Gasoline :: High Consumption While Idle In Gear Or In Neutral
Jan 22, 2011
A question during the show this week (1/22/2011) was whether it used more gasoline to idle in gear or in neutral with an automatic transmission. The answer was it makes little difference. I contend the engine uses more fuel idling in neutral. The reason is the increased level of partial vacuum within the intake manifold means more air and fuel will be drawn into the engine. When the vehicle is in gear, the engine idles slower, less vacuum, less fuel used.
View 8 Replies
Advertisement
I just read in Reader's Digest that some can improve gas mileage by 25% by not putting their car in reverse. This seems like an exaggeration, how can putting a car in reverse be that bad.... like 25% bad? Source: [URL] .....
View 19 Replies
I have a 1996 Geo Prizm, with about 126K miles. I bought it last May, at around 120,000 miles and had no problems with it until recently, other than some minor issues with the power steering in November. In November, it started making a squeaking or grinding noise whenever I went around a sharp turn. It turned out that the power steering fluid was slightly low, so I added more and that was the end of that problem. But I also found out that the previous owner had put the wrong kind of power steering fluid in. Starting about 2 weeks ago, the car started making a squeaking or squealing noise. There would be no squeaking when I started the car, but then it would start when I turned. It is only audible when the engine is idling, and I'm not sure if it is squealing at other times, too.
I figured it was probably one of the belts, probably the power steering belt. However, I checked it and it seemed to be tight enough and did not appear cracked or glazed. A friend of mine who knows much more about cars than I do also checked the power steering, alternator, and A/C compressor pumps for me, and he said they seemed fine. About the same time the squeaking started, I noticed the car seemed to be burning a lot more fuel than usual. I have filled up the gas tank twice since then. Typically, throughout this winter, the car has gotten 33-36 miles per gallon. But on the last tank, it only got 25 MPG and it got 29 MPG on the tank before that. There has been no change in my driving habits to explain this. The engine also sounds slightly rough when it is idling, almost like a diesel engine, but no louder than the car usually sounds. My friend who checked the belts listened to it when it was idling, and he thought he heard a slight knocking sound, which I heard too.
I noticed no decline in performance: the car accelerates just as quickly as ever, and performs the way it always has. The power steering seems to function just fine, despite the squeaking. I thought that perhaps there was something wrong with the timing belt, and that might explain both the squeaking and the increased fuel burn. But I looked online at a few websites, and it sounds like timing belts usually don't show any symptoms when they are wearing out, they usually just fail without much warning. Also, when I bought the car, the previous owner said the timing belt was replaced at around 90K, so it should be fine for a while. I am at a loss as to what might be wrong with the car. I wonder if the squeaking and the increased fuel burn are caused by the same problem, or if there might be separate problems causing each.
View 1 Replies
Came to a stop at a loooooooong light the other afternoon. I popped the AT into neutral, and the engine idle rose to around 2000 RPM, dropped to about 1500, then started cycling in that range. CEL also showed up.
Now, whenever the transmission is in either P or N, if I blip the throttle to bring the RPMs into that range (1500-2000), it stays in that range and cycles up to 2000, drops to 1500, wash, rinse, repeat. Blipping the throttle above 2000 does not change this behavior... as soon as the RPMs drop back to 1500, zoom it goes, right back to 2000.
View 4 Replies
I'm trying to find out what I need to check or replace to get my 2000 Excursion to idle at normal rpm's in park and neutral.
View 11 Replies
I have a '98 F150 4.2l with 230k miles on it. A couple of days ago when starting, I noticed that the engine kept racing instead of idling down like it normally does and the weather here in Arkansas has approached the 80 degree mark. The engine also doesn't idle down when shifting (I have a manual tranny). Where to start? I don't have any codes stored other than two for bank 1 and bank 2 running lean but they popped up many miles ago. I'm thinking either a vacuum leak or throttle control. I checked the operation of the cable and the throttle valve and they appear to be fine. Maybe the idle air control?
View 4 Replies
My 93 Honda Civic (manual T) is starting to be difficult to shift into gear. I mainly notice it when the car is idle and in neutral. I go to put into 1st or reverse and it won't go. I try all gears at that point, and it's the same. When it finally does go, it's a loud thud-like noise. People around look over at me! It doesn't happen every time, but I am noticing it more and more. And it's a bit scary when I have been at an intersection or something and I can't get moving. It has 189k. I have also noticed that the car is loud, too, when I am in reverse up our driveway and the clutch is slightly depressed.
View 7 Replies
My '05 (134k, rwd, V10) has had an occasional issue with stalling when going into neutral. The normal idle speed in park or neutral is 700. In drive or reverse it dips down to 350 or so and then evens out at 500. The stalling is not all the time, perhaps 2 out of 10 shifts. It is slightly worse with the A/C running. Every time it stalls, it records a P0506 error which I then clear out with my ScanGauge II.
I have done some research and have replaced the air filter (super dirty), fuel filter (not sure on how old) and cleaned the MAF tonight. For the MAF, I pulled it from the air tube and gave it a bunch of squirts of MAF cleaner. I did this 3 times letting it dry in between cleanings. I have run a bottle of SeaFoam through it, as well. The idle seems to be very smooth and it pulls my 7k travel trailer without issue. That did get a little better with the new air filter and fuel filter.
I went for a ride tonight and the problem persists. I'm taking it in to have the A/C recharged next week and will have the shop diagnose it. I came across this post which details my issue exactly. The steps are to reprogram the PCM and TCM, and possibly replace the throttle body. Is the reprogram something an independent shop can/should do?
P0506 idle lower than expected on 05 ford f350 v10
View 3 Replies
My gen3 has 200k miles and eats atleast 1 to 2 quarts every 2 to 3k miles what can I use...
View 12 Replies
For about 6 months my 95 ford ranger 2WD 4 cylinder pick up has occasionally gone into "over drive" when it is not in gear the idle will get crazy high, like one of those party toys that yo blow into and it spins an makes noise. Once put into gear it calms down but it has more forward motion without gas than before. If it gets really bad at stop lights I will turn it off and turn it back on. It may still do it when I turn it back on but by then I will be putting it in gear. When it is in this condition and I turn it off it takes longer to turn off, like it is winding down.
I would say that this happens every 4th time it is drive, sometimes less sometimes more. There seems to be no rhythm. I took it to an electrical specialist and they could not find anything, and last week the check engine light came on so I took it to our normal mechanic. They did a test and found that the engine speed limiter had been reached which was why the check engine light came on and also pretty scary. The diagnostic codes were P0500 and P1270. I am worried 1. that this is making the care unsafe to drive even though it seems like we can manage it to a degree and 2. that is is doing damage to the car by putting it in such a hyper work mode.
View 2 Replies
I have noticed my oil consumption has jumped to 1 1/2 quarts at 3000 miles..(it has been changed every 3 to 4000 miles) and is always very dark.. There's no leaks and the spark plugs were clean (just a little ash) when I changed them with the last oil change. No smoke from the tail pipe and the car still gets 45/48 mpg ..
View 8 Replies
I have a 1999 Honda Accord. It consumes oil but is not leaking, the compression is good, and there is no sign of burning. What could it be? Might sludge result in the problem?
View 19 Replies
We bought a 2007 Outback in April of 2012 (~75,000 mi.). After a couple of oil changes I noticed that the oil consumption seemed high. The dealer looked for leaks and replaced the head gaskets under warranty. Oil consumption still seemed high. The dealer started monitoring the oil consumption checking it every 1000 miles for six months or so. Consumption was about 1 qt. for 1200 miles. Reluctantly they agreed to look at the rings (98,000 mi.). They found burnt oil rings and replaced them.
Oil consumption went down to 1 quart in 1800 miles (improvement of 600 miles). The engine was still under an extended warranty when this happened. I was claiming that the cylinder bores must have been out of spec to see such a small increase in oil consumption and that they should have given me a new short block or rebored the old one with new pistons to match. My question is, what kind of a result I should expect from a ring job? Am I correct in thinking that something else must be wrong with the engine if the oil consumption improved so little?
View 19 Replies
I have a 1999 toyota corolla I just bought it for my daughter for her first car the only thing I've noticed is that it only had 1000 miles on it since I changed the oil and that it was 3 quarts low? Not sure what happened but I checked it again after her second 1000 miles and it was again 3 quarts low. The car does not leak oil and does not smoke
View 2 Replies
I know I've complained about oil consumption before on my 12' 5.0 with 42 K. I've kinda come to terms with it and figure not much I can do ? Next oil change I want to try to improve it. Checked it the other day and has used approx 3/4 of quart in 2200 K. I've read other guys post talking about improving consumption by switching brands and trying different viscosity. I'm using the recommended Ford 5/20 synthetic now.
View 8 Replies
I own a Lexus IS250 which on the gas cap says you must use high octane gas. My question is, do you REALLY have to use High octane everytime you gas up or can you safely use mid grade? Say every other time without damaging anything?
View 11 Replies
07 camry 4cyl high oil consumption doing oil changes every 5k. Car has 61000 miles on it. I had to put 2 quarts of oil just before oil changes, oil level was still below low, so car burns 3 qrt of oil every 5k. What should i do?
View 2 Replies
The oil consumption started around 90-100k miles. My wife mostly drives the car so I just check it and fill it without keeping track of mileage. Last week I had a lot of driving to do so I topped off the oil before starting my trip and put a 5 qt 5-20w bottle in the back. I've been through two liters in 2100 miles! Sheesh - I'm ticked off. I do my own oil changes at least every 10k miles, always use 0-20w or 5-20w full synthetic oil (usually Mobil 1). I replaced the spark plugs at 119k miles per maintenance schedule.
Besides the oil consumption, since 115k miles the engine can get into a mode where it misses a little bit at low power once it is completely warmed up. I have a good code reader and nothing ever shows up. I expected the new spark plugs would fix it, but they didn't change anything about how it runs. It is slowly getting worse. I'm going to wait until a code in the ECU is set before fixing it. It could be an ignition coil. I suspect it is an O2 sensor which causes the AFR to be too lean which makes the mix hard to ignite. Time will tell. It runs fine when cruising at highway speeds.
We bought this 2010 Prius III, not 3, new in October 2010. The only out-of-the-ordinary thing we do is live in northern Wyoming where it can be very cold for a long time. We drive 85 mph for long distances to go shopping and visit friends. The gas mileage is the same as it has always been. It varies between 42 and 50 mpg in the summer and 35 and 45 in the winter.
View 19 Replies
My stepmother has a 2006 Ford Freestyle AWD with a 3.0L Volvo engine. It seems to be consuming a great deal of oil. (Definitely not leaking it.) But not on a regular basis.... Within a couple weeks of changing the oil this time, it has consumed nearly 2 quarts! Other times it hardly uses any. This has been going on for a couple years now. She has taken it to the dealership numerous times and they cannot seem to find the issue. It doesn't have a "burnt" smell when I pull the dipstick either. The mileage is low as she hardly drives the car. (Under 80,000 miles) I've looked online and can't seem to find this problem elsewhere.
View 3 Replies
It's great on gas below 2200 rpm. Averaging 34 combined. However whenever I'm in a situation where I need to accelerate, such as beat the yellow light, up a hill, or pass someone and I shift to a lower gear I lose 1-2 MPG at the drop of a dime. And then it takes forever to recover. What is going on here? Is the engine being flooded with fuel?
View 28 Replies
I replace all my spark plugs but my car still has no power and its eating gas like crazy.
View 3 Replies
