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Terrible Gas Mileage


mx71

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Well, embarrassingly, I think I found the problem. I appear to have the 12 gallon tank, and not the 19 gallon tank I thought I had. Seems I'm getting around 15 mpg. (Running 235s instead of 215s, so not sure of actual mileage driven).

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According to my Nissan Trucks Brochure dated 1985, here is what the fuel tank sizes are in US gallons:

 

2x4

        Regular Bed: 13.2

        Long Bed: 16.9

        Cab and Chassis: 16.9

        King Cab: 13.2

4x4

        Regular Bed: 15.8

        Long Bed: 19.8

        King Cab: 15.8

 

As a side note, I have never filled my truck up passed 13 gallons (86 KC 4x4), so I am assuming that when the gauge reads on E, you still have at least two gallons left. I am not sure how you are checking your mileage, but what I do is reset my trip odometer every time I fill up, and when I fill up next, divide the miles driven by the amount of gallons I put into the tank. 

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Fill up completely and set odometer to zero. Next time you top up gas, record the amount and mileage and reset odometer. If you just added gas but don't fill completely just record the amount of gas. The next time, do the same... unless you fill completely. Then add up all the gas used and record the mileage. Zero the odometer. Mileage divided by gallons added = MPG.

 

Keep a log off all gallons added and all distances traveled. Do not include the last miles driven unless you completely fill up. Add all gallons and total all mileages and divide for a much more accurate average MPG.

 

Last year I totaled about 2,734k miles on trip to Canby. My over all average was 29.324 US MPG.

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P215/75R15 stock 4x4

 

Then you are actually going farther than what it says. About 6% farther. So if you go 210 miles on 14 gallons on your next tank of gas and get 15 MPG you actually got 15.9 MPG because you went 6% or 12.6 miles farther. Almost a gallon of gas farther.

 

At 50 MPH you are also going faster than indicated by about 3 mph.

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Got it. Last time I filled, I put about 11.3 gallons in, and had 170 on the tripometer. So roughly 180 miles on 11.3 gallons = 15.93 mpg. Not bad I guess for a motor with 173,000 miles and I'm sure needs new rings and a valve adjustment.

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Honestly that is pretty normal for these trucks. Max says he gets 21, but I don't think he ever goes uphill. :)

 

I on the other hand am constantly driving uphill because I live in a valley so my millage is a little lower than yours.

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Honestly that is pretty normal for these trucks. Max says he gets 21, but I don't think he ever goes uphill. :)

 

Hey! I have to climb over the mountains of salt they throw down on our roads every winter!  :crying:

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  • 1 month later...

Reasonable.

 

Anyone can get 10% better mileage simply by obeying the speed limit.

Don't warm up your engine. Start, get comfortable, put seat belt on and drive. Engines do not need to be warmed up. If your vehicle runs like shit cold that's your fault.

Keep tires inflated as close to maximum that comfort will allow.

Drive, knowing that every time you have to use your brakes you are throwing away the gas you just used to get your vehicle up to that speed. Anticipate traffic and stops up ahead.

Don't be in a hurry. Leave 3 min earlier and relax, driving is fun. It takes will but with practice it can be done.

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Thanks for the driving lesson! I don't necessarily care what mileage it gets, I was just worried that the supposed bad mileage I was getting before I found the correct tank size was indicative of a problem. This isn't my daily driver, just my run around/something to screw with truck.

 

Also, the truck does need to be warmed about for a couple minutes at least. It has zero oil pressure when it first starts, and I'm not driving it until the oil pressure has climbed somewhat.

 

Pretty aggressive response dude, but thanks for the tips.

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One of these days I'll figure out the mileage my '82 720 4X4 gets.  The speedometer only works occasionally (the odometer works all the time, but I keep resetting the trip odometer because that sometimes makes the speedo work again).  Or I could get another notebook and just write it down.  I've been getting close to 200 miles a fill up, I think, as I live 50 miles from where I volunteer and get 2 trips.  Not sure though.  My Pathfinder gets 350 miles a tank (and once, when the cruise control broke, over 400 due to the vacuum leak!) for an average around 20mpg.  So it's odd that the 720, being lighter with a smaller engine, gets such bad mileage but then again EFI vs Carb.  My '83 2WD 720 regularly got over 25MPG.

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Thanks for the driving lesson! I don't necessarily care what mileage it gets, I was just worried that the supposed bad mileage I was getting before I found the correct tank size was indicative of a problem. This isn't my daily driver, just my run around/something to screw with truck.

 

Also, the truck does need to be warmed about for a couple minutes at least. It has zero oil pressure when it first starts, and I'm not driving it until the oil pressure has climbed somewhat.

 

Pretty aggressive response dude, but thanks for the tips.

 

 

Aggressive? Hardly...

 

 

17+ MPG IS reasonable.

 

Tips would easily get you into the 20s. It was posted for anyone reading and would work for them also.

 

Oil pressure is almost instantaneous. It's the gauge that reads slowly. Just like the gas tank reading when the key is turned on, it's not instant. So you don't have to wait for the reading to come up. Idling when cold with the choke on just wastes gas. It will warm up as fast or faster idling down the street and you're getting somewhere.

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