 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Chevrolet / Chevrolet Malibu / February 2005'99 Malibu Gas Mileage
Hey guys, I have a '99 Chevy Malibu with the 3.1L V6 engine, and it's just got a little over 60,000 KMs. I was wondering what type of gas mileage I should be getting in the city and on the highway. I just figured out my mileage on my last tank and I got 12.3 MPG. Now, that leads me to believe that their's something wrong with the car. I'm thinking it's an O2 sensor, but could their be anything else causing this poor gas mileage? The fuel system was cleaned recently and the fuel filter was changed at the same time. The spark plugs are brand new and the timing was checked and it is correct. Or is this car just bad on gas? I don't drive the car hard at all. Any ideas? Jeff... >>Hey guys, I have a '99 Chevy Malibu with the 3.1L V6 engine, and it's just >>got a little over 60,000 KMs. I was wondering what type of gas mileage I [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >>correct. Or is this car just bad on gas? I don't drive the car hard at >>all. Any ideas? Has it been really cold during that last tank of gas? I had a 2001, and currently have a 2003 (both with the 3.1L V6), and when it gets brutally cold, the mileage really drops. Are you American or Canadian or British? I routinely get 35 to 40 MPG on the highway. Of course, that is Canadian Gallons. Multiply by roughly 0.83 to convert to American MPG. In the winter, it may drop as low as 32 MPG on cold days. Chris > Hey guys, I have a '99 Chevy Malibu with the 3.1L V6 engine, and it's just > got a little over 60,000 KMs. I was wondering what type of gas mileage I [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Jeff... I had the same problem just before I hit 60,000 miles. My gas mileage dropped to 10-12 mpg and I got the check engine light. It turned out it was throwing a code for inefficient cat. converter. Replaced the catalytic converter and gas mileage went back to normal. Hello Brother Malibu Owner: This a problem of considerable concern and I do agree the Smak's guess that your cat converter may indeed be plugged. Key question here is...has there been a noticeable drop in engine power during the time of your very bad gas mileage, compared with before when the car was getting good gas mileage? If yes, this info helps troubleshoot the problem. If you have experienced a drop in engine power, and yes you would notice, then it could be your cat converter or it could be one of the coil packs not providing enough zap to two cylinders. Each coil pack fires two cylinders and if one is not working properly you'll experience a considerable drop in power and that will greatly affect gas mileage. Buy a good shop manual also to read up on future problems. Good luck. Sorry about the repetion folks. My first time here and didn't think my messages were being forwarded so I repeated them. My mistake. Party on! Could be a bad fuel injector. That would do bad things. > Sorry about the repetion folks. My first time here and didn't think my > messages were being forwarded so I repeated them. My mistake. > Party on! Hello Brother Malibu Owner: This a problem of considerable concern and I do agree the Smak's guess that your cat converter may indeed be plugged. Key question here is...has there been a noticeable drop in engine power during the time of your very bad gas mileage, compared with before when the car was getting good gas mileage? If yes, this info helps troubleshoot the problem. If you have experienced a drop in engine power, and yes you would notice, then it could be your cat converter or it could be one of the coil packs not providing enough zap to two cylinders. Each coil pack fires two cylinders and if one is not working properly you'll experience a considerable drop in power and that will greatly affect gas mileage. Buy a good shop manual also to read up on future problems. Good luck. I once had a 2003 Model. City driving was consistently under 20. Highway driving was consistently over 30. "Winter" commuting mileage of mixed driving type could sometimes be in the 14 range....about 19 in summer. Lord only knows why city/highway mileage was so different. However, 12 seems a bit liw to me. I have a 2004 Classic, I get about 32 MPG if I do 60 - 65 MPH and 26 MPG if I do 70-75 MPH. My Malibu has the 2.2 L ECOTEC >I once had a 2003 Model. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > However, 12 seems a bit liw to me. Say Gomer, my 23 year old Malibu gets way better than the when it's cold. You got something radically wrong. When did you notice that you were getting 1/3 of what it should be? The plugged converter sounds logical and is easily checked. Running the way you are is damaging things. I get a range of 29-34 on the highway and 24-38 in the city. Theres gotta be something wrong....if it seems to be running right, then likely its the exhaust sensor or the cat. convert. You should have it checked out or just continue to throw money in your tank. good luck. Brother Gomer: I agree with Smak. Cat convertor could definately rob you of gas mileage and considerable power, as could a defective coil pack, which delivers spark to two of your six cylinders. Both could cause decreased gas mileage. So...have you noticed a drop in power since all this mileage nonsense started? If so, definately check both of those things out. Best of luck. Ottawa, Ontario |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.