Sucking down gas

[mike561]

I noticed this for a while now and im going to be taking the caprice into the shop to have it checked out, its really been eating up gas too much, i used to have an 88 caprice with the same engine and stock setup (even had emmisions removed), and it never sucked down gas as much as my 83 does right now. im thinking it could be A: a choke or carb adjustment B: smallest leak in a fuel line (although i never see any drips though) or C: but most likely not, an inacurate fuel guage reading, which i doubt though because the guage seems to be operating normal. any thoughts would be great, i hope this is'nt anything major. i also notice a slight lag when i step on the gas too...

[GreyGoose006]

check the timing.
if it is retarted too much the fuel economy and performance will suffer.

it might truly be the guage though.
mine (an 84) stays on "F" until i am at about 1/2 tank, then it goes down.
when it finally does get to "E", i can still drive about 75 miles before it runs out of gas.

[GreyGoose006]

btw, nice wheels. you need bigger tires tho

[mike561]

yeah i was thinking the guage could be a possibility too, i think i did have the timing adjusted about 2 months ago after the tune up. its at the shop now though so they will be getting back to me shortly on whats goin on before they fix stuff. what would cause the guage to start reading inaccurately and whats involved in repair or replacing? sounds like a big task. anywho thanks about the rims too, i think i may go slightly bigger once these tires are done, i've got around 50% tread left on them.

[mike561]

Well i got the car back, turns out there WAS leaks, one by the gas tank and two under the hood, one of which was at the fuel pump line that goes to the carb. hopefully that will solve it though. $100 later

[PeteA216]

Lol, and weren't you complaining about smelling fuel vapors before?

[mike561]

yeah, hopefully these repairs will fix that issue too, aside the canister still not being connected to the carb, which i plan on having put back on eventualy.

[mike561]

well its been a few days now and i still dont seem to notice a better gas mileage after they claimed all the leaks were sealed, i dont really smell gas anymore, but im starting to think maybe the guage is just innacurate now. what would be a symptom that the guage is inaccurate? is the guage supposed to move around when you make turns and whatnot? i know that could be from the gas shifting around in the tank, but my pontiac never does that, probably because its a newer car though. any info would help. ps the guage seems to function correctly, it DOES move after a fill up as it should, i dont know gas guages and sending units very well though.

['97ventureowner]

Not sure if this may have anything to do with your situation, but I recently read an article that said a vehicle's gas mileage may drop up to 3% because of the discontinuation of the use of MBTE in gasoline. MBTE was used as an oxygenator in fuels until recently when it was found to be a major contaminant of groundwater. As a result of it's banning, it was noticed that many people experienced a drop in fuel economy and studies linked it to the removal of the MBTE in the fuel. Even if this doesn't apply to you, it is helpful information to those trying to diagnose reasons for poorer fuel economy in their cars or trucks.

[mike561]

yeah that is good to know, thanks for that tip

[GreyGoose006]

that and the fact that summer gas has ethanol in it.
ethanol has a much lower energy content than gasoline, so with gas being made up of 15 percent ethanol, you should expect lower gas mileage to follow.
i suggest filling up until the pump clicks off and wont put anymore in
occasionally, when i fill up, the pump clicks off about 2.5 gallons short of full.
once you are sure you are full, find an excuse to drive about 300 miles on the highway then fill up again all the way.

that is the best way you can get your gas mileage.

[mike561]

yeah i could do that, could i just reset the trip odometer and wait til it hits 300 as well?

[Jerry80871852]

I suppose the government loves ethanol. For with ethanol you get less gas mileage therefore you buy more gallons of gas to go the same distance, thus the government gets more tax money from you because your buying more gallons of gas.

Just recently for the 1st time ever we have gas that has 10% ethanol.

The only one who loses is us consumers.

[mike561]

i actually diddnt know all that until today. also i diddnt want to start a whole new thread just for this question, but what does the "CL" stand for on my 83 between the doors????

[silicon212]

CL is a trim option level.