1999 Ford Taurus Weird Milage...

1999 Ford Taurus Weird Milage... Group: alt.autos.ford Date: Thu, Sep 18, 2003, 11:30am (EDT-1) From: snipped-for-privacy@rdrREMOVETHIS.com (V) My '99 Taurus, shows great gas milage when I am over the oil change by about 1500 miles (ie 4500 miles since my last one) Is there a reason for this? V6 24 Valve My last tank went 285 miles for mainly "in town driving" Work is approx. 18 miles away, I either drive on the interstate or on a 2 lane road thru 2 towns to get there, usually pretty split up. I normally get approx. 230-240 miles per tank. This has been the 2nd time I have noticed this when being "over" on getting an oil change. Any Ideas on this? Chris ===============================

Could be a lot of reasons. Are you sure about the amount of fuel you add at fill up? Do you reset the odometer to zero at fill up? The tank holds

16 gallons, how far down do you go before filling up?

I've got the same exact model as you and I normally do an oil change every 4500 miles. I've noticed no difference in mpg between zero oil miles and 4500 oil miles.

My normal mpg runs about 21-22mpg with full time a/c & slightly heavy foot.

Eric

I usually fill up with 11-12 gallons of gas. The last quarter gallon goes down quite quickely and then "bounces around" quite a bit. So I usually fill up then. I always reset the odometer, I keep a book of how much gas I put in, the mileage, the total mileage what type of gas, how much per gallon, and total amount. Good records for when I go to sell the car. From the sounds of it, I still have 3-4 gallons of gas left in my car when I am filling up. How many miles per tank do you get?

With a V6 / 24 Valve engine, its eay to have a "heavy foot" =)

Chris

Re: 1999 Ford Taurus Weird Milage... Group: alt.autos.ford Date: Fri, Sep 19, 2003, 5:11pm (EDT-1) From: snipped-for-privacy@rdrREMOVETHIS.com

I usually fill up with 11-12 gallons of gas. The last quarter gallon goes down quite quickely and then "bounces around" quite a bit. So I usually fill up then. I always reset the odometer, I keep a book of how much gas I put in, the mileage, the total mileage what type of gas, how much per gallon, and total amount. Good records for when I go to sell the car.

I have an 03 Mustang GT (4.6L V8). I got 23mpg in mixed driving. Others have reported getting 28mpg on the highway. Considering my mixed mpg, 28 on the highway seems very reachable. What I'm getting at is why are you only getting around 23mpg on the highway? My 4.0L ranger would only average

17mpg. The 4.0L engine was always a gas hog. Perhaps Ford's other V6s are too. John

,

Eric,

My original point to your earlier message about using octane 89 fuel in your Taurus is that you should NEVER put higher octane fuel in your car which is designed for octane 87. Putting higher octane fuel in your car designed for octane 87 DOESN'T make your car perform better or go faster. Premium fuel is for turbo charged engines only. Your '99 Taurus has about the same engine as my '02 Taurus and they are desgined to use octane 87 fuel. Using higher octane fuel than what your manual recommends can damage your engine. If you own a vehicle with an engine designed for premium or mid-grade fuel. NEVER put octane 87 fuel in engines designed for higher octane. It will cause the engine to knock and can damage it.

~CyberWolf

Re: 1999 Ford Taurus Weird Milage... Group: alt.autos.ford Date: Sun, Sep 21, 2003, 10:20pm (EDT+4) From: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (CyberWolf) Running the AC year round probably dosn't help my mileage either. That's the price you pay for living in S. Florida. Eric, =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0My original point to your earlier message about using octane 89 fuel in your Taurus is that you should NEVER put higher octane fuel in your car which is designed for octane 87. Putting higher octane fuel in your car designed for octane 87 DOESN'T make your car perform better or go faster. Premium fuel is for turbo charged engines only. Your '99 Taurus has about the same engine as my '02 Taurus and they are desgined to use octane 87 fuel. Using higher octane fuel than what your manual recommends can damage your engine. If you own a vehicle with an engine designed for premium or mid-grade fuel. NEVER put octane

87 fuel in engines designed for higher octane. It will cause the engine to knock and can damage it. =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0~CyberWolf =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

After almost 5 yrs of using 89 or higher octane my engine is fine. I've tried 87 from time to time and the car is sluggish and requires more pedal pressure to achieve the same speed. In addition passing performance suffers with 87 as compared to 89 or higher.

I'm willing to risk what might happen with 89+ octane to get the performance I want. OTOH try a tank of 93 and see if you don't notice a real difference. Should be interesting.

Eric

Chrysler put a disclaimer about high octane gas hurting engines in their manuals for a while, but they have since learned the errors of their ways, at least as far as Sunoco and other gas manufacturers are concerned. Here's a response on this subject from Sunoco

"Auto manufacturers recommend a minimum required octane rating for your engine. I have spoken to Chrysler on this issue and the reason they put this statement in their manual is because they believe that higher octane gasolines in the U.S. have a higher driveability index that equates to reduced performance. Sunoco carefully controls our driveability index of our higher octane fuels(Ultra 94 is the highest in Ontario) so we do not believe this statement applies to our gasoline. Higher octane fuel itself will not cause engine damage and,in fact, Ultra 94 is one of the cleanest gasolines available(see our website, for more details)." Feds don't have a problem with it either

While I agree that high octane is a waste of money, it doesn't hurt. And as stated, it may actually reduce performance, since it has the same effect as backing off the timing. Follow the FTC guideline, and use the lowest octane you can get away with.