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Car Forum / Volvo Cars / January 2006Need to increase mpg
My 1989 740GL just turned 190K miles. I'd like to increase my mpg from the 22 I'm getting now. I check the tire pressure weekly, so my next stop is under the hood. Thanks in advance for your replies. > My 1989 740GL just turned 190K miles. I'd like to increase my mpg > from the 22 I'm getting now. I check the tire pressure weekly, so my > next stop is under the hood. Thanks in advance for your replies. You could have the injectors cleaned, renew the filters, make sure the valve clearances and cylinder compressions are ok, any/all sensors are working as they should, and lower the idle speed to the minimum the engine will run on, but you will still be running an old, relatively inefficient engine. You might squeeze out a few more mpg if you imagine that the gas pedal is made of eggshell. Si checking tire pressure often is good, but what do you set it at? I've increased mine from the 28psi in the manual to around 36psi. The ride is a little firm, but the handling is good and I get a couple extra MPG consistantly. The tires wear normally, perhaps even better than they did at the suggested pressure.... > checking tire pressure often is good, but what do you set it at? I've > increased mine from the 28psi in the manual to around 36psi. The ride is a > little firm, but the handling is good and I get a couple extra MPG > consistantly. The tires wear normally, perhaps even better than they did at > the suggested pressure.... fyi... In California, most of the "service" stations now have coin operated air and water dispensers. A lot of folks are unaware that by law, the station must give you quarters (or tokens) to operate the dispensers if you buy gas there. Be sure to ask for your quarters (or tokens) every time you fill up. Hi Clay, I can't believe that "service" has fallen so low........... TG I'm in British Columbia, but considering the Canadian dollar value, they'd probably charge 75¢, of they started that here :-) Andy I. ('93 240 "Classic" wagon) | fyi... | In California, most of the "service" stations now have coin operated air | and water dispensers. | A lot of folks are unaware that by law, the station must give you | quarters (or tokens) to operate the dispensers if you buy gas there. | Be sure to ask for your quarters (or tokens) every time you fill up. Canadian dollar value? What year do you live in?? I'm confused... its in the 80 cent range. We have free air all over the place at Ontario service stations and car washes.... only a few places have 25c op machines.... and no one uses them. > Hi Clay, > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > | quarters (or tokens) to operate the dispensers if you buy gas there. > | Be sure to ask for your quarters (or tokens) every time you fill up. >> checking tire pressure often is good, but what do you set it at? I've >> increased mine from the 28psi in the manual to around 36psi. The ride [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > quarters (or tokens) to operate the dispensers if you buy gas there. > Be sure to ask for your quarters (or tokens) every time you fill up. That's hysterical. I'm aware of the Cali law, but here in Las Vegas, most of the time the damned machines are non-operational, and you only find that out after you put in your money! Before I got my compressor out of storage, I stopped in at a gas station to fill up a low tire and put my money....(.75 cents, can you believe?) and my tire went flat during the process. I told the guy in the station that I wasn't moving my car until I got my tires checked and that if he wanted to call the police, then go right ahead. He actually called a towing company with a compressor on the truck and I checked and filled all of the tires on my old 240. Vegas is a wierd town...I grew up here. It's normal to not get anything when you put a quarter in a slot machine, but when you put money in the air machine you don't expect your tire to DEflate!!! > checking tire pressure often is good, but what do you set it at? I've > increased mine from the 28psi in the manual to around 36psi. The ride is a > little firm, but the handling is good and I get a couple extra MPG > consistantly. The tires wear normally, perhaps even better than they did at > the suggested pressure.... I always set my pressure to what the sticker on the door-jamb says. Funny, but every time that I take the car into Volvo of Las Vegas, they adjust my pressure down to about 32 psi. > My 1989 740GL just turned 190K miles. I'd like to increase my mpg from > the 22 I'm getting now. I check the tire pressure weekly, so my next > stop is under the hood. Thanks in advance for your replies. Other than the physical advice that you are sure to receive, don't forget that car mileage is like sex - a lot depends on how you do it. -;) Don't laugh at what I am going to write. You may not get more gas mileage, but if you take the first parking space when you drive into a shopping center (and one that you will exit by driving and not backing up), you will surely reduce the number of miles that you drive in the course of a year. I operate in km and I am sure that on shopping trips, I save 2 or 3 km per day. Another thing that I learned from NY City taxi drivers was to slip the transmission into neutral when coming to a stop (if you have an automatic tranny). Braking takes less effort because the transmission is disconnected from the motor and the idle speed drops off a bit. This reduces brake wear as well. Somebody else said to treat the gas pedal like an egg shell. When I was teaching my wide to drive a manual tranny and she was abusing my clutch, I said that she wouldn't like it if I treated her soft body parts like that. The same goes for driving. Good luck. ...take the first parking space when you drive into a > shopping center (and one that you will exit by driving and not backing > up), you will surely reduce the number of miles that you drive in the > course of a year.... I do this already, but for a different reason. A brisk walk across the parking lot can't hurt this desk jockey. I like your thinking on the gas savings as well... I'm constantly amused by the people cruising the lot, looking for a spot up close. I see them when I park, I see them still cruising as I walk into the store. How much time did they save? When I was > teaching my wide to drive a manual tranny and she was abusing my clutch, > I said that she wouldn't like it if I treated her soft body parts like > that. The same goes for driving. > Good luck. Better mind your soft body parts if she finds out you refer to her as "my wide" *g* calling your wife your" WIDE" ,will mean that soon the you wont be driving being in plaster :) > ...take the first parking space when you drive into a >> shopping center (and one that you will exit by driving and not backing [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > Better mind your soft body parts if she finds out you refer to her as "my > wide" *g* > ...take the first parking space when you drive into a > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > Better mind your soft body parts if she finds out you refer to her as > "my wide" *g* She doesn't read my computer stuff, yet! And she would know that it was a typo. She hasn't gained 5 lb in 25 years - long way from "wide", more like nice wife. <g> > ...take the first parking space when you drive into a > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > Better mind your soft body parts if she finds out you refer to her as > "my wide" *g* I always park out by the Good Will Bin. My XC is a European color called Dark Bronze Pearl (Actually it's just dark metallic brown) and it shows every flaw, so I don't want anyone parking next to me and banging their damned '74 Monte Carlo door into me. The other day I was leaving the grocery store and the wind was actually pushing a shopping card UP-hill towards my car. I got there just in the nick of time...or maybe the "dent" of time. I ran away from $200.00 worth of groceries to save my plastic back door. My fuel economy meter reads 0,0L per 100kms when coasting in gear and 5.3L per 100kms when in neutral.... better to slow down in gear in a fuel injected car, the ECU will cut fuel and you get engine braking. >> My 1989 740GL just turned 190K miles. I'd like to increase my mpg from >> the 22 I'm getting now. I check the tire pressure weekly, so my next [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > The same goes for driving. > Good luck. > My fuel economy meter reads 0,0L per 100kms when coasting in gear and 5.3L > per 100kms when in neutral.... better to slow down in gear in a fuel [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >>The same goes for driving. >>Good luck. My mileage meter on the info center goes blank when I come to a stop. I wonder if that's something else that the dealer wants to charge me a fortune to fix. >> My 1989 740GL just turned 190K miles. I'd like to increase my mpg from >> the 22 I'm getting now. I check the tire pressure weekly, so my next >> stop is under the hood. Thanks in advance for your replies. >> > Other than the physical advice that you are sure to receive, don't > forget that car mileage is like sex - a lot depends on how you do it. -;) Ahhh, that's probably why I got an erection out of your post. > My 1989 740GL just turned 190K miles. I'd like to increase my mpg from > the 22 I'm getting now. I check the tire pressure weekly, so my next > stop is under the hood. Thanks in advance for your replies. Is it manual or auto? If it's auto, then 22 mpg is pretty reasonable. You might get a few extra percent by further increasing tire pressure and switching to synthetic lube in the transmission and rear end, but you're not likely to see any huge improvements unless you currently drive agressively and can tone it down some. Thanks for all the replies. The car is an automatic. I run the tires at 35psi, and my ride to work is nice and easy thru the countryside except for the last 3 miles on a 4 lane boulevard. I've been using high mileage oil for a couple years now and the engine runs like a charm. The car has paid for itself over and over, trying to get as much out of it as I can. My son is off to college in 7 years, hopefully he'll be taking my brick with him. And I agree, never call your significant other "wide"! add some slick 50 at your next oil change 10% better economy especially at any increased engine speed and will make that engine rebuild a little further away > My 1989 740GL just turned 190K miles. I'd like to increase my mpg from > the 22 I'm getting now. I check the tire pressure weekly, so my next > stop is under the hood. Thanks in advance for your replies. > add some slick 50 at your next oil change 10% better economy especially at > any increased engine speed and will make that engine rebuild a little [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >>the 22 I'm getting now. I check the tire pressure weekly, so my next >>stop is under the hood. Thanks in advance for your replies. You'll probably get a lot of negative feedback about Slick 50. I started using it when my old 240 Turbo was new. It definitely makes the turbo quieter. I don't hear the turbo on my XC at all. Who knows, maybe it's not working either, along with a ton of other things. > add some slick 50 at your next oil change 10% better economy especially at > any increased engine speed and will make that engine rebuild a little > further away Do you work for them or something? Everything I've ever heard about slick 50 from reputable sources says it's snake oil. |
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