ThuyNguyen Posted November 11, 2007 Posted November 11, 2007 i have a high mileage (170k) es 300. it drives smooth and strong, but in city driving, gets about 15 mpg. is this normal? on highway, it gets about 26 mpg, which i have no problem with. if anyone knows anything about it, please let me know!
SW03ES Posted November 11, 2007 Posted November 11, 2007 I get about 17 in the city. Do you know if the spark plugs have ever been replaced and if the 90k maintenance was done? At 170k its coming up on needing it again anyways.
drivingmissdaisy Posted January 1, 2008 Posted January 1, 2008 I just bought a 1997 ES 300 and after putting on 2000 mostly highway miles, I range from 26-28MPG. One trip I made exclusively on hwy miles and reached 29mpg. The car has 129,000 miles on odometer. Keep in mind I really do "Drive like Miss Daisy" to maximize mileage and rarely exceed 60mph/97kph. I even go to the extent of driving a little slower than traffic in city so that cars will get ahead of me and trip the next traffic light sensor, in time so that I don't have to slow down significantly or stop. The one-owner car was sold to me with the original sticker showing city/hwy of 19/26, so I feel pretty good about the mileage. I do live in the Seattle/Tacoma area, so rarely need to use the air conditioning. I also very rarely am involved with stop/go traffic on the highway. Filling the tank when it reaches 1/4 on the guage, equates to about 350 miles between fillups. At this time in late 2007, this is about $40 per 3/4 tank fill. The tank holds 18.5 gallons, so holding out 1.5 gallons reserve, I suppose I have an effective range of about 500 miles if I was only running highway miles on a roadtrip (I would never let the tank go that low though). I use only regular unleaded fuel at Costco (the car runs flawlessly on this), personally considering premium to be a waste of money. But if someone has ran some testing on the differences in their own vehicle, I'd be interested to know if the fuel mileage was really improved enough to pay for the difference. I would also be interested in finding out what other ES 300 owners have been getting for mileage. Any other "drivinglikemissdaisy" drivers out there?
mburnickas Posted January 1, 2008 Posted January 1, 2008 I have a 1998 ES300: 120K miles Just drove 2,000 miles with over 400 lbs in car. Speedo was crused at 75 to 80 for the trip. I got between 32.75 to 34 MPG on the highway using 87. I only used Fuel Power PLus (FP+) for gas add, Lube Control (LC20) in oil and Amsoil 0w-20 engine oil. Engines runs the best it has using the above. Last time, same trip not using Fuel Power nor LC20 (same weight [400] in car though) and Amsoil 5w-30 I got 29 to 31 MPG on same trip. City driving I get 21.5 to almost 25. Depends on the mood I am in. Thu-check tire PSI, plugs as SW stated, air filter, run some gas cleaner in it since if never done it is bad. Also have you cleaned the engine (internal) ever? IF not, I advise you do you LC20 in the oil. My testing house advised me to use it and it made a huge diff. Cleaned up internals nice (ring packs, varnish, carbon etc).
cp6689 Posted January 3, 2008 Posted January 3, 2008 I have a 1998 ES300: 120K milesJust drove 2,000 miles with over 400 lbs in car. Speedo was crused at 75 to 80 for the trip. I got between 32.75 to 34 MPG on the highway using 87. I only used Fuel Power PLus (FP+) for gas add, Lube Control (LC20) in oil and Amsoil 0w-20 engine oil. Engines runs the best it has using the above. Last time, same trip not using Fuel Power nor LC20 (same weight [400] in car though) and Amsoil 5w-30 I got 29 to 31 MPG on same trip. City driving I get 21.5 to almost 25. Depends on the mood I am in. Thu-check tire PSI, plugs as SW stated, air filter, run some gas cleaner in it since if never done it is bad. Also have you cleaned the engine (internal) ever? IF not, I advise you do you LC20 in the oil. My testing house advised me to use it and it made a huge diff. Cleaned up internals nice (ring packs, varnish, carbon etc). mburnickas, Please explain a bit more on "clean the engine (internal)". My '01 ES (only 52K miles so far) gets only 10.5 mpg last month! I went 2 garages that were highly rated by cartalk's "find a mechanic" but they found nothing. I will try to change plugs myself now since this issue with 2 garage visits have already cost me over $300 and no fix. Please help! Thanks.
mburnickas Posted January 3, 2008 Posted January 3, 2008 Unless something is really new in 2001, I can change my plugs in my 98 in 20 minutes. Lastly, cleaning the engine is just that. Over time it WILL get dirty and things start to hit mpg. I am not saying this will solve the issues but it will help. Your pistons gets dirty, ring packs etc. I use Lc20 in the oil. IF the engine is dirty, after putting Lc20 in, if will turn oil black. You can also use other engine flushes too. Up to you just state one I like, CS is great, no BS owners with attitudes, UOA house likes it and it is safer then some others. What I would do is check the things I noted before and then I would hook up to OBD2 reader and see levels in proper area (fuel trims etc). I have never EVER gotten below 19 on my car. If I did, I would just get an SUV for that hit in MPG!
cp6689 Posted January 4, 2008 Posted January 4, 2008 10.5?!?!? Somethings got to be wrong... Odd, isn't it? I even looked the ground where I parked and see no leaking either.
mburnickas Posted January 5, 2008 Posted January 5, 2008 I think it is mech or elec related. Is the tailpipe black?
mburnickas Posted January 6, 2008 Posted January 6, 2008 Still thinking for ya. PLugged cat? Bad MAF sensor? Bad O2 sesnor? Vac leaks? ECM bad? .........
cp6689 Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 Still thinking for ya. PLugged cat? Bad MAF sensor? Bad O2 sesnor? Vac leaks? ECM bad? ......... Sorry for visiting the forum not as frequent as I wanna to. And million thanks for people's warm hearts here and trying to trouble shooting for my poor car. We now avoiding using ES as much as possible :( . However, more useless garage visits adds up the cost quick, may be even quicker than the extra gas we have to buy! And yeah, I can get a SUV and that kind of MPG here. I do recall 3 things may be related this Winter: 1) Around Thanksgiving I was in NJ and I parked outside, the weather is at or below freezing one day morning. I started the engine fine with first attempt but the ABS light did not go off until 15 minutes later. 2) 10 days later the "Trac Off" and "Check Engine" light went up together and stayed on for 2 days. I re-tightened the fuel tank cap and went parts store testing using an OBDII reader. The code is "P0440 - EVAP emission control system malfunction". I mentioned this to both garages I sent my car to (warning lights were already off by themselves) and they said that nothing wrong. 3) I noticed that my Hi-beam is burnt out 2 weeks ago (maybe even earlier), I replaced all Low and Hi beams with Sylvania's "SilverStar Ultra" (seems not as bright as the commercial said). While replacing the bulbs, I also checked all the fuses. Can anyone recommend a good (and low cost) Lexus shop for me around Metro DC/MD/VA? I will also go take a look at the exhaust (it is 9:20 PM, cold and dark). Again, thanks for the help and sorry not following my own "cry for help" closely! Thanks!!
SKperformance Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 If you have a gas leak that would explain the low mileage. Otherwise egr can lower it when stuck not opening fully.
cp6689 Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 If you have a gas leak that would explain the low mileage.Otherwise egr can lower it when stuck not opening fully. (Not sure how to check gas leak... I am not super handy when work under the hood)!! I tried to see a gas leak marks on the ground after parking over night but saw none! Is there a way I can borrow an equipment to test fuel line? Just like the OBDII scanner that parts store will lend for free. ( A wishful thinking :) ) SKperformance, I looked the term EGR quickly, Exhaust Gas Recirculation. Got it! Another possible cause too, how do I un-clog it (any gas tank treatment or oil treatments)?? mburnickas, Thanks for your hints on cleaning engine. It is hard for me to believe that my engine has dirst in it!! I always use Mobil-1 since first oil change... and I always go "popular" gas stations for gas up... avoiding "no-name" gas as much as I can. Again, thanks for all your help
SKperformance Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 To check the fuel system it needs to be pressurized . You wont be able to borrow those tools easily.
mburnickas Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 an OBD2 system will still store the old codes in there for 40 starts.
cp6689 Posted January 13, 2008 Posted January 13, 2008 an OBD2 system will still store the old codes in there for 40 starts. Thanks for the info!! The OBD2 scanner from local part store seems reading codes only. However, interestingly, last fill up I got 163 miles out of 10.5 gallons regular-unleaded. So the gas mileage is still low but seems a big improvement. I noticed somthing after my last fill up: 1) I rotated the tank cap more ( more clicking sound ) 2) I replaced all 4 head lamps ( I noticed a broken hi-beam, I am suprised that there was no warning on dash ) 3) The weather in Metro DC area was very warm for couple days ( near 70 when it was usually around 40 or lower ).
ricehead Posted January 26, 2008 Posted January 26, 2008 an OBD2 system will still store the old codes in there for 40 starts. Thanks for the info!! The OBD2 scanner from local part store seems reading codes only. However, interestingly, last fill up I got 163 miles out of 10.5 gallons regular-unleaded. So the gas mileage is still low but seems a big improvement. I noticed somthing after my last fill up: 1) I rotated the tank cap more ( more clicking sound ) 2) I replaced all 4 head lamps ( I noticed a broken hi-beam, I am suprised that there was no warning on dash ) 3) The weather in Metro DC area was very warm for couple days ( near 70 when it was usually around 40 or lower ). I would recommend replacing some emissions components as others have suggested, your gas mileage is till pretty low unless it was all city miles.
Lexlogic Posted January 27, 2008 Posted January 27, 2008 10.5?!?!? Somethings got to be wrong... I agree, that's just wrong! Replace you gas cap and make sure it's with a key lock item. let us know what happen after a week.
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