96 Lexus Es 300

[aaron.q.wang]

I bought a 96 Es 300 in January. It is a great car with only 40, 000 km. The first owner trade it in for a new Nissan Altima. This ES 300 has been properly maintained by the previous owner. Both the inside and outside appearance are good. Its performance is good too.

After driving this car for more than one month, I am quite satisfied with it except it seems it drinks the gas a lot, almost 22 litres/100 km. Maybe the reason is I drive too short ( less than 1.5 km a full stop). Anyone could give me a idea what is normal usage of gas for 100 km? Thank in advance.

[SKperformance]

400-500 km per tank

read the faq

[aaron.q.wang]

400-500 km per tank

read the faq

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Thanks very much for your reply. I am thinking what I should do to let my lexuse to drink less gas. Somebody told me it is normal if you often drive short trip, plus cold weather and winter tires. Do you think it is the reason in case of my situation?

[SKperformance]

get a motorvac to improve you milage

[aaron.q.wang]

get a motorvac to improve you milage

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Thank you again for your help.

I am a newhand. Could you please tell me what is the motorvac?

By the way, if most of my driving distance is less than 2.5 km, is my gas usage still higher than normal?

[steviej]

short trips (constantly turning car on and off), cold weather and winter tires will decrease your gas mileage a bit, yes.

do a google search on motorvac to learn about the service and find who in your area may perform this specialized service.

several easy things you can do to help improve your mileage is too

1. check you tire pressures. tires lose 1 lb or air for every 10 degree drop in temp. make sure they are all even and between 29-32 lbs depending on your preference.

2. check your air filter, it may be dirty or never replaced.

3. start planning your trips better. short choppy trips kill gas mileage.

steviej

[aaron.q.wang]

Thanks a lot for your help. :D

[branshew]

Are you a delivery driver? Why all the short trips? 5.5 gal/60Mi. is terrible.

In addition to the above mentioned items....

Have you checked to make sure you don't have a leak in your tank or a ruptured fuel line? Do you smell gas around your car?

Do you have a CEL on right now? On occasion a bad O2 sensor, bad MAF sensor, problem w/ Cat Conv. can cause poor mileage. You could be running too lean

[aaron.q.wang]

Are you a delivery driver?  Why all the short trips?  5.5 gal/60Mi. is terrible.

In addition to the above mentioned items....

Have you checked to make sure you don't have a leak in your tank or a ruptured fuel line?  Do you smell gas around your car?

Do you have a CEL on right now?  On occasion a bad O2 sensor, bad MAF sensor, problem w/ Cat Conv. can cause poor mileage.  You could be running too lean

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Thank you for your suggestion. I agree 300 km per tank is a terrible figure and this is why I come here for help.

I am not a delivery driver. But most of my trip is local and less than 2 km. I am not sure is this the reason I got the terrible mileage. I just got the ES 300 one month ago. The dealer told me everything had been checked and all are in good condition. I am sure there is not any leak in my tank, but for the sensors, I have no idea. Could you tell me how to check if there is a problem with such sensors?

[SKperformance]

If you run that little km then your engine never gets warmed up and you are always going to be in cold loop map for the ecu which is very rich and wastes fuel to keep the engine running.

Search for motorvac.

An engine needs to run atleast 20 minutes each time to warm up properly.

[aaron.q.wang]

If you run that little km then your engine never gets warmed up and you are always going to be in cold loop map for the ecu which is very rich and wastes fuel to keep the engine running.

Search for motorvac.

An engine needs to run atleast 20 minutes each time to warm up properly.

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If I warm up my car a little long time can help me save the gas? Normally I will warm up it for 3 to 5 minutes. How long do you guys warm up you lexus every morning in the cold winter?

Another question I want to ask is since I run such little Km so often, is it also harmful for the battery? I am afraid this will short the life of the battery so I seldom use CD and seat heater to save the eletricity. Can anybody tell me if it is silly to do it like this?

[G and C Johnstone]

If I warm up my car a little long time can help me save the gas? Normally I will warm up it for 3 to 5 minutes. How long do you guys warm up you lexus every morning in the cold winter?

Another question I want to ask is since I run such little Km so often, is it also harmful for the battery? I am afraid this will short the life of the battery so I seldom use CD and seat heater to save the eletricity. Can anybody tell me if it is silly to do it like this?

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I think that you could save yourself some worry and a mountain of money if you would fill the tank up yourself and take a trip of a couple of hundred kilometers then fill her up again yourself so that you can work out how much fuel is being used without the many cold starts. Even with your relatively modern engine running cold will use a half as much again as when warmed up. Trying to warm the engine up by idling could be more wasteful than setting it straight to work. If you are unable to get over 8 k per litre on the trip I guess you are needing to find out why.

If the car is able to go better than 8 k per litre it does not need fixing. Your poor ecconomy is all to do with your short runs.

I doubt that the battery will be damaged by your short trips. If the car is a willing starter it would only take a minute to recover from starting: 300 Amps for 5 seconds starting replaced in 60 seconds by 25 amps from the alternator leaving plenty spare for the CD player and electric chair. Your battery probaly finds it harder to sit doing nothing for a couple of weeks than getting to do something every day.

[aaron.q.wang]

I think that you could save yourself some worry and a mountain of money if you would fill the tank up yourself and take a trip of a couple of hundred kilometers then fill her up again yourself so that you can work out how much fuel is being used without the many cold starts. Even with your relatively modern engine running cold will use a half as much again as when warmed up. Trying to warm the engine up by idling could be more wasteful than setting it straight to work. If you are unable to get over 8 k per litre on the trip I guess you are needing to find out why.

If the car is able to go better than 8 k per litre it does not need fixing. Your poor ecconomy is all to do with your short runs.

I doubt that the battery will be damaged by your short trips. If the car is a willing starter it would only take a minute to recover from starting: 300 Amps for 5 seconds starting replaced in 60 seconds by 25 amps from the alternator leaving plenty spare for the CD player and electric chair. Your battery probaly finds it harder to sit doing nothing for a couple of weeks than getting to do something every day.

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Thanks a lot for your answer.

[aaron.q.wang]

I just drove my 96 Lexus Es300 from Montreal to Toronto. On my trip to Toronto, I turned off the AC and cruise with the speed of 75 mile/h, I got the 25mpg. But the way back, I turned on the AC and cruise with the speed of 80 mile/h, I got 29.5 mpg.

It seems strange that with the AC on can save the gas. By the way, on the way to Toronto I use the regular gas 87 of shell and on my way back I use the regular gas 87of ESSO. Is this say the gas from ESSO is better than Shell?

[Lexusfreak]

In addition to the motorvac, are all your tire pressures at the correct psi? They should be around 32 - 34 psi. B) And yes, very short trips are murder on a car, especially the short distance you travel. :( The odd time (every couple weeks) I would suggest to go for a decent highway drive to let the car 'stretch her legs'. B)

[aaron.q.wang]

In addition to the motorvac, are all your tire pressures at the correct psi?  They should be around 32 - 34 psi.  B)  And yes, very short trips are murder on a car, especially the short distance you travel.  :(  The odd time (every couple weeks) I would suggest to go for a decent highway drive to let the car 'stretch her legs'.  B)

 

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I did not do motorvac. The first thing I did is to change my snowtire to all season tire and make the tire pressure 32 psi. The other thing I did is I do not warm up my car more than 30 second. Then I get around 16 mpg. I think the reason is my driving distance is too short and the stop sign is too many in my area.

Summer is coming. I am going to drive out every weekend to stretch my Es300's leg. I am very satisfied whith the 29.5mpg which i got on my trip from Toronto to Montreal.

[Lexusfreak]

You should notice an improvement with the changes you mentioned. B)

[aaron.q.wang]

You should notice an improvement with the changes you mentioned.  B)

 

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:P Yes. There is a big improvement.

I think the reason why on my way to Toronto is 25 mpg and on my way back to montreal is 29.5 mpg is that the ecu of my lexus had been made some change by the 650 km express way driving. In case of the short distance which I daily drive, what you said to stretch the leg is really a good idea. Thanks a lot.