catt14 Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 Eleven months ago I bought my first lexus. It's a 92 LS400 and had 208K miles. I was impressed by the good mileage I was getting, about 23-24 all city driving. Throughout the winter however I noticed a decrease to about 17mpg. This wasn't a gradual decrease, I just happened to notice that was the best I was getting. With the changes in temp. very cold here often zero degrees and colder, using the auto start on the coldest days, and driving on winter tires....could this have caused my drop in mileage? Talked with mechanic today during oil change and had the air filter changed then added fuel system cleaner. Along with with these changes and warmer temps in the coming weeks I'm hoping this will help bring my mileage back up. My next step I guess would be to change the fuel filter. Now here's my question. Where exactly is the fuel filter on a 92 LS400? Someone once told me it was in the gas tank....which would be quite spendy. I'm hoping I was misinformed but if that's the case I need to budget accordingly for this next repair. I've seen lots of post of fuel filters, but never one for the 92. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyofOne Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 Eleven months ago I bought my first lexus. It's a 92 LS400 and had 208K miles. I was impressed by the good mileage I was getting, about 23-24 all city driving. Throughout the winter however I noticed a decrease to about 17mpg. This wasn't a gradual decrease, I just happened to notice that was the best I was getting. With the changes in temp. very cold here often zero degrees and colder, using the auto start on the coldest days, and driving on winter tires....could this have caused my drop in mileage? Talked with mechanic today during oil change and had the air filter changed then added fuel system cleaner. Along with with these changes and warmer temps in the coming weeks I'm hoping this will help bring my mileage back up. My next step I guess would be to change the fuel filter. Now here's my question. Where exactly is the fuel filter on a 92 LS400? Someone once told me it was in the gas tank....which would be quite spendy. I'm hoping I was misinformed but if that's the case I need to budget accordingly for this next repair. I've seen lots of post of fuel filters, but never one for the 92. ← on an ES, i could tell you where the filter is, but on an LS, im the worng person. i do know it not in the gas tank though. as for your drop in mileage, check your tire pressure. believe it or not, that has alot to do with fuel mileage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexls Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 The fuel filter is on the driver's side in front of the rear wheel, it's under a metal cover: http://www.lexls.com/fuelfilter.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
914lps Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 How many miles from the last tune up, and what type of plugs were used?.... But I would agree with the tire thing, and the air cleaner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovlex Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 are up sure you had the mpg figured out correctly when it was warm? i have never known a 92 ls to get that good of mpg in the city, driving in any kind of weather. 17 in the city, in the winter, sounds excellent to me. i don't think the car was rated much more than that for city driving when it was new Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenmore Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 I agree. If I got mileage like that I think I'd faint. I only get lo-mid teens in the city with a 1990 with 138k. glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE are up sure you had the mpg figured out correctly when it was warm? i have never known a 92 ls to get that good of mpg in the city, driving in any kind of weather. 17 in the city, in the winter, sounds excellent to me. i don't think the car was rated much more than that for city driving when it was new ← Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990LS400 Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 I drove a 90 LS through 13 winters (to 183,000 miles) and 17 mpg sounds quite good for winter/city driving. The later LS400's with 5-speed automatic transmissions get a bit better mileage. I think the best highway mpg I ever got on my 4-speed 90 was about 24.5. On my 5-speed 00 LS, tank mpg has exceeded 29 mpg more than once although this was done by setting the cruise on 65 mph and driving very conservatively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catt14 Posted March 9, 2005 Author Share Posted March 9, 2005 Yes I'm sure I figured my mileage correctly. Was getting over 400 miles on a tank and pumped between 17-18 gal. when next filled her up. Seems from all of your feedback that I'm doing just fine for the winter months and once it warms up and I get my summer tires back on I should back up to the low to mid 20's. If not, I will look into having the fuel filter changed, as I don't know when/if it was ever done. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92Lex Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 Your fuel filter isn't going to cause you to get poor gas mileage. It's more likely that your gas mileage decrease would be because of a bad O2 sensor. The colder the air the richer your car runs = decrease in MPG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Lex Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 Eleven months ago I bought my first lexus. It's a 92 LS400 and had 208K miles. I was impressed by the good mileage I was getting, about 23-24 all city driving. Throughout the winter however I noticed a decrease to about 17mpg. This wasn't a gradual decrease, I just happened to notice that was the best I was getting. With the changes in temp. very cold here often zero degrees and colder, using the auto start on the coldest days, and driving on winter tires....could this have caused my drop in mileage? Talked with mechanic today during oil change and had the air filter changed then added fuel system cleaner. Along with with these changes and warmer temps in the coming weeks I'm hoping this will help bring my mileage back up. My next step I guess would be to change the fuel filter. Now here's my question. Where exactly is the fuel filter on a 92 LS400? Someone once told me it was in the gas tank....which would be quite spendy. I'm hoping I was misinformed but if that's the case I need to budget accordingly for this next repair. I've seen lots of post of fuel filters, but never one for the 92. ← Winter tires probably have more rolling resistance than summer tires. Warming your car up in the winter takes longer especially when you want the cars interior toasty warm. autostart+10min. warm up . burning gas going nowhere is bound to drop mpg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMF Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 your fule filter can and will affect your mileage and you should change it with the OEM filter which is around 25$ at the dealer, the filter is located next to your rear differential and its really hard to change without the lift. i would recommend going to mechanic to change iit. this way you will save yourself some time and prevent gas getting into your eyes. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexus ls430 Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 i would take it to the dealer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blake918 Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 On my 5-speed 00 LS, tank mpg has exceeded 29 mpg more than once although this was done by setting the cruise on 65 mph and driving very conservatively. ← Driving conservatively is the only way to go. Year round I get 20/26 mpg in my old, high mile '95 because I accelerate very slowly and use nothing but cruise control on the freeway. These cars get as little or as much fuel econ as you decide(so long as they are in good repair). i would take it to the dealer ← Not if you want the fuel filter changed; two of the three dealers in Louisiana wouldn't change the fuel filter on my '95-it's "lieftime." Nothing was wrong with it; I wanted it done just because. BTW, where is Ramrat, TX? I can't seem to find it on MapQuest, google, Lexus.com etc. <_< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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