Mileage (MPG) Dropped

[larrylwill]

Ever since I bought my 2014 Hybrid SE I have been getting > 37 in the summer and > 34 in the winter, this is a milder winter than last year but my milage has dropped to around 32. Is there anything I should look for?

[ptjones]

Try some NOS Octane Booster/injector cleaner at Walmart for $9.95, you should notice a difference by the end of a full tank. Be sure to use the gas funnel in the trunk of the car for putting gas in the car or you won't be able to put it in the tank. ;) :shift:

 

Paul

[Griswald]

Please don't do that...

 

Additives won't change anything.

 

Its winter, MPG's go down in winter.

[lolder]

The 2010-12 Owners Guide specifically warns against using any aftermarket fuel additive and that it may void the warranty. Perhaps the later guides do the same.

[ptjones]

Please don't do that...

 

Additives won't change anything.

 

Its winter, MPG's go down in winter.

I gained 2mpg after using NOS Octane Booster/ Injector Cleaner and I have 122k miles on my car now and getting low 50's mpg with temps from 30-50's. Injector cleaner isn't going to hurt engine. I can't find anything about Fuel additives or Injector Cleaner in the OM. If you want to improve your MPG's make some Grill Covers/ Blockers to warm up the ICE faster to ICE Operating Temp range above 202*F. :shift:

ICE operating Temp Range

Grill Covers

:)

 

Paul

Edited February 9, 2016 by ptjones

[Texasota]

The OP lives in the US Southern Atlantic region. Grill covers/blockers are an exceptionally bad idea in the south and and most everywhere else in the summer time. Ford can void your warranty if you make these type of modifications and they determine that it contributed to a failure requiring service.

[larrylwill]

This year isnt any wors than last year infact not as bad. I only have just over 10,000 miles on it. I have never been below 34 in the winter. This is the first time its hovering around 32. I live at the top of a mountian about 800 ft. I get unlimited going down but around 6-8 comming up.

[MrMikeL]

Different gas??

[larrylwill]

We use the same gas stations, there ar 4 of them we use. I was goint to try to fill the next time with med grade, then real 100% gas. We have been resetting after every fill up.

[Waldo]

Try some NOS Octane Booster/injector cleaner at Walmart for $9.95, you should notice a difference by the end of a full tank. Be sure to use the gas funnel in the trunk of the car for putting gas in the car or you won't be able to put it in the tank. ;) :shift:

 

Paul

 

Spend $10 to save $2 worth of gas. Brilliant.

[ptjones]

The OP lives in the US Southern Atlantic region. Grill covers/blockers are an exceptionally bad idea in the south and and most everywhere else in the summer time. Ford can void your warranty if you make these type of modifications and they determine that it contributed to a failure requiring service.

We have been over this before and Grill Covers are great Idea all year around. I live in the Atlanta Area and travel to southwest all the time. I have been doing this for 115K miles/ 3.5yrs and my ICE uses no oil with 11K ICE miles on last oil change. Had oil tested and Blackstone said oil was still good and no problems with contaminates in the oil. :yahoo: You need to get a ScanGaugeII so you can see why you don't get as good of gas mileage I do. :)

 

Spend $10 to save $2 worth of gas. Brilliant.

Give us a break! One bottle will keep injectors clean for 20-30 fillups so using your $2/ fillup, you would save $30 to $50, that is a very Big Savings.

 

We use the same gas stations, there ar 4 of them we use. I was goint to try to fill the next time with med grade, then real 100% gas. We have been resetting after every fill up.

If you want to PM I will give you some ideas to help your MPG's :)

 

Paul

:yahoo:

[lolder]

Injectors seldom need cleaning anymore. The natural qualities and standard additives of almost all gasoline's keep them clean. Their precision is not required. They are pulse width modulated in a feedback system. They open all the way each cycle and the amount of fuel injected is controlled by the time they are opened. If there is a slight restriction in the flow, the system just makes it longer.

These few low mpg cars that we've seen have some other problem with the system which is not something cleaning the injectors will solve. IMHO.

[md13ffhguy]

Give us a break! One bottle will keep injectors clean for 20-30 fillups so using your $2/ fillup, you would save $30 to $50, that is a very Big Savings.

 

No, really, give us a break! One bottle boosts your MPG by 2, and this lasts 20-30 fillups? No way. Grill blockers year round? Nope. (Disclaimer; I blocked mine last winter, but didn't bother this year.) Super-inflated tires? No. Check my Fuelly numbers. I don't do anything, but drive the car gently, and I'm right there with you MPG-wise.

[Waldo]

We have been over this before and Grill Covers are great Idea all year around. I live in the Atlanta Area and travel to southwest all the time. I have been doing this for 115K miles/ 3.5yrs and my ICE uses no oil with 11K ICE miles on last oil change. Had oil tested and Blackstone said oil was still good and no problems with contaminates in the oil. :yahoo: You need to get a ScanGaugeII so you can see why you don't get as good of gas mileage I do. :)

Give us a break! One bottle will keep injectors clean for 20-30 fillups so using your $2/ fillup, you would save $30 to $50, that is a very Big Savings.

 

If you want to PM I will give you some ideas to help your MPG's :)

 

Paul

:yahoo:

 

So if the bottle took you from 50-52mpg @1.50 gas and your vaulted 600 miles/tank, that would add up to about $20in gas savings over 30 tanks. That's $10 saved over 18000 miles. That's also assuming you get the full 2mpg effect up to the end of the 30th tank, which doesn't seem likely. So I still say not that great savings, even if it did work as you claim, which is unlikely given the points made by lolder Also note the OP's car only has 10,000 miles on it, so even if it did work on you higher mileage car, the benefit won't be the same on a low mile car.

 

Grill blockers may not blow your engine up, but they will prevent any air getting to the A/C condenser, which will pretty much make it useless. Are you suggesting that it's a great idea to drive around the south in the summer with A/C that doesn't work?

Edited February 10, 2016 by Waldo

[Cobra348]

Let's see ... I live in the Central NY snowbelt where we can get 12 feet plus annual snowfall. I have Goodyear Ultragrip ICE WRT tires on for Winter, no grille blocker, drive as normal allowing for the Winter roads, use remote start periodically - AND - <drum roll please> get 36-38 MPG (from the receipt) without NOS or any other item used. Summer mileage is easily in the 40s with some tanks at 48+.

 

Soooo, altho the OM does not specifically prohibit injector cleaners, etc I'm with lolder, md13ffhguy and Waldo ... it's not cost effective and decent driving practices can easily achieve good mileage numbers. BTW this is the first Winter in the FFH but it already has over 24K miles on it since April.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Cobra348

[Waldo]

Injector cleaner isn't going to hurt engine. I can't find anything about Fuel additives or Injector Cleaner in the OM.

 

 

 

BTW page 446 in my Fusion's OM:

 

Additives and Chemicals

This owner's manual and the Ford

Workshop Manual list the recommended

additives and chemicals for your vehicle.

We do not recommend using chemicals or

additives not approved by us as part of

your vehicle’s normal maintenance. Please

consult your warranty information.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Waldo

[larrylwill]

Could the tire wear be a contributing factor, the car comes with low rolling resistance tires and with 10k on them they may not be as low rolling. I nevert got more than 37.7 since i got back from the dealer.

[larrylwill]

 

 

 

BTW page 446 in my Fusion's OM:

 

Additives and Chemicals

This owner's manual and the Ford

Workshop Manual list the recommended

additives and chemicals for your vehicle.

We do not recommend using chemicals or

additives not approved by us as part of

your vehicle’s normal maintenance. Please

consult your warranty information.

 

Not taking sides but different gasoline has different additives. So in fact if you use gas that has tech,whatever in it you have added an additive.

[Texasota]

You need to get a ScanGaugeII so you can see why you don't get as good of gas mileage I do.

After 22,850 miles my lifetime hand calculated MPG is 45.2 while driving primarily in Minnesota. This is without purchasing premium gas, fuel injector cleaner, a scan gauge, grill blockers, attaching angle irons to the bottom of the transmission or running with 51 PSI in the tires. My MPG is 1.7 MPG less than yours but I also spend less dollars/mile and this is achieved with driving techniques that are not dangerous/annoying to other motorists.

 

Unfortunately, many of your posts are a disservice to members of this forum who are looking for common sense help with their FFHs. Excellent MPG can be achieved relatively easily in a FFH without resorting to the nonsense you continue to advocate.

[ptjones]

Interesting that there are a group of regular posters that question anyone that actually does testing and shares their positive results when they haven't done any testing on their FFH themselves. ;)

Injectors seldom need cleaning anymore. The natural qualities and standard additives of almost all gasoline's keep them clean. Their precision is not required. They are pulse width modulated in a feedback system. They open all the way each cycle and the amount of fuel injected is controlled by the time they are opened. If there is a slight restriction in the flow, the system just makes it longer.

These few low mpg cars that we've seen have some other problem with the system which is not something cleaning the injectors will solve. IMHO.

The reason you use injector cleaner is to clean the seat and needle so it can put out the finest spray possible. The smaller the droplets of fuel the more complete the combustion which gives better FE. larger droplets don't burn completely in the combustion chamber, lose in efficiency . FORD Dealer recommends doing a Fuel Injector Flush every 15-30K miles for $129. OUCH! ;) $5-$10 for Fuel Injector Cleaner much better idea. :)

 

Paul

 

No, really, give us a break! One bottle boosts your MPG by 2, and this lasts 20-30 fillups? No way. Grill blockers year round? Nope. (Disclaimer; I blocked mine last winter, but didn't bother this year.) Super-inflated tires? No. Check my Fuelly numbers. I don't do anything, but drive the car gently, and I'm right there with you MPG-wise.

Interesting that you don't put down your percentage of city driving on Fuelly. Looking at the frequency of your fill-ups you don't do any long distance travel and probably do affair amount of city driving which would explain your good mpg average, Good Job! :thumbsup: If you looked at my Fuelly you would see I'm at 83% HWY and I travel all over the country through Snow/ Rain Storms and Bad Winds which I document which hurts my over all average. Then you add to that the CMAX EPA 42city/37hwy/40combined vs FFH 44city/41hwy/42combined so the FFH atleast 2 mpg advantage. Long and short of it is I'm getting 10 mpg better than EPA and I keep going up. :)

 

 

So if the bottle took you from 50-52mpg @1.50 gas and your vaulted 600 miles/tank, that would add up to about $20in gas savings over 30 tanks. That's $10 saved over 18000 miles. That's also assuming you get the full 2mpg effect up to the end of the 30th tank, which doesn't seem likely. So I still say not that great savings, even if it did work as you claim, which is unlikely given the points made by lolder Also note the OP's car only has 10,000 miles on it, so even if it did work on you higher mileage car, the benefit won't be the same on a low mile car.

 

Grill blockers may not blow your engine up, but they will prevent any air getting to the A/C condenser, which will pretty much make it useless. Are you suggesting that it's a great idea to drive around the south in the summer with A/C that doesn't work?

Using what I pay for gas it's more like $30 savings which works for me. BTW A/C works fine with Grill Covers on, you would know if you tried it. When you turn on the A/C the shutters open if their not open already and the fan turns on. The CMAX has a top opening/ Grill which I uncover during the Summer time and air(OT) intake temp is usually 10-15*F above Outside Temps. If I'm going to be doing long duration climbing I will remove lower Grill Cover and put it back on for the decent. Also the fan is very powerful, one time I was installing the lower Grill Cover and it sucked the cover out of my hands and into the lower opening. WOW! :shift: For me I hate wasting gas. :)

[ptjones]

After 22,850 miles my lifetime hand calculated MPG is 45.2 while driving primarily in Minnesota. This is without purchasing premium gas, fuel injector cleaner, a scan gauge, grill blockers, attaching angle irons to the bottom of the transmission or running with 51 PSI in the tires. My MPG is 1.7 MPG less than yours but I also spend less dollars/mile and this is achieved with driving techniques that are not dangerous/annoying to other motorists.

 

Unfortunately, many of your posts are a disservice to members of this forum who are looking for common sense help with their FFHs. Excellent MPG can be achieved relatively easily in a FFH without resorting to the nonsense you continue to advocate.

If you use EPA # you are only getting 4mpg better as to I'm getting 10mpg better than EPA#. :shift: :) BTW I use 50psi. :)

Some members come here looking for help with their FE problems and I give them options that have worked for me for 122K mi. I also drove 2014 FFH for month and did testing on it to prove my ideas worked for FFH also. I don't see you offering any solutions for FFH members with FE problems. IMO :)

 

Paul

[corncobs]

If you use EPA # you are only getting 4mpg better as to I'm getting 10mpg better than EPA#. :shift: :) BTW I use 50psi. :)

Some members come here looking for help with their FE problems and I give them options that have worked for me for 122K mi. I also drove 2014 FFH for month and did testing on it to prove my ideas worked for FFH also. I don't see you offering any solutions for FFH members with FE problems. IMO :)

 

Paul

You are right about members coming here for ideas to improve on FE and while some of your advice is valuable I personally think you are overachieving for the majority of people reading it.

[Waldo]

If you use EPA # you are only getting 4mpg better as to I'm getting 10mpg better than EPA#. :shift: :) BTW I use 50psi. :)

Some members come here looking for help with their FE problems and I give them options that have worked for me for 122K mi. I also drove 2014 FFH for month and did testing on it to prove my ideas worked for FFH also. I don't see you offering any solutions for FFH members with FE problems. IMO :)

 

Paul

 

No question some of your ideas will absolutely help people improve their mileage. The thing I have issue with is you most often don't mention the tradeoffs, like saying there is "no reason not run at 50psi" and "grill blockers can be used all the time", or that fuel injector cleaner is going to significantly help someone with only 10,000 miles on the car. Just because it works for you doesn't mean it will work or is the best solution for everyone. I also don't believe that anyone could ever "prove" anything based on testing one vehicle out on public roads. Even the EPA testing isn't done with just one car, at least three different vehicles are always used.

Edited February 11, 2016 by Waldo

[hybridbear]

I fixed the spelling error in the title & moved this thread to the appropriate section.

[ptjones]

 

No question some of your ideas will absolutely help people improve their mileage. The thing I have issue with is you most often don't mention the tradeoffs, like saying there is "no reason not run at 50psi" Interesting "Michelin's Rep said that if I was getting even tire wear at 50psi then that would be the pressure he would recommend" there are alot of members on FFH and CMAX forums using higher pressures 35-38psi and "grill blockers can be used all the time", or that fuel injector cleaner is going to significantly help someone with only 10,000 miles on the car. Probably not, but it is a cheap solution if it works and it doesn't hurt to try. Just because it works for you doesn't mean it will work or is the best solution for everyone. Maybe or maybe not, you don't know until you try. :) I also don't believe that anyone could ever "prove" anything based on testing one vehicle out on public roads. I know there are about ten FFH members that have my Grill Covers and alot more that have made their own or are using foam blockers. Even the EPA testing isn't done with just one car, at least three different vehicles are always used. Actually 85% of EPA testing is done by the manufacturers on chassis dinos per EPA specs and this is where FORD got into trouble with CMAX/FFH MPG #. EPA doesn't drive cars around to see what MPG's they get. :shift: :)

 

Paul