Extremely Bad Gas Milage (rx330)

[Rx330driver]

Recently with the growth rate of gas prices, here more than 3 dollars, ive been watching my trip info computer more often, and i get a combined highway and city driving of about 12-13 mpg. I know that even for an SUV, this is ridiculously low, and im not that much of a sporty driver. Do these numbers sound right? I keep my car up to date at lexus dealerships every 5K miles, so i know it cantbe tire pressure...but is there something wrong with my gas guzzler :whistles:

[EdS]

Tire Pressure and alignment are the first two things that come to mind.

How about your air filter? Have you changed it recently? If you have driven in dusty areas (like where there is a lot of construction) it can clog up pretty quickly.

In addition, my RX300's A/C turns on by default when you use the auto climate control. If the RX330 is the same, you could try turning the A/C off if it's not needed.

[Rx330driver]

as a matter of fact, yes, it was changed at my last lexus visit. I heard these cars are really hard to align properly and that even lexus workers have a hard time. could somebody have screwed up my car? lol

[EdS]

You'll know if your alignment is out if your car is pulling to one side and/or if your tires are wearing abnormally.

Frankly, if someone changes the oil in my car (which is rare since I usually do it myself) one of the first things I do when I get home is pull the dipstick to be sure it was actually done, and it was filled to the proper level. It might not hurt to pull the air filter just to be sure someone didn't forget about it.

[TunedRX300]

What kind of tire you have, happen to know how much each weight?

[Rx330driver]

this is my second set of stock tires (changed once at 30K miles), the eagle good year tires...i believe tire pressure whould be at 33 year round

[Booyah]

Somthing doesnt sound right! our 04 gets 16-17 around town with no highway driving and I dont baby it that much. Are your trips really short or do you let the car idle a long time before you drive it from the house?

Also with the auto climate control in Auto the AC is always on. I still use auto but then I go into the climate feature and cut off the AC.

[stonecutter]

Another culprit may be the trip computer itself, try calculating a tank by hand to see if you are really getting such poor gas mileage. Even in hilly terrain, low teens for combined mpg is too low to be normal.

[mikern10]

I am getting 19-21 around town with an AWD 2004 330. I would have that car at my Lexus dealer PRONTO!

[Rx330driver]

i will check all those things and bring it up on my next visit. I dont usually have the AC on cause its not that hot in San Fran right now, and i dont take short trips either. weird

[Booyah]

Living in CA--thats it right there..LOL 0-100 STOP/ 0-100 Stop/ 0-100 Stop

Do a caculation by hand as well like said above, the computer may be off ALOT but I doubt it--how many miles are you getting to a tank of gas--until the light comes on? I can get around 260-270 city driving and mine is the AWD too, I forgot to mention that before

[TunedRX300]

I would check the MAF sensor and see whether it is dirty. Bad sensor will report improper inlet air temperature and flow. You don't need to change it if it is dirty, just use carb cleaner to blast dirt buildup away. It also does not hurt to make sure fuel injectors are cleaned by throwing a bottle of Techron into the tank the next time you fill it up.

[cardona6569]

I would reset the MPG meter. Then observe what it reads. Change air filter, put a good injector cleaner like Seafoam or B-12 Chemtool in the gas tank, follow instructions on the bottle. In last place I would take it to an electro mechanic to have the O2 sensors check for conductivity, they may have gone bad but just a little less than necessary to activate the Check Engine or Service Engine Soon light, but they may be out of specifications. Also make sure you use premium fuel as recommended by Lexus to get better MPG. Texaco is one of the cleanest gas since it has additives to clean the system also, Amoco is very good gas. But you need to try them and see yourself and so forth with any other brands available in your area as long as you put premium.

C. PR

[mixd]

Before you go on a long trip, fill up your car all the way and note the odometer. Stop filling at the click. Then when you fil up again, note the odometer, fill it up to the click, and note the number of gallons you put in.

(odometer2 - odometer1) / gallons = true MPG

I know this is totally simple and obvious, but it will let you know if its your car or the electronics.

[Rx330driver]

i will make sure to do that. I only use premium fuel from Chevron anyways so i know im getting the right gas.

One of my biggest pet peeves is refueling at half a tank...so i guess im just gonna have to bite the bullet and wait for that yellow light. eek.

[cardona6569]

Another thing you might want to consider is replacing the gasket on the gas cap, if it is bad it will evaporate a lot of fuel when parked.

C. PR

i will make sure to do that. I only use premium fuel from Chevron anyways so i know im getting the right gas.

One of my biggest pet peeves is refueling at half a tank...so i guess im just gonna have to bite the bullet and wait for that yellow light. eek.

[monarch]

If your car was really getting only 12-13 MPG, your tailpipe emissions would soar and your check engine light would come on.

[Grumpa72]

Another culprit may be the trip computer itself, try calculating a tank by hand to see if you are really getting such poor gas mileage. Even in hilly terrain, low teens for combined mpg is too low to be normal.

That was my first idea. Fill you tank and divide the number of miles driven by the number of gallons. Computers lie, facts don't!

Gary

[LEXIRX330]

Living in CA--thats it right there..LOL 0-100 STOP/ 0-100 Stop/ 0-100 Stop

Do a caculation by hand as well like said above, the computer may be off ALOT but I doubt it--how many miles are you getting to a tank of gas--until the light comes on? I can get around 260-270 city driving and mine is the AWD too, I forgot to mention that before

I do a combo of city and hwy. I avg around 21-23 mpg. I also have 2004 AWD. I do not baby my RX at all...

I would check the figures by hand as well. The gas cap idea is a good one. I think that I am going to check that on my JEEP...

How many miles on your RX? Are you pulling a boat?

Good luck...let us know what it was!

[lexus411]

tough to figure out that way because there is a reserve tank. So unless its runs out of gas you cant be sure you used all 19.2 gallons

[TunedRX300]

tough to figure out that way because there is a reserve tank. So unless its runs out of gas you cant be sure you used all 19.2 gallons

Just look at the receipt at the gas station, it tells you how many gallons you used. If one does not reset at the last fill-up, just sum up # of gallons from previous receipt(s). There is no need to climb inside the gas tank and measure

[Rx330driver]

If your car was really getting only 12-13 MPG, your tailpipe emissions would soar and your check engine light would come on.

not true, there is a gas station near a series if hills which i drive on to get to work. I got some gas yesterday, went up those hills, and averaged 7.1 mpg. So when is that light gonna come on at the top of the hills is where i work. I understand how it computes your mpg very quickly after you fill up, but still...

[cardona6569]

Hello:

Where I live there are a lot of hills and mountains. In those places getting 7-12 MPG is OK, the mileage is computed in flat terrain not in hilly ones. If everything else fails to improve the MPG it just maybe but maybe, the best it will get you given the hills you need to climb. But as always need to check all possible solutions.

C. PR

If your car was really getting only 12-13 MPG, your tailpipe emissions would soar and your check engine light would come on.

not true, there is a gas station near a series if hills which i drive on to get to work. I got some gas yesterday, went up those hills, and averaged 7.1 mpg. So when is that light gonna come on at the top of the hills is where i work. I understand how it computes your mpg very quickly after you fill up, but still...

[Rx330driver]

yes i understand it will obviosly be lower on hills...but i was just telling monarch that the check engine light will not come on if the mpg was low enough. On flat terain, well roughly flat terrain , i still get 12-13

[stonecutter]

yes i understand it will obviosly be lower on hills...but i was just telling monarch that the check engine light will not come on if the mpg was low enough. On flat terain, well roughly flat terrain , i still get 12-13

I don't think this has been mentioned thus far, and I don't really know if it is good advice, but for older cars at least, it was considered good practice to take a long hwy drive once in a while to "burn off carbon build-up". Sounds like you do a lot of city/hilly driving, so maybe a long drive on a flat hwy occasionally might help.