96 Taurus GL Gas Mileage Problem
Joel Upchurch
I own a 1996 Ford Taurus GL sedan with the standard 3.0 (145
hp) V6 engine. Since I bought the car (new) the gas mileage
has been terrible, averaging 15-16 mpg/city. This is well
below the EPA 20mpg/city, 29mpg/highway. I have had Ford
service department look into this problem several times,
each time their diagnostics/tests, etc... show no problems,
they even reprogrammed the microprocessor(s), etc... which
produced no cure.
NOTE: My average drive on-way is 4-5 miles (so I could accept
1-2 mpg below EPA, due to engine temperature, not 4-5). I am
using the Ford specified 87 octane gasoline (Mobil) for this
vehicle. I have over 7200 miles to date on the car, so it is
broken in.
QUESTIONS:
1. Does anyone out their with the same car model have a similar
gas mileage problem ?
2. Does anyone have a suggestion as to what may be causing this
problem and/or a solution to the problem ?
3. For the legal minds, do I have any legal (warranty, lemon,
etc...) recourse with Ford. I estimate my cost to be $4-5 per
tank of gas based upon mileage below EPA.
Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
db...@mindspring.com
Cool weather. constant short trips, all city/suburban driving: That
is a recipe for poor fuel mileage. I have the same problem with my
daughter's Taurus. You should also be changing your engine oil on the
severe driving schedule. The engine is operating most of the time at
reduced temperatures. Your temp gage probably tells you the engine is
warm. The oil, however, will never get warm enough long enough to do
it's job either on those short trips. BTW, those EPA fuel mileage
ratings are done on a prescribed cycle. It is more or less an aside
while the emissions are being certified. The never drive a car under
the conditions you describe.
Nick Kokologiannakis
I have a 93 T-Bird. When I purchased the car, the sticker on window
said 19MPG in the city. In the fine print, it said it can be as low as
15 or as high as 23, depending on road and driving conditions. I do a
lot of stop and go driving in the city, and while I'm driving in the
city, I average 15 MPG. What they show on the window, is an average.
It will vary.
Bob
Driving 4-5 miles one way will never get the engine to full operating
temperature. The EEC computer will not go into closed loop until at least
180 F. Closed loop is when the the computer is using the O2 sensor as
feedback to control air -fuel mixtures. As long as your drive is only 5
miles, your vehicle will never achieve good fuel milage. Bet the open
highway- long trip mileage is in the mid 20s.
Bob
John Gallagher
It is important to note that these EPA figures are somewhat unrealistic and
are theoretical in basis, and when tested are tested under IDEAL conditions,
ie.... 70 Deg F, flat stretch of road, no wind etc...
Nick Kokologiannakis wrote in message <34A0A861...@2xtreme.net>...
Chris
>>Joel Upchurch wrote:
>>
>>> I own a 1996 Ford Taurus GL sedan with the standard 3.0 (145
>>> hp) V6 engine. Since I bought the car (new) the gas mileage
>>> has been terrible, averaging 15-16 mpg/city. This is well
>>> below the EPA 20mpg/city, 29mpg/highway. I have had Ford
>>> service department look into this problem several times,
>>> each time their diagnostics/tests, etc... show no problems,
>>> they even reprogrammed the microprocessor(s), etc... which
>>> produced no cure.
>>>
>>> NOTE: My average drive on-way is 4-5 miles (so I could accept
>>> 1-2 mpg below EPA, due to engine temperature, not 4-5). I am
>>> using the Ford specified 87 octane gasoline (Mobil) for this
>>> vehicle. I have over 7200 miles to date on the car, so it is
>>> broken in.
>>>
>>> QUESTIONS:
>>> 1. Does anyone out their with the same car model have a similar
>>> gas mileage problem ?
>>> 2. Does anyone have a suggestion as to what may be causing this
>>> problem and/or a solution to the problem ?
>>> 3. For the legal minds, do I have any legal (warranty, lemon,
>>> etc...) recourse with Ford. I estimate my cost to be $4-5 per
>>> tank of gas based upon mileage below EPA.
>>>
>>> Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
>>
I own a '96 GL sedan with the same engine and I have also experienced
the same terrible gas mileage readings. I live in New England so it
gets even worse during these frigid winter months. It drops about 3
mpg during the winter. My last reading was 15 mpg. My car sits in
the driveway right now with 110 miles on the trip odometer and the gas
guage reading exactly half a tank. My one-way trip to work is about
3-4 miles as well. Even thought this is not *healthy* for the
readings I still find it to be extremely poor. I have a brother that
owns 95 Dodge Intrepid with a larger 3.8 liter engine and he
consistently gets around 20 mpg.
>>
>
>
Mark Kovalsky
Chris <cem...@cris.com> wrote in article:
> I own a '96 GL sedan with the same engine and I have also experienced
> the same terrible gas mileage readings. I live in New England so it
> gets even worse during these frigid winter months. It drops about 3
> mpg during the winter. My last reading was 15 mpg. My car sits in
> the driveway right now with 110 miles on the trip odometer and the gas
> guage reading exactly half a tank. My one-way trip to work is about
> 3-4 miles as well. Even thought this is not *healthy* for the
> readings I still find it to be extremely poor. I have a brother that
> owns 95 Dodge Intrepid with a larger 3.8 liter engine and he
> consistently gets around 20 mpg.
Does your brother drive the same short trips that you do?
Engines run rich for the first several miles until they warm up. You
are not driving far enough to ever get this warmed up, so you always
run rich. The problem is even worse at cold temps, it adds even more
fuel.
If you didn't run rich the car would drive terrible and would frequently
stall.
Rich is a requirement of a cold engine. There isn't a way around it.
--
Mark
'30 Ford Model 'A'
'94 Ford Club Wagon w/7.3L Hypermax Turbo Diesel
'94 Sportsmen's 37; Travel Trailer
'97 Ford Taurus SHO
The views expressed above are mine, and mine alone.