Fuel Economy - Hypermiling Dedicated to discussions on fuel economy improvements and related modifications.

Help with lousy fuel economy.

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Old Feb 14, 2017 | 08:48 PM
  #1  
Alex Kehoe's Avatar
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Joined: 02-14-2017
Posts: 1
From: Willow Street
Unhappy Help with lousy fuel economy.

I live in PA, and it is the middle of winter and it doesn't matter what fuel I'm running e85 or 87 I'm getting 13.5 mpg please help i need something to try to increase my mileage

Last edited by Oldblue; Feb 15, 2017 at 09:02 AM. Reason: Spelling, punctuation
Old Feb 14, 2017 | 09:25 PM
  #2  
RJ_RS_SS_350's Avatar
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Joined: 05-01-2014
Posts: 8,511
From: California
to the forums Alex!

I gather from your post that you're only getting 13.5 mpg no matter what fuel you use. The rest of your post is a mystery.

You should swing by your local auto parts store, see if they will pull your OBD2 codes. If you're in California, they probably won't, so then try a JiffyLube or comparable. Post up the codes here. Just the code, not description, as they can be misleading. We'll see if we can get you fixed up!
Old Feb 15, 2017 | 09:09 AM
  #3  
Oldblue's Avatar
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Joined: 10-13-2011
Posts: 40,082
From: Welland,Ont Canada
Welcome to the site, I have some questions,

How many miles on the car?
Last air filter service ?
What tier fuel do you use?
Tire pressure?
Last time you cleaned the throttle body?
Last time you cleaned the MAF sensor?
Is there oil and condensation in the hose from your valve cover to your throttle body?
What spark plugs are you running?
Last oil change and what weight oil?
Dino or synthetic oil?
Year, transmission, would help.
Also what position is your HVAC switch in?
Old Feb 15, 2017 | 12:20 PM
  #4  
donbrew's Avatar
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Joined: 01-23-2009
Posts: 26,532
From: Fredericksburg,VA
And is the Check Engine Light on?
Is the hand brake adjusted correctly?
How much idling are you doing?
How much sitting in traffic?

Top of my head thoughts:
Your HHR does not require or want a "warm up". Start it and drive off.
The defrost position turns the A/C on.
The MPG calculation does not take into account you are not moving, so using 1 gallon of gas while idling will give you a 0 MPG (well really 0/1=infinite, since it is a floating point calculation). If you drive 20 miles, but it takes you 60 minutes to do it because you are sitting still for 40 minutes a going 60MPH for 20 minutes you will have horrible MPG.

If you are looking at the INST (instantaneous) calculation, that changes constantly from 0 to 100.
Old Feb 15, 2017 | 12:23 PM
  #5  
RJ_RS_SS_350's Avatar
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Joined: 05-01-2014
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From: California
Nice job, Oldblue, somehow you were able to translate from random words into coherent english.

Last edited by RJ_RS_SS_350; Feb 15, 2017 at 03:58 PM.
Old Feb 15, 2017 | 02:43 PM
  #6  
Oldblue's Avatar
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Joined: 10-13-2011
Posts: 40,082
From: Welland,Ont Canada
I have my days



Most of it's guess work
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