I'm using too much gas

What kind of gas mileage are you getting? There are several gas mileage calculators on the interent that you only need input a few numbers (accurate numbers) that will return your average fuel consumption....

We are all feeling the sticker shock that current gas prices are giving us.... this makes it important to find out if we are only having the "impression" of poor fuel mileage or.... FWIW, it costs over $100 to fill the tank in my pick-up....

Picking a shop/mechanic is like picking a doctor/hospital.... The cheap guys are cheap for a reason.... Good techs usually realize what they are worth... and charge accordingly...

I would love you to come over to the UK and fill up that truck!

You really need to know what the ECU fault codes are.

You could take to Autozone and have the ECU read, that will tell you if a sensor is broken, or tell you where to look for a problem.

Is there a layer of black soot on the inside of the exhaust pipe?

Then go to another garage.

The only thing you mentioned that the mechanic did that could decrease gas mileage is something wrong the plug, like wrong gap, wrong plugs, loose plugs, etc.

Jeff

Gee, or just use a spreadsheet or even a calculator or pencil and paper.

I agree.

In the case of picking a doctor or hospital, there is no good way to tell which are truly good docs or hospitals. And reputation doesn't really cut it.

The same is true with mechanics. But I don't know what else there is to go by beside your experience with a particular mechanic.

Jeff

The boat ride alone would be a couple thousand dollars. Or you need a really long hose!

Jeff

LMAO too true!

I have the opposite problem, too much gas! p-u!

Want a cigarette ? I'll light it

Not to be contrary.... as I'd mentioned, the first step is to see if the fuel consumption is unreasonable or not....

There is a lot of money to be spent with inadequate shops with no hope of fuel economy improvements. For a shop or tech, the very first requirement towards fixing a concern is to verify the concern.... If the shop is well equipped, they will be able to use the IDS or WDS scan tool to determine either "instant" or "average" fuel mileage on this car. But... this is going to involve a charge from the shop.... Hand computing fuel consumption is quite simple and is going to be the first step in verifying whether there is a repairable concern or whether this could be a case of good money after bad....

I will be checking out the codes with Autozone. The mechanic says there's nothing wrong with my exhaust pipe but I'll have to look for myself. If there's black soot inside my pipe would that be the problem of why I'm only getting 197 miles to a full tank of gas when I used to get 346 miles? I'm also wondering what could be causing my car to shift out of the drive (D) gear. Sometimes I'll have to shift into lower gear then work the gears back up to drive (D).

Well, I don't have any soot in my exhaust pipe and I found out from another mechanic that the wires connected to my transmission needs to be adjusted. This will help the new problem of why my car kicks out of gear when in drive.