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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / July 20082005 Malibu LS V6 Fuel Filters
2005 LS V6 with now 28,000miles. Last year at 22,000 I asked a reputable garage I use for alignments about having the fuel filter changed on my car above. After performing the alignment they looked up my car and told me the filter is actually in the gas tank and never needs a routine change. They said however, it could be done if I wanted but fuel savings wouldn't be worth the amount of money to drain & drop the tank, replace the filter, & rehang tank. Is this reliable information? In article <184f24da-e3bf-47e6-9a68-0e80edb5c678@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>, > 2005 LS V6 with now 28,000miles. > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Is this reliable information? Yes. There is no fuel filter external to the fuel tank. Whether the cost of replacing the internal filter is worth it, that's your call, not theirs. > In article > <184f24da-e3bf-47e6-9a68-0e80edb5c...@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Whether the cost of replacing the internal filter is worth it, that's > your call, not theirs. ___________________________ The reason I asked is because my actually mpg(city or highway) doesn't even come CLOSE to this: http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/2004-to-2007-chevrolet-malibu-4.htm Under Powertrain Options second row: ohv V6 3.5 / 213 200 220 I don't even top 20mpg on the HIGHWAY, let alone "23 city 32 highway"! I had a UTH fuel injector cleaning, the tires are inflated to 31psi(door panel says 30psi). They are "H"-rated Yokohamas and will ride too harsh if I go more than 1-2lbs over factory recommended pressure, and I replaced the air filter 1,000 miles ago. Frankly this car never got more than 20 city and 24 highway when I bought it new, but this is ridiculous. So I'm trying to think of everything. The alignment was done last September and is fine - car pulls slightly to the left even with front camber set up to pull to the right, but car rolls forever when I let off the gas, especially in city driving. My trunk has only 20lbs worth of toolkit in it. So my issue really is what is causing my car to average 10mpg lower than what it potentially could achieve in fuel economy? My old 2003 Impala averaged 24mpg on it and was a bigger car. -CC >> In article >> <184f24da-e3bf-47e6-9a68-0e80edb5c...@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > > -CC All the Malibu V-6's (lots) I have rented got at least 22 mpg in hard city and mountain driving. On the freeway they got at least 26 mpg. At only 22k miles its unlikely one of the O2 sensors had burned out, but I would have that checked. Also, have the fuel pressure regulator checked. Better do those before the cat burns out and causes major problems. > >> In article > >> <184f24da-e3bf-47e6-9a68-0e80edb5c...@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 51 lines] > > - Show quoted text - ______________ Wouldn't O2 issues trigger a "check-engine" on the dash? -CC Wouldn't O2 issues trigger a "check-engine" on the dash? Not necessarily. If the O2 sensors are switching properly, then the PCM would not detect a problem even if they were switching at the wrong point (richer than they should) but it seems unlikely that you could have two bad O2 sensors on a car that new. Ed > Under Powertrain Options second row: ohv V6 3.5 / 213 200 220 > I don't even top 20mpg on the HIGHWAY, let alone "23 city 32 > highway"! From the Consumer Reports Test of a 2004 V6 Malibu - CR's overall mileage, mpg 23 CR's city/highway, mpg 15 / 36 CR's 150-mile trip, mpg 29 From the Consumer Reports Test of a 2005 V6 Malibu Maxx- CR's overall mileage, mpg 21 CR's city/highway, mpg 14 / 31 CR's 150-mile trip, mpg 26 I have no idea why the 2004 got so much better highway mileage than the 2005 Malibu Maxx. From www.fueleconomy.gov: Revised EPA ratings 20 city / 29 highway / 23 combined. User reports were 25 to 29 mpg with an average reported mpg of 29.9 (seems higher than I would have believed). Your mileage seems low. Other sources I have seen indicate average mileage similar to the C/R Trip mileage (26 to 29 mpg or better). I suppose if your driving was weighted more towards city driving you would be closer to CR's overall average (around 21) but unless you are doing a lot of stop and go driving, I think anything less than 20 actual mpg would be exceptionally low. > I had a UTH fuel injector cleaning, the tires are inflated to > 31psi(door panel says 30psi). They are "H"-rated Yokohamas and will > ride too harsh if I go more than 1-2lbs over factory recommended > pressure, and I replaced the air filter 1,000 miles ago. > Frankly this car never got more than 20 city and 24 highway when I > bought it new, but this is ridiculous. > So I'm trying to think of everything. The alignment was done last > September and is fine - car pulls slightly to the left even with > front > camber set up to pull to the right, but car rolls forever when I let > off the gas, especially in city driving. > My trunk has only 20lbs worth of toolkit in it. So my issue really > is > what is causing my car to average 10mpg lower than what it > potentially > could achieve in fuel economy? I would suggest you check your odometer against a standard (or at least Interstate mile markers). Make sure your brakes are not dragging. Where do you live? Because of varying gas standards, different parts of the country have different gas mixtures. If you are in one of the E10 areas, you could expect 3% worse mileage than an area with "pure" gasoline. How carefully are you recording your mileage. I wouldn't trust single trip average. The best way to check mile is to keep a log book and average the mileage over several tank fulls. I think you need to average the mileage over 40 gallons or more (3 or 4 tanks) to get a reasonably accurate estimate (reasonably accurate being =/- 1 mpg). I doubt a partially plugged fuel filter would have any measurable effect on fuel economy unless it was so plugged it turned on the check engine light (ditto for the air filter). The engine component most likely to affect fuel economy is the O2 sensor (two of them). I suppose a sensor that appeared to work properly, but that indicated the engine was running leaner than actual could drastically affect fuel mileage, but this seems very unlikely. The check engine light is off - right? Before I started poking around with the sensors, I'd make sure the there was not a mechanical problem with the brakes, or transmission. Are you using the proper oil (5W30 I assume)? Also, are you sure your driving style and where you drive might not be part of the problem? Have you had it checked out by the dealer? I know my SO, when driving basically the same route and same vehicle as I do, will get around 2 mpg better mileage than I will. On the other hand, my son will get 4 or 5 mpg worse than me...... > My old 2003 Impala averaged 24mpg on it and was a bigger car. Not that much different, particularly as far as weight is concerned. The EPA ratings for a 2003 3.4L Impala were 19 city / 29 highway / 22 combined (only 1 mpg less than a 2005 Malibu V6). Ed On Jul 18, 10:41 am, "C. E. White" <cewhi...@removemindspring.com> wrote: > "ChrisCoaster" <ckozi...@snet.net> wrote in message CR data snipped to keep post within one zipcode. :) > > I had a UTH fuel injector cleaning, the tires are inflated to > > 31psi(door panel says 30psi). They are "H"-rated Yokohamas and will [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > least Interstate mile markers). Make sure your brakes are not > dragging. Where do you live? ___________ Fairfield County, CT ___________ > Because of varying gas standards, > different parts of the country have different gas mixtures. If you are > in one of the E10 areas, ________________________ Acc to this site: http://www.drivingethanol.org/ethanol_in_vehicles/e10.aspx My octane rating and mileage should actually be better! "E10 area"?? That would include most of the lower 48 states according to the article. ________________________ > you could expect 3% worse mileage than an > area with "pure" gasoline. How carefully are you recording your > mileage. I wouldn't trust single trip average. ______________________ The '04-'07 New Malibu/Maxx had the information center on the dash. Don't know how accurate it is. As of this week it's been averaging 19.4mpg. During the first year I owned the Malibu, the worst mileage displayed was 21mpg and the best was 24mpg. Since then it has gradually gone down. Winters were worse because of additives put in gasolines during that season. ________________________________ >The best way to check > mile is to keep a log book and average the mileage over several tank [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > fuel mileage, but this seems very unlikely. The check engine light is > off - right? ________________ Yes _________________ > Before I started poking around with the sensors, I'd make > sure the there was not a mechanical problem with the brakes, or > transmission. Are you using the proper oil (5W30 I assume)? ____________________ 5W-30 Castrol GTX __________________ > Also, are > you sure your driving style and where you drive might not be part of > the problem? ____________________ Since last summer, I've incorporated the "eggshell" method of acceleration when and wherever possible. I never rev above 2500RPM when accelerating because I lift my foot off the pedal slightly to allow the automatic to downshift. I'm barely turning 1500rpm at 40 miles per hour and 2000rpm at 65. _____________________ >Have you had it checked out by the dealer? I know my SO, > when driving basically the same route and same vehicle as I do, will [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > The EPA ratings for a 2003 3.4L Impala were 19 city / 29 highway / 22 > combined (only 1 mpg less than a 2005 Malibu V6). ________________________ The V6 in my Malibu is supposed to be of an older design than even that used in the 2000 Impala. Am I just expecting too much of it? It's also a little bigger than the 3.4 Impalas, - it's a 3.5. Remember, my mpg has dropped an average of 3-4mpg in the last 3 years. __________________________ > Ed- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - _________________ See my boxed answer to your questions above. -CC A few questions, some that might help me because a Malibu is on my short list when I get a new used car, since the Corsicas and Luminas are discontinued and getting old. Impala is the other option, but more thirsty. My Corsisa 2.2 gets 34 mpg highway, and the Lumina 3.1 gets 32 mpg highway. Have you calculated MPG by counting the gallons you put in the tank against the ODO reading? I wouldn't trust electronic flow meters. Why are you getting an alignment on a car with 28k miles? I can't even remember the last time I got an alignment and I'm driving older cars. Have you taken the car to a dealer mechanic about you MPG issues? Been hooked to a good OBDII system? You said you bought it new. They used to come with a 3yr/36k warrantee for that kind of stuff. No more? Did they offer a bumper-to-bumper and how much was it? Why did you buy a 3.5? My only experience with the Malibus was a 2005 I rented for a vacation and put about 3k miles on it. Had about 5k miles when I picked it up. I though it was a 6 driving it home to pack the bags, but when I popped the hood saw it was a 2.2 4-cyl Ecotec. When we got on the highway it wandered all over the road and after 100 miles of constantly playing with the steering wheel I was going to turn it around and drive it back and raise some hell. Decided to pick up an air guage first and found the left front had only 10 psi in it, though it looked just like the the other tires. Put 30 psi all around and it tracked perfectly after that, had plenty of power in the hills, was quiet, got 34 mpg on the highway and did well in the ciy though I never measured that. That's what got it on my short list, though I prefer push rod for maintenance reasons. Had a workmate with a Malibu 2.2 Ecotec spending some big bucks when his water pump failed. GM's got some balls burying their still apparently inadequate water pumps under a cam cover. I can tolerate those pumps when they're outside, cost 20 bucks and are a 10 minute job to swap out. Still don't know if that's a deal killer for me. --Vic > On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:35:16 -0700 (PDT), ChrisCoaster > [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > > --Vic __________________________ The LS(with V6) was the lowest trim level available with a sunroof! I wanted to be able to open up the car on the open road without the hassles/noise of a convertible, so I'd been thinking about a sunroof car several years prior to 2005. But you're right - the simple solution would be to first have the dealer check it. -CC |
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