Improving gas mileage?

[ace395a]

Has any one heard of any means of improving gas mileage on Montanas, Ventures, etc? My Montana gets only 21mpgUS/26mpgC based on about 10000K of careful records. This is considerably below what either the US or Canadian manufacturer claims are. I was wondering if there are any means of tweaking; chips, air flow, whatever?

[2000MontanaLemon]

You could tow it. LOL. It seems like you are a little below the average fuel economy. I would think that a lighter foot would help you the most. I also noticed that I got better highway mileage when I did not use the cruise control on hilly terrain. Otherwise the van will constantly downshift and rev higher. Possibly a better flowing intake filter would help mpg a bit.

[1999montana]

Originally Posted by ace395a

Has any one heard of any means of improving gas mileage on Montanas, Ventures, etc? My Montana gets only 21mpgUS/26mpgC based on about 10000K of careful records. This is considerably below what either the US or Canadian manufacturer claims are. I was wondering if there are any means of tweaking; chips, air flow, whatever?

I agree with the light foot approach. When my wife drives, the mileage is way off.

Cruising at 110 KMs in a 100KM zone at home seems to help highway mileage. We stick to the speed limit when traveling in the States though. Generally, I don't exceed any speed limit by more than 10%. I use the cruise control a lot too.

Jackrabbit starts with a 4,400 lb sled is a good way to kill the mileage too; - just ask my wife!

Properly tuned, these vans will deliver respectable mileage. That means watching for telltale signs of misfire, changing the air filter regularly and oh yes, changing the oil & filter every 3,000 miles.

Our van runs around town quite a bit and seems to dirty up the injectors more frequently. I buy STP fuel injector cleaner in a four pack at Costco and put one bottle in every month or when ever it seems to run a bit rough. Smoothes it right out.

[shogunl]

I say 21 MPG for a US gallon is not too bad. Hell I got 2 of these and neither one get that much. Funny thing is my 99 with 220K is running better and gets better mileage than 02 with 185K.