Cold weather = poorer gas mileage? What to do

[twlunn]

In the warmer months the Escort gets~30 MPG. Now we’ve had 10deg days and -5deg nights for a few days and I’m getting ~25-26 MPG.
Should I check/replace the MAS or what other item.
OR-is this to be expected, running a little rich in the colder months?

TIA, Tom

[Graywing]

Year? Engine? Type of driving? Gotta be more specific if you expect help, Tom.

Bad news: Even your warm weather mileage is low. My '91 got high 30s / low 40s with combination town/highway use summer and winter (ohio). The current '96 stays in the mid 30s.

It's not unusual for your winter mileage to decrease, though. The engine spends more time in the enrichment mode after starting cold than when it's warm. And you may let the car warm up longer. Plus cold weather states get a different gasoline formulation during the winter and it's been my experience that it isn't as efficient as the summer stuff. Your choice of fuel brands will play a big part in all your driving. I get consistantly better mileage with the Gulf brand than any other. BP is good only for burning brush: Nasty stuff! Leave all sorts of deposits in it's wake.

Buy a can of Seafoam (Autozone has it) and pour it into a full tank. Fantastic stuff! It'll do wonders for cleaning the bad stuff out of fuel systems.

[jeffescortlx]

Cold air is more dense, need's more fuel to keep from going lean. But your car should feel more powerfull in winter.

[spidermann59]

Dear twlunn, I am experencing 19.7 mpg??? in california. This '93 wagon lx 1.9 runs cold. The heater core was just changed. Today I ran the car with the font end up in the air, heater on full blast, cap off ...ran that sucker at high rpm and felt the heater lines get hot first, then kept thr revs up and a hand on top rad hose... waited Then upper hose became hot... I kept revin the engine 'till the fan came on.. temp gauge just past center. short time Later drivin to gas station temp gauge never past N... I don't get it Help thank you David

[chevyn0va1]

Originally Posted by Graywing

Year? Engine? Type of driving? Gotta be more specific if you expect help, Tom.

Bad news: Even your warm weather mileage is low. My '91 got high 30s / low 40s with combination town/highway use summer and winter (ohio). The current '96 stays in the mid 30s.

It's not unusual for your winter mileage to decrease, though. The engine spends more time in the enrichment mode after starting cold than when it's warm. And you may let the car warm up longer. Plus cold weather states get a different gasoline formulation during the winter and it's been my experience that it isn't as efficient as the summer stuff. Your choice of fuel brands will play a big part in all your driving. I get consistantly better mileage with the Gulf brand than any other. BP is good only for burning brush: Nasty stuff! Leave all sorts of deposits in it's wake.

Buy a can of Seafoam (Autozone has it) and pour it into a full tank. Fantastic stuff! It'll do wonders for cleaning the bad stuff out of fuel systems.

plus the fact you are running the heat were as you wouldnt in the nice days of spring.

[twlunn]

My Bad: 1994 LX wagon, 1.9 w/auto. 100 mile round trip daily comutes @ 65-75 MPH on Chicago interstates.
Thanks for the replys.....

got a new problem, will put in new post.
Tom

[dlbdata]

I notice a pretty significant difference between hot and cold weather. 95 LX 1.9L w/auto trans. With all highway driving 65-70mph, warm weather 40-42mpg, in cold weather (5-20 deg F) it drops to maybe 33-35mpg.