my 3.8L camaro has horrible mileage: 150 miles full tank

[camaro freek]

Can anyone, please help me out with my car. It seems that my car goes 150 miles full tank, and its not a Z28. My car is a 1995 Chevy Camaro RS 3.8L. Please HHHHHEEEEELLLLLPPPP MEEEEEEEEEEE!

[silvachris1]

Hate to say it and sound stupid, but do you have any brake troubles. My front discs were warping alot and I don't ride them or anything. Finally when I went to replace my break pads, I noticed that I could barely turn the tire one whole rotation. The hoses were holding the calipers too tight, wearing out the pads and wapring the discs from the constant heat. When I replaced the brake hoses, and the calipers freed up, I got about 5 MPG more. If this is part of your problem, you should still seek other advice, because 150 is low. Maybe you should try to keep the RPMs low, it's a challenge, I know. Try to keep them below 2200, then check your mileage.

[ January 04, 2003: Message edited by: silvachris1 ]</p>

[CHRISB]

Check your spark plugs. I just decided to check mine last week and broke 2 of them because they were so rusted in the holes. I was just taking them out to see how the car was running. The back cover of my Hayne's manual has pictures of different spark plug conditions and causes. Well I had to buy new ones since I broke two :( . I checked the gap on the old ones and they were all over :eek: . They are supposed to be .045" on a 3.4L, but they were at .05-.055". I had just AC Delco standards. I bought Autolite Platinum and gapped them at .045". The car runs smoother and the gas mileage increased dramatically :D .

I had been getting poor mileage also, about 200-250 miles per tank :mad: . Still on my first tank with the new plugs. The guage is still on full at 90 miles driving.

If the plugs are gapped wrong, they don't ignite enough fuel to power the car. This causes the engine to use more gas to do the same amount of work.

Try it!

[97chevycamaro]

Thats supposed to be bad? Ive always got that, but I have a heavy foot. You have a 95 3.8Lt? God I want one of those.

[fozzy72]

As far as spark plugs go do not spend the extra money on platnum plugs.... With those plugs they are just coated not all pltnum just go cheap on the plugs... Check wires too as well Some times spark plug wires go bad in the inside might look good on out side but inside might be bad.... I do highly agree with the gapping if the gab if off will have a big effect on ingine.... Is your car seem like its iddling high or low?

[Jerriko]

Yes, check the plugs and wires but don't forget the rest of the ignition system. I had horrible mileage. It originally was 350 miles per tank (a lot of highway mileage) but it steadily dropped over the period of a year to 160 miles per tank. You could watch the gas dripping out of the exhaust. The problem turned out to be the ignition coil. It had an internal short which cut the outgoing voltage. Using a multimeter, you can read the resistance values of the primary and secondary and that would tell you if that is the problem. Remember to check your cap and rotor before you worry about the coil though.
Jim

[CHRISB]

Well it has been a week and my mileage didn't improve one damn bit :mad: :mad: :mad: . Still just barely hit the 230 mile mark on a full tank. WTF??? The piston seals must be going and extremly worn. I am so freakin tired of this crap with my car. It runs smoother. And the fuel guage did gain alot of accuracy. Before it used to go from full to empty in larger jumps. And as soon as it started going below a 1/4, it dropped strait to E. Now it is constant and more accurate. But what about mileage???

I'm loosing my F*CKING mind [img]graemlins/fluffy.gif[/img] .

[Only4U]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by CHRISB:
Still just barely hit the 230 mile mark on a full tank. <hr></blockquote>

230 is about normal man, for city mileage anyway...

[ December 19, 2002: Message edited by: Only4U ]</p>

[Jerriko]

What is the mileage of the car? Some other things you may want to check:
-Fuel pressure
-Rear end grease
-Tranny fluid
-Motor oil
-Fuel filter
-Fuel injectors (if you have a multimeter, measure the combined resistance of each bank)

Let us know,
Jim

[12secondv6]

Tune up
Plugs
wires
fuel filter
pcv valve
oil change
tranny fluid change
rear fluid change
injectors pressure tested
tire psi
coils

[Dominic]

When you say to the tank how many gallons are you talking? I fill mine at the quarter mark which is 10-12 gallons... at 230 miles it would be 23-19mpg depending on the reading at the pump... which would be perfectly normal given I have a fairly heavy foot [img]smile.gif[/img]

[CHRISB]

1. Full tank means 15.5 gallons.
2. Just changed oil, tranny, rear end fluids
about a month ago.
3. I am complaining because for some
of you 230miles/tank is good, but
I used to get over 300 when I first got the
car. Usually between 300-350, depending
on weight of foot that week ;) .
230 miles is about 14 mpg, while 300+ is over 19 mpg. I haven't changed the fuel filter in a year and I could possibly try testing the coils and injectors. I don't know how to do this though. Could anyone fill me in????

[ December 20, 2002: Message edited by: CHRISB ]</p>

[Clayton]

Wow! I thought it was bad when I was only getting 250 a tank. If no one else mentioned it, check your air filter, my mileage increased greatly after i installed a new air filter (previous owner had no idea how to maintain a car)

[zlightning]

if one of the things mentioned before wasn't the answer maybe try cleaning intake, and fuel injectors

[ljotto1]

I have a 98 and I have never gotten over 160 per tank.