[bboy_romeo]

so i've noticed more and more lately that my v seems to eat up a lot of gas, and quickly. probably happened around the time i had some issues with my o2 sensor. but its causing me some concern now.

was wondering what i could do myself before having to take my v in for some diagnostics or even some routine maintenance

any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated

**
I've also included a little picture of a v gas gauge and will explain an example of my concern. My gas runs low (bottom red line) and I fill up (to about the top red line) and drive for lets say around 100km (62miles) and my gas dips down to the half way mark which to me is pretty darn quick. Unless im looking at this wrong. If anyone can quell my concerns that would be great
**

 

[flversa]

you can run down until your light turns on and then fill up until you have even amount of gallons. dont worrie about price being like 31.67 as long as you have like 11.000 gal or 12.000 your good. thean clear out your mileage and drive until the light goes on again. and when it does just look at how many miles you just did with 11.000 or 12.000 gal. and then just do math. how ever many miles you did divided by how many gallons you filled up with. hope that works

 

[bboy_romeo]

yah i'll give that a try. i've also read up that a dirty air filter can cause poor gas mileage as well. any thoughts?

 

[65stang]

Yes it can, but it would be obvious if the filter is dirty once you look at it. Go ahead and upgrade to the k&n panel if the filter appears dirty, save you some money in the long run and give some (negligible) HP gains. Dirty MAF sensor, bad O2 sensor, and the air filter are the most common causes of loss of MPG.

 

[flversa]

yeah i just changed my air filter also it does effect gas mileage but shouldnt be by much. how many miles does your v have

 

[iluvmyVersa08]

It does seem like you are getting low mileage. How are your driving habits? Do you let the car run for a long time to warm up? Take off hard/fast from starts? Drive over the speed limit? It also depends on if you drive city or highway. My mileage has dipped down lower with winter and running the defrost on and letting my car warm up a bit. As another member said try running it down until its low, then fill up until the pump clicks off. Continue doing this and find the average over a few tanks. Fuelly.com can help you calculate your mpgs.

 

[bboy_romeo]

my v has just over 53,000k on it
and i've not changed my air filter so i should def do that lol.. my bad
this is my first car, so im not all up on what to do maintenance wise

and my driving habits have been the same since i started driving, so i dont think its my habits lol

 

[robj80]

at your mileage the only thing that needed changing besides oil is the in cabin filter and air filter. I myself would get a quality paper filter like OEM or WIX. I don't like the KN or any oiled filter.

You do sound really low on the mpgs. It could just be winter. I don't know if they mix the gas up there for winter or maybe your letting your car warm up alot longer since cold. No matter what in the winter you will see much worse fuel economy.

 

[bboy_romeo]

well im gonna change the in cabin air filter as soon as possible, probably when winter goes away lol.. any recommendations for where i can get in cabin air filters??

and i dont really let my car sit and warm up before i start going. I just get in and go, i wait a bit then turn on the heat. so i dont think its that i let it warm up too much.

and well it was even before winter i noticed this. i've also noticed if lets say i fill up to my usual as i said on my first post it drops to half tank quickly, but then lets say 2days of driving to and from work the gauge doesn't move but then lets say the 3rd day of going to work i start to see the gauge move again. Its almost as if theres a problem with the gauge maybe? I find that strange.

Should I take my V into a mechanic? cause gas is killing me lately.

 

[BluV3R18]

do you drive with the AC ON a lot?
do you have manual or automatic?
how often do you change the Oil? every 3,000 or longer?
when was the last time the air filter was changed?

 

[Versa S 2009]

Mine sucks too!!! Its like once it hits half a gallon it just sucks it up like it's gulping water. I usually get about 50-75 miles from half to E. My roads are city, back road, and hills. But I do believe 20mpg is ridiculous, even with everything I just said. I mean at least 24mpg, is that too much to ask. I have been driving at 2000 rpms or less and it's killing me right now. I wanna see how much of a difference it will make. Right now I got 130miles and it's just a little past 3/4 left. I normally get 150miles out of half a tank, so we will see. Ever since winter Ive been getting 20-22mpg. Summer is 24-26mpg.

 

[meow_mix450]

Have you checked your tire pressure? I checked my the other day and I was at 20psi.....filled it back up to 35psi and my gas mileage has dramatically improved.

 

[Versa S 2009]

Mine are all at 35psi. I don't have a tpms anymore, it was disabled.

 

[BluV3R18]

maybe 87 burns too quick and and explotion is happening before the piston gets to the top. Next fill up reset the tripdometer and add 89 octane and see if that helps slow down the explotion timing to where the piston is on top.

How many miles do you get out of a full tank?

I get at least 360 miles per tank, but I'm not sure how much fuel I have left?
The low fuel light doesn't come on, so it probably still has 2 gallons.
I will know the answer on my next trip to the gas station. it let mine warm up for at least 10 minutes in the morning and I'm easy with it, drive the speed limit ect..

 

[bboy_romeo]

well with the winter i have the heat on, but i try not to have it on long, or even up too high cause of the mileage ive been getting lately. and i drive AT and change the oil every 5k and the and i have a cold air intake, and i have not changed the in cabin air filter yet

 

[Versa S 2009]

maybe 87 burns too quick and and explotion is happening before the piston gets to the top. Next fill up reset the tripdometer and add 89 octane and see if that helps slow down the explotion timing to where the piston is on top.

How many miles do you get out of a full tank?

I get at least 360 miles per tank, but I'm not sure how much fuel I have left?
The low fuel light doesn't come on, so it probably still has 2 gallons.
I will know the answer on my next trip to the gas station. it let mine warm up for at least 10 minutes in the morning and I'm easy with it, drive the speed limit ect..

Ive been doing mid grade gas since day one, oil changes every 3-4 months cause I don't drive alot of miles, and when it's changed, it's changed with half synthetic oil. Air filter is good. Full tank is about anywhere between 225-290 miles and that's pushing it. Light is on.

 

[BluV3R18]

Ive been doing mid grade gas since day one, oil changes every 3-4 months cause I don't drive alot of miles, and when it's changed, it's changed with half synthetic oil. Air filter is good. Full tank is about anywhere between 225-290 miles and that's pushing it. Light is on.

I use 89 on the versa also but it gets 360 miles.

You might want to change to 87 octane then
I had a Subaru Legacy L none turbo and 87 gave me 275 miles [it had smaller fuel tank] and when I put 89 just to see, 220 something. it was a 97 with 240,000 miles on

but if you do down grade to 87 and still can't get more than 300 miles,
then the fuel type is not the issue.
did you install a cold air intake or anything?

 

[BluV3R18]

Ive been doing mid grade gas since day one, oil changes every 3-4 months cause I don't drive alot of miles, and when it's changed, it's changed with half synthetic oil. Air filter is good. Full tank is about anywhere between 225-290 miles and that's pushing it. Light is on.

What Oil grade do you use? I use 5/30 changed every 3,000 miles

And..do you get the RPMs close to red line every once in a while?

I never red line my car, the highest I go is 3,000RPM and that's to get on the highway and the fastest I go on the highway is 65MPH to 70MPH


Another question is, what's the highest fuel tank mileage you ever had? Anything over 300 miles?
did the MPG started dropping right away or slowly started dropping to 220 miles per tank?

 

[iluvmyVersa08]

well with the winter i have the heat on, but i try not to have it on long, or even up too high cause of the mileage ive been getting lately. and i drive AT and change the oil every 5k and the and i have a cold air intake, and i have not changed the in cabin air filter yet

Let us know if you notice a change (improvement) in your MPGS when you change your in-cabin filter. I changed mine last year (I think in the spring); so I will change it again this year; but my mileage is always pretty consistent. I wish I did more highway driving to get better mileage ...

 

[Versa S 2009]

What Oil grade do you use? I use 5/30 changed every 3,000 miles

And..do you get the RPMs close to red line every once in a while?

I never red line my car, the highest I go is 3,000RPM and that's to get on the highway and the fastest I go on the highway is 65MPH to 70MPH


Another question is, what's the highest fuel tank mileage you ever had? Anything over 300 miles?
did the MPG started dropping right away or slowly started dropping to 220 miles per tank?

The dealer changes the oil, so I don't know what kind of grade it is.

I have an AT, so what ever it goes up to is all on the trans. Maybe once every month it will go up to 5000 rpms. But it's normally between 1500-3000 rpms.

The highest miles on a tank ive seen was 312 in the spring, and that was pushing it. It was always up and down in mileage since day one.