buildup out of your engine. A clean engine, is an efficient engine, which means it will be more fuel efficient. A dirty engine, with sludge and grime buildup means the internals have more resistance to overcome in order to function, which in turn burns more gas. Not changing your oil regularly, allows grime and sludge to build up and get caked on surfaces inside the engine. Seafoam can clean some of that out. pour it in the gas tank, and/or find a vacuum line and pour it down one of those. your car will smoke like crazy for a few minutes.

Tuning

Most car's come from the factory in a de-tuned state. some cars can be taken to an aftermarket tuning company and tuned for fuel efficiency economy. this may or may not void your factory warranty. tuning can adjust spark, timing, air/fuel ratio, and various other engine control computer settings that can improve fuel efficiency.

I used to have a 2002 mustang gt that usually got 18-20 in the city, and 21-23 on the highway when I first got it. A year later, I got a cold air intake (not sure how effective it really was) and I had the car tuned, and I started getting 24-27 on the highway and 22 in town. best tank ever was coming from Ohio through WV, ERN TN on my way back to Spring Hill, I got 384 miles, on 13.92 gallons for 27.58 mpg. 384 miles out of a 4.6L V-8, with 3.73 gears and 250 rwhp! I was in cruise control at 70 mph the whole way, no passing, no romping on it. That's good efficiency for a V-8!

[Guest Lester Weevils]

After 12 yrs as the parts manager at a dodge dealer, one thing I learned is all mopar products(late model) are made to run on 87 octane. We used to have numerous complaints about overrun and knocking running high test.

Thanks much, jtmaze

So maybe the determining parameter on mpg was octane rather than ethanol vs non-ethanol gas!

Will make sure to feed the jeep 87 octane, and perhaps get a chance to compare mileage between ethanol and non-ethanol if I can find both at 87 octane.

The most convenient local station which sells non-ethanol gas-- That station only sells non-ethanol out of the high octane pumps. That station's other grades are ethanol-mix. Might have to hunt down a local station that sells 87 octane non-ethanol gas, in order to do the experiment.

[strickj]

I will sometimes use Lucas or Seafoam in my gas tank but I often wonder if they really do anything to help. My Acura mechanic told me to NEVER use the stuff because he has seen it actually cause problems. Seafoam is overpriced anyways.

I used to sell Seafoam by the pick-up truck load. Literally.

It is the only brand of additive that I've seen that does what's promised.

For me, I add a little to my gas occasionally, as well as the other 'recommended' applications (letting a cap full suck through vacuum lines, etc).

For oil, a little trans fluid will do wonders at each oil change. For an old sagging engine, I'd put a couple quarts of it in there, followed by oil filter changes every few hundred miles or so until the gunk is gone.

I need to re-do the experiment, but when I first got the 2010 Jeep Wrangler I ran several tanks of ordinary regular ethanol mix from the minimart down the road.

The jeep has a meter on the dashboard that has a 'real time' readout of gas mileage. If you sit stopped a long time in traffic you can see it start ticking down a tenth at a time. Run for awhile on the highway and it starts ticking back up.

Anyway, got used to the mileage meter usually reading in the ballpark of 17 to 18 mpg running regular ethanol gas.

Then I ran a couple of tanks of higher-octane ethanol-free gas thru the Jeep, and the mileage meter tended to run noticeably lower, in the 15 to 17 mpg range. That seemed puzzling because it is frequently claimed that mileage is poorer from ethanol gas because ethanol is a lower-energy-density fuel.

Then after switching back to regular ethanol gas, the mileage went up again.

Maybe my driving habits were different when running ethanol-free gas but my driving habits are boringly constant. Perhaps modern vehicles have been fine-tuned to run as good as possible on ethanol-mix gas?

Sometime I ought to do a more rigorous test. Maybe the results were spurious.

My truck has the real time and the avg MPG display. I've never seen a lick of difference when using ethanol free gas, either. :shrugs:

[Guest 6.8 AR]

That computer is a huge liar compared to starting and ending mileage calculated the old fashioned way. I've

yet to see one accurate. My BMW lives off the computer

and it is always wrong.

Seafoam is glorified acetone. you can get it much

cheaper at the hardware store. It will aid in mileage

with the right ratio of acetone to gasoline. Alcohol

does nothing to aid mileage in a car. It is just a dilutor

of an otherwise effective fuel called gasoline.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mike.357]

I don't use any of that additive stuff in my daily driver. I might add some stabil to gas I store but thats it.

As far as I know all gas comes from the same pipeline. Colonial supplies every gas storage place in Knoxville. So I am thinking it does not matter much where you buy gas aside from whatever the individual gasoline franchise may add. Shell BP etc all add some sort of detergent. I have been told it is good to change up where you buy gas on occassion as even the detergents leave crud. A different detergent will clean another's crud.

I buy gas from Weigels near where I live. They claim it is 100% gas. I see no claim of any detergent additive.

I know for a fact I get three to four MPG better with their gas than using any other place which all have ethanol added.

I pay extra to buy 93 octane. Makes my engine sound better so it makes me feel better about buying it ,LOL.

i think the additives you buy from the auto parts store or wherever are a waste of cash.

Edited December 9, 2011 by Mike.357

[Motasyco]

My wife and I both run ethanol free gas exclusively. We also run it in our motorcycles and I use it in my boat. You can feel the difference in the bikes and boat. The mileage in her Jeep increased from around 18 mpg to 21 mpg average when we made the change. My F150 went from an average of about 14.5 mpg to about 15.6. The difference in price I pay is usually only a few cents which make the ethanol free actually cheaper to run when you figure price per mile. When I filled up this past Monday, I bought ethanol free gas at 10 cents less than the three stations nearby that sell gas with ethanol.

I travel quite a bit using my F150 and when out of town I use this site to find stations that sell ethanol free gas:

Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

Unless your vehicle is designed to use high octane fuel, you're wasting money buying it.

[Il Duce]

I will sometimes use Lucas or Seafoam in my gas tank but I often wonder if they really do anything to help. My Acura mechanic told me to NEVER use the stuff because he has seen it actually cause problems. Seafoam is overpriced anyways.

No its not. You're just using it wrong lol

[kieefer]

If you're calculating your mileage using the cars computer or doing it the old way, try using a GPS on a few fill ups and see what you get.

If you don't know it already don't us ethanol blended fuels in your lawn equipment and drain any tanks/cans that have sat unused for over a 3 month period.

Stick with non-ethanol fuels if you can, obviously for the reasons already stated.

I've noticed a little improvement when Seafoam is used as directed. Hardly worth the $9.00 a can IMO.

[Mike.357]

Unless your vehicle is designed to use high octane fuel, you're wasting money buying it.

My truck does not call for 93 octane but it runs better with it and gets better mpg enough to offset the cost.

[daddyo]

Mechanics are like doctors; they all have their own opinions about the same issues. My mechanic (who I trust and have been using for the past 5 years) recommended Seafoam once every month or so. So, I use it and it makes my VW engine with almost 160K miles on it run more smoothly.

[Guest db99wj]

ONe gas station in Memphis that has it, would cost me a quarter tank to drive that far. Ethanol crap for me I guess. Ethanol has caused me problems in my small engines. I use Fuel Stabilizer in them and they have been working pretty good for the past year.

[Guest jackdm3]

I can't believe as big as Memphis is that the only one is in Cordova/Germantown!