improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

I was wondering if any of you owners know how to inprove gas milage on my '04 tacoma 4cyl,automatic. It does good to get 18mpg.



any help would be appreciated,

i_fish

Reply 1 : improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

Regular maintenance like plugs, filters, synthetic fluids will help with mileage. Driving like a grandmother will also help too.

Reply 2 : improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

Quote:

Originally Posted by i_fish I was wondering if any of you owners know how to inprove gas milage on my '04 tacoma 4cyl,automatic. It does good to get 18mpg. any help would be appreciated, i_fish

Dont drive it lol sounds pretty bad for a 4 banger, new plugs,new air filter,synthetic oils,change out the auto tranny fluid(pan drain) T-IV fluid required I think 4qts. Git ir done

Reply 3 : improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

I drive in economy mode most of the time, as you said like a grandma. I keep filters changed,plugs, run a little higher tire pressure,last oil change went to Mobil 1 extended milage 0 W 30 synthetic. I am however running 31.1050 tires on alloy wheels

I'm open to any ideas.



i_fish

Reply 4 : improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

Quote:

Originally Posted by i_fish I was wondering if any of you owners know how to inprove gas milage on my '04 tacoma 4cyl,automatic. It does good to get 18mpg. any help would be appreciated, i_fish

I've got the same truck as you and at one time was getting 25mpg on the hwy, and 20mpg in town; but that was before replacing the oem rugged trails with BFG all terrains and adding an ARE MX cap. now I'm down to 21 hwy and 17 in town.



BTW, are you running mud terrain tires on those rims? That will run down your gas mileage. (Had a 1980 Hilux with 33x12.5's and was lucky to get 16mpg on the hwy going down hill.)

Reply 5 : improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

the worst mileage with my 1999 2.4 automatic 2wd standard cab is 20mpg (unless i'm towing). usual average has been 24-25. i don't do anything special...

Reply 6 : improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

that seems a little low for a 4-banger. I have a V6 extra cab with a shell and a 2" lift and still get 17-18 on the freeway. I would try some of the recomended maintenance of plugs, air filter etc.

Reply 7 : improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

04SR5, I'm running Michelin LTX M/S tires @ 38psi. I have a Dodge Ram 1500 with 5.7L & get 14 in the city if I take it very easy. I have an extended warranty. Do you think the dealer would cover this problem?



Thanks

Reply 8 : improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

MPG suffers when the weather goes below freezing, and the fact you are using fuel that has a 10% ethanol addition. This ethanol based fuel has bad

effects on 4 cycle and 2 Cycle small engines. Time will show what the bad

effect will be for our 4 and 6 cylinder Tacoma motors. Thank the federal

government for your loss of Miles Per Gallon.

Reply 9 : improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

between the tires, the cold and the ethanol.....that would be the reason for it right there

Reply 10 : improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

In my 04 V6 4x4 TRD, I average 18 to 22 MPG; rarely ever over that carrying no load other than me & fuel. The ethanol really doesn't help either, preethanol gas let me get 25 MPG on trips, but those days are gone for a while.

Reply 11 : improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

I'm thinking about putting up a sail.....

Reply 12 : improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

I have an '04 Tacoma with the 4 cyl. motor - automatic transmission.



Get 22-26 mpg. Use 87 octane



Worse in winter; better in summer.



Truck has original Firestone Wilderness tires.



Odometer - 60K

Reply 13 : improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

I have a '99 2.7, large tires, and a fiberglass camper. I haven't checked the mpg since the camper but it was around the 16 mpg mark, where ever. I had a coworker once with a 2001 4x4 v6, and he got much better milage. The 4 cyl is underpowered for the 4x4s. I had a bossman with an f-250 4x4 king ranch. He got a programmer and got better mileage than my little tacoma did. Go figure. Your mileage sounds about right.

Reply 14 : improving fuel economy on '04 tacoma

I'd been getting 17-18 mpg on my 67,000 mile '04 3.4 DC where before ethanol (B.E.) I was getting an honest hypermiler 23 mpg. I did the airbox mod and removed my intake hose muffler and J-trap last week, and I DEFINATELY have more power and am using less gas. When I fill up tomorrow, I'll have some solid numbers for the first time since.

If there's an improvement, I'm going to drive enough to establish a steady mpg reading, and then go back to using acetone in the fuel, experimenting, like I did B.E. That's what got me up to the 23 mpg before. 3 oz per 10 gallon. Has to be 100% pure beauty supply shop acetone, not Wal-Mart or Home Depot which has additives.

I've got full driveline synthetics and a K&N drop-filter (1mpg increase on the filter), and I've played with my tire pressure up and down, but it hasn't really affected anything much. I like having the extra grip at factory psi rather than wearing out the center of my tread at 44psi.

By the way, that max psi isn't for driving...it's for seating the tire. Always go by your door markings if you're worried about safety.