96 caravan puzzling gas mileage (4cyl)
 

I've had a 96 4 cyl for nearly five years; I have always been dissapointed
in the gas mileage-- anywhere from 13 to 17 in the city.

For two days straight however, I used it to deliver stuff over 350 miles
each day-- never turned it off in nearly 10 hours, and drove routes from 30
mph in the city to 80 on the highway. When I did that it got 23 mpg. It
doesn't make any sense! Any ideas?

"Carlton Clay" > wrote in message
...
> I've had a 96 4 cyl for nearly five years; I have always been dissapointed
> in the gas mileage-- anywhere from 13 to 17 in the city.
>
> For two days straight however, I used it to deliver stuff over 350 miles
> each day-- never turned it off in nearly 10 hours, and drove routes from
> 30 mph in the city to 80 on the highway. When I did that it got 23 mpg.
> It doesn't make any sense! Any ideas?
>

You'll always get the best average during highway use...even at 80MPH. But
you should be getting much better mileage than that! Heck, I average 18-19
city and 26-28 highway with the 3.3 V6 Grand Caravan! Have since I bought
it new 8+ years ago. And have gotten as high as 29-30 on some highway
trips!

Everyone tells me the 4 cyl "has to work harder" than the 6; and that's why
it gets less. I have always thought the van was geared lower than most;
but I've had it in the shop and noone agrees-- guess I'll have to stick to
the dissapointing MPG


"James C. Reeves" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Carlton Clay" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I've had a 96 4 cyl for nearly five years; I have always been
>> dissapointed in the gas mileage-- anywhere from 13 to 17 in the city.
>>
>> For two days straight however, I used it to deliver stuff over 350 miles
>> each day-- never turned it off in nearly 10 hours, and drove routes from
>> 30 mph in the city to 80 on the highway. When I did that it got 23 mpg.
>> It doesn't make any sense! Any ideas?
>>
>
> You'll always get the best average during highway use...even at 80MPH.
> But you should be getting much better mileage than that! Heck, I average
> 18-19 city and 26-28 highway with the 3.3 V6 Grand Caravan! Have since I
> bought it new 8+ years ago. And have gotten as high as 29-30 on some
> highway trips!
>

Apparently so. I wonder what the point is if a 4-cylinder has less power
AND worse gas mileage.

My engine runs at ~2000 RPM at 60 MPH. You can use that for comparison.
It's possible that you have the 3-speed tranny instead of the 4-speed
overdrive.



"Carlton Clay" > wrote in message
...
> Everyone tells me the 4 cyl "has to work harder" than the 6; and that's
> why it gets less. I have always thought the van was geared lower than
> most; but I've had it in the shop and noone agrees-- guess I'll have to
> stick to the dissapointing MPG
>
>
> "James C. Reeves" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "Carlton Clay" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> I've had a 96 4 cyl for nearly five years; I have always been
>>> dissapointed in the gas mileage-- anywhere from 13 to 17 in the city.
>>>
>>> For two days straight however, I used it to deliver stuff over 350 miles
>>> each day-- never turned it off in nearly 10 hours, and drove routes from
>>> 30 mph in the city to 80 on the highway. When I did that it got 23
>>> mpg. It doesn't make any sense! Any ideas?
>>>
>>
>> You'll always get the best average during highway use...even at 80MPH.
>> But you should be getting much better mileage than that! Heck, I average
>> 18-19 city and 26-28 highway with the 3.3 V6 Grand Caravan! Have since I
>> bought it new 8+ years ago. And have gotten as high as 29-30 on some
>> highway trips!
>>
>
>

I always thought the four-bangers were awful puny for a vehicle of
that size that's supposed to carry around a family.
I did overhaul one once, however, and I thought the power was actually
halfway decent, but I suppose one could expect that with a fresh engine.
Anyway I agree--what's the point of a four cylinder since they don't
get any better gas mileage, have less power and even generally wear out
sooner? They're even less safe as their power wanes with higher miles.

Carlton Clay wrote:
> I've had a 96 4 cyl for nearly five years; I have always been dissapointed
> in the gas mileage-- anywhere from 13 to 17 in the city.
>
> For two days straight however, I used it to deliver stuff over 350 miles
> each day-- never turned it off in nearly 10 hours, and drove routes from 30
> mph in the city to 80 on the highway. When I did that it got 23 mpg. It
> doesn't make any sense! Any ideas?


It makes perfect sense to me. You drove it more on the highway than
usual, and when it's cruising along, even at 80mph, it will get better
fuel economy than in the city where you are stopping and going.
Remember that any time you are sitting at a stoplight, even though it's
not burning very MUCH gasoline while idling, you are still getting ZERO
mpg; and when you accelerate from that stoplight, the mileage you are
getting is very low AND it's burning a lot of gas at the same time.

The four-cyl. engine may burn MORE fuel in city driving, driven to equal
acceleration as a 3.3L V6.

If you were to cruise for 10 hours at 80mph, you'd get even better
mileage than you did for those two straight days.

Right-- I do have the 3 speed.
I understand that that particular transmission is more reliable than the 4
speed-- so maybe I'm lucky in that respect


"James C. Reeves" > wrote in message
...
> Apparently so. I wonder what the point is if a 4-cylinder has less power
> AND worse gas mileage.
>
> My engine runs at ~2000 RPM at 60 MPH. You can use that for comparison.
> It's possible that you have the 3-speed tranny instead of the 4-speed
> overdrive.
>
>
>
> "Carlton Clay" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Everyone tells me the 4 cyl "has to work harder" than the 6; and that's
>> why it gets less. I have always thought the van was geared lower than
>> most; but I've had it in the shop and noone agrees-- guess I'll have to
>> stick to the dissapointing MPG
>>
>>
>> "James C. Reeves" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>
>>> "Carlton Clay" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> I've had a 96 4 cyl for nearly five years; I have always been
>>>> dissapointed in the gas mileage-- anywhere from 13 to 17 in the city.
>>>>
>>>> For two days straight however, I used it to deliver stuff over 350
>>>> miles each day-- never turned it off in nearly 10 hours, and drove
>>>> routes from 30 mph in the city to 80 on the highway. When I did that
>>>> it got 23 mpg. It doesn't make any sense! Any ideas?
>>>>
>>>
>>> You'll always get the best average during highway use...even at 80MPH.
>>> But you should be getting much better mileage than that! Heck, I
>>> average 18-19 city and 26-28 highway with the 3.3 V6 Grand Caravan!
>>> Have since I bought it new 8+ years ago. And have gotten as high as
>>> 29-30 on some highway trips!
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

"Carlton Clay" > wrote in message
...
> Everyone tells me the 4 cyl "has to work harder" than the 6; and that's
> why it gets less. I have always thought the van was geared lower than
> most; but I've had it in the shop and noone agrees-- guess I'll have to
> stick to the dissapointing MPG

And have you checked your tire pressure? change your air filter recently? Do
you always use it for deliveries? If so what are you delivering. If you are
loading it up for deliveries, that would mean you are adding weight to the
van, and that would increase your mileage. And if you are mostly arounfd
town, it depends on ambient temperature, grades of the road stop and go,
utilizing air conditioning, etc. Have you changed you O2 sensor?

I've done all of those things, except replace the 02 sensor. That is what
is puzzling-- the bad gas mileage is from normal driving-- my wife everyday
for normal wife stuff. It improved when it was used to deliver things--
10 hours of not being turned off; city driving; and the increased weight of
delivering retail fixtures. Makes no sense-- but one thing is for sure--
it's been like this for nearly 5 years!


"David" > wrote in message
news:6tAwe.10690$go.2122@fed1read05...
>
> "Carlton Clay" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Everyone tells me the 4 cyl "has to work harder" than the 6; and that's
>> why it gets less. I have always thought the van was geared lower than
>> most; but I've had it in the shop and noone agrees-- guess I'll have to
>> stick to the dissapointing MPG
>
> And have you checked your tire pressure? change your air filter recently?
> Do you always use it for deliveries? If so what are you delivering. If you
> are loading it up for deliveries, that would mean you are adding weight to
> the van, and that would increase your mileage. And if you are mostly
> arounfd town, it depends on ambient temperature, grades of the road stop
> and go, utilizing air conditioning, etc. Have you changed you O2 sensor?
>

David:
Why would weight add to my MPG?


"David" > wrote in message
news:6tAwe.10690$go.2122@fed1read05...
>
> "Carlton Clay" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Everyone tells me the 4 cyl "has to work harder" than the 6; and that's
>> why it gets less. I have always thought the van was geared lower than
>> most; but I've had it in the shop and noone agrees-- guess I'll have to
>> stick to the dissapointing MPG
>
> And have you checked your tire pressure? change your air filter recently?
> Do you always use it for deliveries? If so what are you delivering. If you
> are loading it up for deliveries, that would mean you are adding weight to
> the van, and that would increase your mileage. And if you are mostly
> arounfd town, it depends on ambient temperature, grades of the road stop
> and go, utilizing air conditioning, etc. Have you changed you O2 sensor?
>