wesleyn

Hey guys, I have a 02 auto Gt that is getting some poor gas mileage. It seems to be around 10-12 mpg mixed city and highway, and around 15 on the highway. I removed the programming from the spuerchips tuner, and cleaned the maf sensor. The car only has 46,000 miles on it. I baby this thing, and the mileage is horrible. The only mod that I have is a BBK cai which should not hurt. Any ideas on things to check or do to improve my mileage a little? Thanks in advance.

945LSTANG

do you have a lead foot?

driving habits can have a pretty big effect on gas mileage.

defconfire

I don't think a led foot would explain 15 mpg on the highway. try changing sparkplugs, fuel filter, and maybe cleaning your intake filter.

wesleyn

What is the intake screen? I am not a leadfoot. I drive very reasonably in this car. It should not need plugs yet. They look almost new and they are the OEM motorcrafts. They only have 46,000 on them. Would the fuel filter affect economy? Thanks for the replies!

defconfire

Fuel filter can definitely affect economy.

The intake screen is a little steel mesh circle that is in front of the MAF. there has been alot of controversy about weather or not to take it out when you install a new intake.

But Cliffyk, another member on these forums, actually did his homework one day and figured that it will not hurt airflow and it is only there to help your MAF get a more accurate reading.

wesleyn

I do not have that screen. Someone else before me must have decided to remove it. The fuel filter is more than likely OEM as everything else including the trans fluid was when I got the car 6 months ago. So so far I am going to change the fuel filter. Any other suggestions? Thanks!

Evenexchange

Autos are horrible on gas mileage.. but throw some Lucas FI cleaner in your gas tank on your next fill-up.

pete1665

you say that like its only a weekend's worth of driving. If they are in fact the factory plugs then they are 6 years old. I don't care WHAT they're made of, 46,000 miles is a lot. Plugs are cheap and when you are chasing something like fuel economy, you start simple like fuel/air filters and plugs.

Other things such as 02 sensors, bad/inaccurate MAF, dragging brakes, vacuum leaks, blow-by etc are possible as well but nobody here can tell you for sure.

tbirdscwd

like stated above, start with the simple stuff. Air filter, fuel filter, plugs, you might also want to think about servicing your auto.

Kdaddy

When you say servicing your auto what exactly do you mean?