HaveBlue

Can we make this a sticky or find an appropriate place for this, please?

There for a while, there was a flood of gas mileage threads. Let's create a thread for cheap and effective way to improve gas mileage.

Clean your throttle body
Change your spark plugs, cap, rotor, and wires
Switch to synthetic fluids
Change driving habits

Opinions on auto transmissions with ECT? I only noticed a decrease of .6 MPG with the ECT on.

Keep adding to this thread.

Yamaha+Toyota=Fun

Swap in a Prius motor?

Seriously though, we drive trucks (most of us) and trucks dont get the best gas milage. What you said is probally as far as someone should go in search for better MPG. Changing driving habits is probally the best one you mentioned. A friend of mine always complains about how bad of gas milage he has, when i drive with him i notice that he always accelerates fast off stop lights, speeds, and generally beats his car. Now i wonder why he gets bad gas milage....

HaveBlue

18 MPG is still better than 15 MPG. Every little bit helps.

4RUNR

I’d love to hear what statistical method you’ve used to arrive at the conclusion, with 0.1MPG accuracy nonetheless, that ECT decreased overall fuel efficiency?

colsoncj

Keeping a clean airfilter helps. My moms 94 4Runner was gettin worse than normal mileage, and a changed air filter bought her an extra 4 mpg (it was pretty dirty)... just one of those little things that helps.

HaveBlue

2 month test - 1 week with ECT on, 1 week with ECT off, 1 week with ECT on, and so on.

I consistently achieved at least .6 MPG less with the ECT on that with ECT off. Some weeks it was .3 less, some weeks it was .8 less. But fuel economy ALWAYS was less with the ECT on.
It's not hard to come to a .1 MPG accuracy when you take the exact same route to work every day.

I'll be uploading my complete gas mileage history (5 years worth) onto my website in a week or two. I finally got my maintenace history up. Why? Just because. Though I could not find 2000-2001 for my maintenance history. I'm thinking it's on the same disk as my 2000-2001 gas mileage history.

Ironmike4x4

Well it does say it in the manual that gas mileage will decrease if you use the ECT. I only use it for towing or for really quick merges on the interstate. Change fuel filters is another way to restore gas mileage and save your fuel pump down the road.

4-RUNNIN' FREAK

Get a bike. Walk. Help your heart and body and enviroment out. (for city folk where walking IS an option)
I've been doing both since gas is getting a little crazy for me.

EDIT: Can't all those threads be meshed together?

4RUNR

Subtracting is not statistics, I’m unfortunate to inform you. With only 4 samples with ECT on and 4 sample with ECT off, it would simply be impossible to achieve any statistical certainty, especially considering the samples were collected in a wildly uncontrolled environment.

A simple glance at the problem tells that the proverbial margin of error is greater than 1MPG.

I’m all for discussing theoretical efficiency improvements of certain mods, but arguing numbers in this fashion is scientific heresy.

SoCal4Running

Maintain proper air pressure in tires
Have alignment checked
Take off roof rack if not being used

humanoid

Clean the MAF too...

CynicX

The Toyota manual clearly states ETC will increase power at the expense of fuel milage....

CynicX

I'm sorry to be more exact it says :

(i) Driving in "POWER" mode - In the "POWER" mode, the transmission is shifted up and down at a higher speed than in the "NORMAL" mode and a more powerful acceleration is achieved. To set the "POWER" mode, push in the driving selector button. The POWER mode indicator light comes on.

For ordinary driving, Toyota recommends using the "NORMAL" mode to improve fuel economy.

/end

Other then that it common sense and physics, its impossible (at least according to the laws of science) to make more power at the expense of nothing....

4RUNR

CynicX, can't say I read anything like that verbatim. The reason I picked on the ECT is because with it I seem to get better MPG with it on and 32" tires, using the same method as HaveBlue. It's an improvement on the same order, about 0.5-1mpg.

It would be silly for me to claim that the increase was due to the ECT button as there are many more factors that could sway it one way or another.

HaveBlue supports what I just said and debunks his own findings at the same tiem: "Some weeks it was .3 less, some weeks it was .8 less". If he gives you the exact numbers and you crunch them to figure out statistical correlation, there would be none to speak of.

WashToy

One thing that also helps are the tires. Do you guys really need those big and heavy mud/offroad tires, w/those heavy wheels, and ridiculous lifts? I know they look cooool, but are they really necessary for most offroad applications? They are not designed for regular roads. For the most part, the stock highway/offroad tires that come on the Tacoma's have served me fine offroad, as well as the stock truck height, here in the northwest.

The best highway mileage I get is 25 mpg @70 mph during the summer months, w/my 2.7L I4, 5 spd Tacoma. The summer fuel grades are better than the winter ones. My entire powertrain is lubed w/synthetic oil. My tires are stock, set to around 30-32 psi.

Another thing that helps is removing the A.D.D. (automatic differential disconnect) that come on the Tacoma's and putting manual hubs on. I know it isn't as easy as it use to be w/the earlier Toyota's. It requires replacing the components w/parts from a pre-2001 Tacoma w/manual hubs. On my '02 4-Runner, I replumbed the vacuum operated A.D.D., in order to keep the left and right front axles locked always. This allows smoother shifting into, and out of 4 wheel drive. I also installed manual hubs. I gained 3 mpg because nothing is moving w/the transfer case in 2-wheel drive, and the hubs unlocked, allowing me to get as much as 27 mpg w/it. It had the 22RE I4, w/a 5 spd, and synthetic oil in the entire powertrain. The tires, regular sized (235-15") highway/offroad tires.

4-RUNNIN' FREAK

I think some places have different and better gas. One place I have noticed myself was Virginia.
I am not the only one here that thinks VA gas gets more MPG than local gas.
Oxygenated should be out of the question since I was there in warmer months.

CynicX

When I calculated MPG, as I posted in a thread a while ago. It verys per gas station. I used Hess gas since then per minor improvments. With ETC on I get about 280 miles per tank. With ETC off I get about 330 miles per tank. This is with a stock 04 Tacoma. I only tested it on about 5 tanks of gas since I prefer ETC on but with rising gas prices I always get well over 300 miles with it off, so I've left it off for the last 6000 miles or so.

All my test arent exact, I fill up when the light comes on and always put about 16 1/2 gallons in.

4RUNR

Common sense tells me that it will entirely depends on the situation if shifting at a higher point will increase or decrease overall fuel efficiency.

You've said it yourself. It's warmer in Virginia than New York. Correlation between temperature and MPG is undeniable and easily explainable.

CynicX

I definately agree with you. But thats what the ETC is. It changes the shifts points to shift at a higher RPM. If you change your driving habits it will change your milage of course....

MDNT TOY

Hello All
On my 93 22re 4x4 pickup w/ 225,000 miles on her.
Pre modds on 32's I got 15mpg w/ mostly highway miles.
After modds I'm sitting at 17.6 to 18.2mpg.

Modds include:
K&N filter w/ modded stock air box
2 1/4 cat back exhaust (Highflow cat and Glass pack)
Flex-a-lite fan conversion
Synthetic Gear Oil in tranny and diffs
DOA racing timing chain and guides(not a performance modd but I did adjust the valves while I was there and noticed a little more low end grunt after)

Just my two cents!!
C-YA!!