So, I recently purchased a 1983 with 140,000 miles and I finally got the numbers on the gas mileage- I am getting 16 mpg on a carborated 4 cyc!! How?? It seems to be running a little rich- but would that give me that kind of mileage... I have 30" inch tires and I am carrying nothing extra in the truck- What should I be looking at in order to improve this. I've noticed a decrease in power recently as well. It is a stock carb- I've ran some carb cleaner through it and have done the spray carb cleaner on all the choke linkage. It just doesn't seem like a normal number for this truck Any suggestions?

 

yeah 16 is on the low side. Tune it up, carb adjust, new plugs wires rotor, fuel filter, air filter.

 

buy a cheap car as a daily driver

 

When my choke wasnt working right i only got 100km to $40. Which is like 8mpg i think... wasnt good

 

I really hope it is something like the choke being closed... Has anyone had any experience with a worn timing chain? I do think the power seems to be decreasing and maybe the gas mileage has decressed. I have only owned this truck a little less than a month and at first I was impressed with the power, but now I find myself going up the hills pretty slow- I wonder if the "newness" has just worn off and I am seeing the issues of the truck or it really is losing power- I thought I got 20+ mpg when I first drove it home from Denver...

 

Stock it should be getting atleast 20-22mpg, All I can suggest is start with the easy things, Make sure your front hubs are unlocked, tire pressure is good, air filter/oil are clean. Next step would be to tune the carb, if thats no help its time to rebuild the carb or get it rebuilt and tuned properly, or replace it with a Weber. Do the timing.. Might even be a good time to do a full tune up. New plugs, wires, oil/filter, fluids(diffs, tranny, t-case, coolant) air filter, new belts, new battery.

 

i was getting 16-20 (too much of the stupid pedal sometimes) with stock carb and new plugs and all the right tune up stuff. i went to a weber and now i get about 21-23 no matter how i drive.

 

good to know- It think I'm going to get a weber- I am doing a full tune up in a couple of days and if that doesn't change it I am going with a weber. A friend of mine complained of the Webers being a little finicky- any thoughts?

 

I have heard they are somewhat hard to tune, it can take a while before you get it right.

 

i have an 83 long bedmy self.tried both stock and weber carbs ,but gas mileage stayed the same.so i decieded to go w/the weber.ALSO 2WDS GET BETTER MILEAGE THAN 4WD.

 

^^ true, I can average 30 mpg with mine

 

the weber wasnt that hard to tune, just takes a good ear. i like it a lot better than stock. as soon as i hit the key it fires right off.

 

Hate to bring a thread from the dead but.

Picked up a 83 trailblazer a few weeks ago its got a weber carb with the electric choke(first carbed rig I have ever drive or worked on), I see were a 12 volt is should hook up. my question is where should get the 12 volt from? Im wonder all this cause on the last two tanks its gotten 11-12 mpg and from reading this that is beyond horrible. I will do a tune up(wires, plugs, etc). But want to get the carb figured out first.

 

i get around 20mpg's on the highway with my '80 (20R rebuilt carb 31" swampers)..i get probably..16-18 in the city...doesnt do too bad...my '86 (22R 4x4 with 28's) gets about 25 on the highway and about 20 in the city...i love it..lol.the '86 doesnt like the 31" swampers to well though..LOL..o well..time to regear

 

how do you guys tune your weber i tuned mine how they tell you with the instructions but doesnt seem to work too good

 

HOW?

I'm running a fresh 20/22r hybrid (268 EB cam, OS valves) in my 77 2wd with the stock (read: low cfm) 20r carb, five speed manual, tall rear tires, drive like an 'old man in a hat' and I STILL can't seem to do better than 24 MPG, and that was on a road trip...while drafting!

 

haven't done highway mileage yet, but around town i'm getting about 18mpg... new toyota carb and 33x12.50's.

Al

 

I have a 83 pickup with a 22R and it has low power but gas mileage is good. Rebuilt the engines 18K miles ago and tuned up recently but still has low power. Had lower power even before I rebuilt. I think it may be time to rebuild the carburator. I have been reading about a Weber carburator. Can anyone tell me where to get one and the model number? Thanks

 

plugs, wires, dist cap and rotor, pcv valve, air filter, sea foam treatment, oil change, should help a lot.
the weber 32/36 reductionized muh gas mileage