I have a 99 ford escort and I'm having a great deal of trouble finding
a garage that I can trust to get my car fixed. When I took my car in
for a tune-up the mechanic changed the gas filter, plugs and air
filter. After that my car began giving the poorest gas mileage I've
ever seen. I'm using way too much gas and the mechanic seems to think
the problem lies within my car's internal computer. He say's my car's
computer isn't communicating with my engine properly which explains
the reason why the gas distribution is off. Can someone help me with
this problem. I really need a second opinion.
Jim Warman - 16 Nov 2007 08:13 GMT
What kind of gas mileage are you getting? There are several gas mileage
calculators on the interent that you only need input a few numbers (accurate
numbers) that will return your average fuel consumption....
We are all feeling the sticker shock that current gas prices are giving
us.... this makes it important to find out if we are only having the
"impression" of poor fuel mileage or.... FWIW, it costs over $100 to fill
the tank in my pick-up....
Picking a shop/mechanic is like picking a doctor/hospital.... The cheap guys
are cheap for a reason.... Good techs usually realize what they are worth...
and charge accordingly...
vertuas - 16 Nov 2007 08:42 GMT
> We are all feeling the sticker shock that current gas prices are giving
> us.... this makes it important to find out if we are only having the
> "impression" of poor fuel mileage or.... FWIW, it costs over $100 to fill
I would love you to come over to the UK and fill up that truck!
Jeff - 16 Nov 2007 13:44 GMT
>> We are all feeling the sticker shock that current gas prices are giving
>> us.... this makes it important to find out if we are only having the
>> "impression" of poor fuel mileage or.... FWIW, it costs over $100 to fill
> I would love you to come over to the UK and fill up that truck!
The boat ride alone would be a couple thousand dollars. Or you need a
really long hose!
Jeff
vertuas - 16 Nov 2007 14:32 GMT
>>> We are all feeling the sticker shock that current gas prices are giving
>>> us.... this makes it important to find out if we are only having the
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> Jeff
LMAO too true!
Jeff - 16 Nov 2007 13:43 GMT
> What kind of gas mileage are you getting? There are several gas mileage
> calculators on the interent that you only need input a few numbers (accurate
> numbers) that will return your average fuel consumption....
Gee, or just use a spreadsheet or even a calculator or pencil and paper.
> We are all feeling the sticker shock that current gas prices are giving
> us.... this makes it important to find out if we are only having the
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> are cheap for a reason.... Good techs usually realize what they are worth...
> and charge accordingly...
I agree.
In the case of picking a doctor or hospital, there is no good way to
tell which are truly good docs or hospitals. And reputation doesn't
really cut it.
The same is true with mechanics. But I don't know what else there is to
go by beside your experience with a particular mechanic.
Jeff
vertuas - 16 Nov 2007 11:58 GMT
>I have a 99 ford escort and I'm having a great deal of trouble finding
> a garage that I can trust to get my car fixed. When I took my car in
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> the reason why the gas distribution is off. Can someone help me with
> this problem. I really need a second opinion.
You really need to know what the ECU fault codes are.
You could take to Autozone and have the ECU read, that will tell you if a
sensor is broken, or tell you where to look for a problem.
Is there a layer of black soot on the inside of the exhaust pipe?
Jim Warman - 17 Nov 2007 20:36 GMT
Not to be contrary.... as I'd mentioned, the first step is to see if the
fuel consumption is unreasonable or not....
There is a lot of money to be spent with inadequate shops with no hope of
fuel economy improvements. For a shop or tech, the very first requirement
towards fixing a concern is to verify the concern.... If the shop is well
equipped, they will be able to use the IDS or WDS scan tool to determine
either "instant" or "average" fuel mileage on this car. But... this is going
to involve a charge from the shop.... Hand computing fuel consumption is
quite simple and is going to be the first step in verifying whether there is
a repairable concern or whether this could be a case of good money after
bad....
>>I have a 99 ford escort and I'm having a great deal of trouble finding
>> a garage that I can trust to get my car fixed. When I took my car in
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> Is there a layer of black soot on the inside of the exhaust pipe?
mochajoes@verizon.net - 20 Nov 2007 03:19 GMT
> <mochaj...@verizon.net> wrote in message
>
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Is there a layer of black soot on the inside of the exhaust pipe?
I will be checking out the codes with Autozone. The mechanic says
there's nothing wrong with my exhaust pipe but I'll have to look for
myself. If there's black soot inside my pipe would that be the
problem of why I'm only getting 197 miles to a full tank of gas when I
used to get 346 miles? I'm also wondering what could be causing my
car to shift out of the drive (D) gear. Sometimes I'll have to shift
into lower gear then work the gears back up to drive (D).
mochajoes@verizon.net - 28 Nov 2007 04:07 GMT
On Nov 19, 10:19 pm, mochaj...@verizon.net wrote:
> > <mochaj...@verizon.net> wrote in message
>
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>
> - Show quoted text -
Well, I don't have any soot in my exhaust pipe and I found out from
another mechanic that the wires connected to my transmission needs to
be adjusted. This will help the new problem of why my car kicks out
of gear when in drive.
Jeff - 16 Nov 2007 13:41 GMT
> I have a 99 ford escort and I'm having a great deal of trouble finding
> a garage that I can trust to get my car fixed. When I took my car in
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> the reason why the gas distribution is off. Can someone help me with
> this problem. I really need a second opinion.
Then go to another garage.
The only thing you mentioned that the mechanic did that could decrease
gas mileage is something wrong the plug, like wrong gap, wrong plugs,
loose plugs, etc.
Jeff
ScottM - 16 Nov 2007 18:04 GMT
I have the opposite problem, too much gas! p-u!
>I have a 99 ford escort and I'm having a great deal of trouble finding
> a garage that I can trust to get my car fixed. When I took my car in
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> the reason why the gas distribution is off. Can someone help me with
> this problem. I really need a second opinion.
Shawn - 17 Nov 2007 00:05 GMT
>I have the opposite problem, too much gas! p-u!
Want a cigarette ? I'll light it