My sister has a 99 taurus and has only been able to manage about 13-15 mpg on the highway. Right after she bought it she took it back to the dealer who said that it was the fuel rail and intake manifold. Has anyone else had this same problem? if so what was your fix?



Esley

This will sound really stuipid... but have you checked the air filter???

Purchased a 03 Taurus and for the first month could only get 14mpg out of it, Hell my 72 455 was getting 15mpg...lol. Seemed to drive fine with good power. On a whim, I took out the air filter & replaced it... the difference was unbelievable.. that old one was soo filthy. Went from 14 to 17/18mpg. Alot of shops will like to convienently overlook things like that for the high dollar repairs... afterwards they'll put one in (as well as doing the High end repair), and you'll never know the difference. As was the case with my 03.... only they were going to screw the warranty, not me. Fixed it myself for $7.99...lol.

Other than that, I'd try running some Fuel system treatment/injector cleaner through it... might help. Or check the fuel filter. Just some Cheap & easy possibilities.

Yup, air and fuel filter. And I would try using a different gas station and see if that helps. I get really lousy mileage in my '99 24V Taurus but that's because 95% of my driving is stop and go in town. At best I can squeeze 17mpg out of it with a light foot.

The air filter has been checked and I've recommended that she replace it. She could try a differet gas station the problem is that in North Dakota all the gas come from one refinnery anyway so it's basically pointless, but she does vary her buying from brand to brand. But has anyone ever had the milleage problem checked out and diagnosed as being a serious problem such as I described above?

It just seemed like overkill to me and my father. We've both been bending wrenches for most of our lives and didn't realy buy into it. However I thought that I would check into it and see what other have had.

What do the spark plugs look like? Compression? Vacuum leaks? Try some fuel injecter cleaner. What weight motor oil is she using? Check the fuel system for leaks, starting at the tank.

She's using a 30 weight motor oil and we've tried the fuel injector cleaner. Still things are the same. Though she is replacing the air filter this morning so I'll know more after she drives it a couple more days.

Any error codes on the OBD II? How many miles on the clock? Sounds like the car might be running too rich... might be the oxygen sensor(s) going bad.

Using 30 weight oil in North Dakota this time of year? How does she get it started in the AM?

Have your sister use 5W30 or 5W20 and see if that makes a difference. When was the last tune-up.

She's running either 10W30 or 5W30 and that's as light as she will go. And the car is garaged every night. So starting isn't a problem.

This will sound really stuipid... but have you checked the air filter???

Purchased a 03 Taurus and for the first month could only get 14mpg out of it, Hell my 72 455 was getting 15mpg...lol. Seemed to drive fine with good power. On a whim, I took out the air filter & replaced it... the difference was unbelievable.. that old one was soo filthy. Went from 14 to 17/18mpg. Alot of shops will like to convienently overlook things like that for the high dollar repairs... afterwards they'll put one in (as well as doing the High end repair), and you'll never know the difference. As was the case with my 03.... only they were going to screw the warranty, not me. Fixed it myself for $7.99...lol.

Other than that, I'd try running some Fuel system treatment/injector cleaner through it... might help. Or check the fuel filter. Just some Cheap & easy possibilities.


17/18mpg is good? I'm getting 26 in my 2000 ses....I thought that was mediocre....I guess I can consider it good...

17/18mpg is good? I'm getting 26 in my 2000 ses....I thought that was mediocre....I guess I can consider it good...


I'm talking City here... recently took a 1300mi trip and averaged 26mpg even with the mountains. Flat terrain pulled 28/29, mountains pulled 23/24 if I recall correctly.

I sure hope he wasn't giving Highway milage...... Guess I should've asked.

That's highway milleage guys. Around 10 is probably the best she's ever gotten in town.

I've lived in ND & lots of folks warm the car in the morn' for several minutes and leave the engine running w/heat on no matter where they go. They've had -30 temp's there this year, that takes extra gas. We used to use straight 5 weight oil.