[solidrock]

Ok hi everyone im new and new with my car, I just bought this 2004 taurus and its brand new its very clean and nice, Only problem is it gives me 11 mpg!!! I told a friend of mine and he told me to take the ''MAFS'' sensor and clean it with some spray they sell specialy for that sensor so I did that and it did not work. Altho it did change 13+ mpg on his passat when he did that. Anyways I changed the spark plugs bought the motor craft ones I even put in a bottle of lucas fuel treatment (I still have 1/4 gas tank) but I dont think any of that made eny difference.


What can I do to improve my MPG!!!! change the o2 Sensors it has 4 of them they all cost like 52dls, I think thats going to be my next try I dont know. please help

 

[KhanTyranitar]

How does the engine run, any codes?

When you replace the sensors, just do the front ones, the rear ones have no effect on fuel economy.

 

[solidrock]

Engine runes VERY well, It used to give me a code that the o2 sensors needed to be replaced but when I cleaned the MAFS sensor those codes arents showing anymore. The only code that shoes as of now has something to do with the ''Catalytic converter'' dont know if that has anything to do with mpg.

 

[loudsho92]

O2 and cats both affect mialge. If you have a bad O2 then it will casue bad mailge. If the cats are clogged they will casue low milage.

 

[solidrock]

Ok what sensors effect the mpg, I know it has 4 o2 senors but I know that only 2 effect mpg, which ones should I change? also whats the ''cats'' thing?

 

[bull geek]

The ones with green clips are what can affect the mileage. These are the "pre-cat" ones, before the catalytic converters.

But more importantly, you said you were getting codes. Can you obtain the code number (ie. P0171). Autozone scans for free. Harbor Freight sells a CAN-BUS (what 04+ model Tauruses use) capable OBDII code checker, that will also display pending codes.

 

[loudsho92]

Ok what sensors effect the mpg, I know it has 4 o2 senors but I know that only 2 effect mpg, which ones should I change? also whats the ''cats'' thing?

The 2 front ones affect mileage. The 2 rear ones will tell you if the cats are bad.

If the cats are clogged it will affect mileage greatly.

 

[Nobowtie]

Cats is short for catalytic converters. They are government mandated polution control devices that in general hurt fuel econ and power, clogged or not.

 

[KhanTyranitar]

Cats is short for catalytic converters. They are government mandated polution control devices that in general hurt fuel econ and power, clogged or not.

That is just an opinion. I have seen cats actually make some cars faster. Buddy built up an '88 Grand National with a bore and stroked 4.0L, twin turbos, titanium valves, ported, you get the idea. Dynoed at 758hp at the crank. He set it up with a converter that he could remove on track day. Forgot to take it off one track day, consistently shaved 2 tenths of a second off his quarter mile time. If the cat is a true high flow type and is located in the right spot (the hot zone), it can improve the scavenging effect, even on forced induction and turbocharged applications.

This said, the stock converter doesn't penalize much, but it is not a high flow design.

The converter is not likely the source of your problem. What is your Long Term Fuel Trim on both banks at idle and at 2500 RPM. You will need access to a scan tool to retrieve this value. A regular code reader will not pull up those values. This number most likely can point you in the direction of why your economy is so poor.

 

[shrinex]

Wouldnt a decent oil change with a higher grade oil effect mileage? Specially if you replace the filter?

 

[KhanTyranitar]

Yes, better oil can help, but its not going to make a huge difference, often the change would be less than 1 mpg. Something else is going on here.

 

[dbfruth]

has the camshaft synchronizer been replaced? According to the ford factory manual if it is installed and timed incorrectly it can cause poor mileage.

 

[darkstallion440]

i have a 2005 with 60,000 miles and in getting 12.5 mpg. prior to the taurus i had a 1994 corvette lt1 6 speed getting 13 mpg. one of the reasons i sold it was for better gas mileage...this sucks.

 

[KhanTyranitar]

You just to to find and correct the problem. Find someone who can retrieve those LTFT values.

My Taurus has been steadily loosing gas miles, and the LTFT confirms, something is wrong. I'm gonna try cleaning injectors and the intake and see if that helps. Otherwise I suspect a bad MAF or a bad IAT.

 

[loudsho92]

i have a 2005 with 60,000 miles and in getting 12.5 mpg. prior to the taurus i had a 1994 corvette lt1 6 speed getting 13 mpg. one of the reasons i sold it was for better gas mileage...this sucks.

Well something is wrong and needs to be fixed. You should be in the 20+ range.

Pull codes.

Could be several things like bad O2 sensor, clogged cats, etc...