Hello all. I'm fairly new and need some help. I have a 95 4runner 3.0L V6. I am only getting about 200 miles per 15 Gal tank of gas. I have replaced all of the spark plugs, plug wires. distributor cap, and rotor and no noticeable improvement. My engine is making a tapping sound in what seems to be 2 or 3 of the cylinders. SHould I suspect a timing problem? I have no basis for that assumption other than reading someting on it somewhere. How can i improve my gas mileage and is the tapping/pinging a bad sign???

 

That's like 13 mpg.sounds normal to me (in town driving)I'm getting like 11 mpg.On the hiway i got almost 19.

 

Well, for starters the 3.0 engine is notorious for poor fuel economy. There isn't a whole lot you can do to get decent mileage out of it. The best you could hope for around town would be 15mpg. As for pinging, that sounds like the timing might be too advanced. Check the timing with a timing light. If you don't have a timing light, take it to a qualified shop that is familiar with that engine to have it checked. If it's tapping, then the valves might need to be adjusted.

You can run a good fuel system cleaner through it to see if that will help. I highly recommend Redline SI-1. I think it is the best product on the market. It is available at most good performance-oriented auto parts stores. If you can't find it locally, I would suggest getting some through an online retailer.

Hope this helps.
G

 

whens the last time you changed your fuel filter?

 

It's pretty common for me to get 200 miles per tank when commuting. With highway driving a couple of weeks ago I got 250 miles or so on a tank.

The tapping could be the valves. If you're comfortable with tearing into the top of the engine and have the tools, you could adjust them. I'm no engine expert, but I think incorrect timing would cause more knocking than tapping. Do you know if the valves have ever been adjusted? How many miles are on the engine? It's recommended to adjust the valves every 60k miles.

 

I don't know when the fuel filter was last replaced. i thought about doing it but it seems to be pretty difficult for me to do myself. I would definately describr the sound as a tapping more than a pinging. I just bought the truck a month ago. I do know the head gasket was replaced but I dont know what was done with the valves. how much would it run to have them adjusted? Could i do it myself? Thanks for the replies/help.

 

I would say if you're worried about changing the fuel filter yourself, leave the valves to a professional. The valves require a fair amount of work, but are definitely in the realm of a shade tree mechanic. You have to remove the upper air intake plenum to get to the valve covers. If you have all the tools, it will still take you a couple of evenings to do the valve adjustment. I would expect that the dealer will charge approx. $500 for the adjustment, but you should call a couple to see. You might look for a good independent mechanic or a friend with tools and experience.

 

I was having the same problems on my 93 w/ the 3.0 so i did the following:

-oil change
-flush and filled rear diff front diff tranny t case and radiator
-k&n air filter
-slowed down a little (started shifting at 2500 rpm instead of 3000, 5 sp)
-aired up tires to 45 psi
-washed off all excess mud from winter (undercarraige)
-new muffler (i just wanted that though didnt care if it gave me better mpg)

Now im getting about 15.5 in the city and about 17.5 on the highway

-

 

i know i dont have the 3.0, but i measured my mpg's, once when driving my normal, sort-of-aggressive (if youve ever driven in boston, you know its the only way to survive) style and i was getting around 15.5 mpg in the city.

i then started just taking it easy on the pedal, not letting it get above 2500rpms much, and it went up to 16.8 to 17.

highway, ive always gotten 19 to 21.

 

The best way to save the mileage is by not going over 2500 RPM's, just like everyone else said. That has saved me so much gas money lately. I'm getting around 250-260 miles per tank, $25 to fill it up. I'm extremely satisfied with that. I'm saving money to do a fuel injection service and replace that fuel filter. Then maybe I'll get 300 miles a tank. Maybe.

 

Auto-Rx has helped my gas mileage.
I have increased my average tank mileage to 240 city/285 hwy.
I was getting on average 215 city/240 hwy.
Average fill up around 16 gallons.

 

If it's like a ticking it's normal. Most of the 3.0's do it.

 

I have a 97 with the 3.4 and a 5 speed. Unless I go like 50 mph on the freeway, I can't keep my rpm's around 2500. At highway speeds, even going the speed limit, (65 here in CA), my rpm's in 5th are about 3000. (Don't know the exact number, but it's up around there).

That always seemed high to me, but I guess it's normal. I believe I'm running 3.91 gears with my 225 tires and 5 speed manual.

 

Mine gets about 12-13 mpg but I have 33's and stock gearing.

 

13 actually sounds pretty good unfortunately. I get about 13 or 14 depending on how I drive and I've got 33's so I think you're doing ok. You can try the fuel filter, I did it and it helped some, check the TPS, replace the 02 sensor, fuel system cleaner is a MUST...I still do that every 3-3500 miles and it works every time. You MIGHT need a valve adjustment...I've heard mixed reviews about those so I dunno if there worth anything or not...mine makes a lotta different noises and I've just learned to deal with em.

But I still love my runner!!!!

Fink

 

A lot of different noises?

That about sums me up as well.

 

lol mine makes all kinds of noises, BTW what do I need to do to fix a squeeky suspension

 

Yeah, I get like 190-220 miles per tank depending on how heavy my foot is...

Such is the life of a 2nd gen...

 

The 3.0l V6 engine is notoriously weak and not particularly thrifty. It's great weakness is poor torque. IIRC from the original sales brochure, it only has about 5lb/ft more peak torque at a higher rpm than the same gen. I4 engine. All of which means it is particularly susceptible to intake restrictions. The net results are:

1) Change your air filter! O.K., if you're still running the paper elements like I am, then take it out at least every 3k miles and clean it off; if you've got an air compressor, than blowing thru backwards with an air nozzle [don't get too aggressive, just keep the tip a couple inches away] or at the very least, banging it on the ground to knock the loose dirt off the "out" side of it will provide noticeable improvements. And with the paper element, any time you feel like the motor is behaving particularly doggy, just replace it. 9 times out of 10, you'll notice an immediate improvement in performance and more particularly, mileage.

2) Keep your foot out of the engine! The 3.0 V6 has it's torque peak right at 3.2k rpm; you can both feel & hear this, since right around 2.8k rpm the intake starts making some raspy sounds and the engine feels a little "buzzy." That's the intake harmonics starting to kick in as the engine comes on the pipe. Easy throttle with this engine will actually get you there faster, at least until the engine is perking along. Basically, the intake can't overcome the screwed-up exhaust Toyota saddled us with until the engine is spinning a certain speed. [Note: for those of us who grew up in the age of carbeurators, there was a thing known as a vacuum meter. If you installed & drove by one of these, maximizing vacuum at all times by judicious application of the throttle, you got the best mileage. The same rules apply to EFI cars, but everyone seems to have forgotten about this since the ECUs do such a good job of fuel mixing at extreme throttle openings...]

3) If you've got to make maximum forward motion, don't bother mashing the skinny pedal until you've hit 3k on the tach, since it won't make you accelerate any faster until the engine is perking. But once the engine is woken up, all your power is up around 4k-5k rpm, so don't shift until the tach is hitting 4500. Power drops off quickly after that, altho' redline isn't 'til 5700 rpm, iirc. [Too lazy to run out & look at the tach.] Oddly enough, the driveline engineers at Toyota apparently knew the limitations of the motor fairly well, since if you shift at 4.5k, the next gear will have the engine pulling 3k or more [meaning you don't fall out of the powerband.]

4) Row that gearbox to keep your engine rpms at or above that critical 2.8k rpms. You can actually see the importance of this on a level cruise on the highway, as you will need more throttle to get the engine up to 3k rpm in top gear, and then you'll suddenly be able to let off (slightly) without a corresponding drop in speed & rpm. You just broke thru the wall to better mileage!

5) All of you drivers who didn't shell out for the SR/5 model & don't have a tachometer, get one! It'll really help.

Using these rules which I've sorted out for myself over the past 10 years & 140k miles of ownership, I avg. 18 mpg combined city/hwy mileage. There's basically nothing you can do to get better than 15mpg city, so avoid stop'n'go traffic like the plague it is! Going 5 miles out of your way if it means cruising at a steady 45-65mph vs. hitting a bunch of traffic lights at 35mph is well worth your time & odometer! BTW, the head gasket replaced under recall stole some compression points: before that was done, I was able to net 22mpg on highway-only mileage. The best after the recall has been 20mpg. Just a little lost performance there, eh?

 

yeah, sadly everyone is right about the 3VZ-E having poor fuel economy. I decided to do some searching and fueleconomy.gov gives statistics from cars back to 1985. go to find and compare cars and you will see that most of the '88 to mid '90's 4Runners get pretty bad mileage. I figured I might as well get a locomotive instead of my 1993 3.0L. It gets about 12mpg city.