Gas Mileage After Fuel Line Recall

[netgabe]

Long time reader...first time post...

I have a 2006 GS300 that I recently bought and is in pristine condition. I had the recent service recall on the fuel line completed two weeks and I need to share my story. The dealership had the car for 5 days because they did the services on the other two bulletins for the steering and rear calipers. The day I received it back, the car started to sputter uncontrollably and smelled like there was a fuel leak. When I got out to inspect, I did not see fuel on the ground but could smell it coming out of the exhaust. I also noticed that my Average Per Tank mileage was down to 16 MPG! I called service and they stated that I should not drive and they immediately towed me a rental and picked up the car. They had the car for another 4 days and said that the car was using more gas to clear out some particles in the fuel lines and injectors. During the time they had it they said it was being observed as it were a living being! They gave it back to me and I am now in my second tank at an average of 20 MPG. To give you some reference, the car was at 28+ highway and 26+ city. I'm wondering what I have to do next to get my car back to the way it was. I'm really getting frustrated! Any advice?

[steviej]

I just had the fuel line replacement done yesterday so it is to early to tell but I will be watching it. I average about 22-24 mpg around town.

It took my dealership 7 hours to do all three service campaigns and I didn't smell any gas when I got the car back.

steviej

[netgabe]

Yea, it wasn't better today. Its such a big change from before. Either the line is wider or it hasn't built up any crud to slow the flow.

Thanks for responding.

I just had the fuel line replacement done yesterday so it is to early to tell but I will be watching it. I average about 22-24 mpg around town.

It took my dealership 7 hours to do all three service campaigns and I didn't smell any gas when I got the car back.

steviej

[boB_2006_GS300]

My recall service was done Jan 28. My driving habits are pretty much the same weekly, and I did not have a change in my mileage. I hope whatever happened is an easy fix. Loosing that much in mileage seems like it would be easy to find with their computers? I don't think the replacement part had any effect, but probably they accidentally messed up something or forgot to reconnect something when putting on the new part. My highway mileage is about 28 MPG, and mixed city/highway is about 25-26, much like you were getting.

[steviej]

Currently I am holding steady at 22.5 mpg, just as it was before my GS's surgery.

steviej

[Lex01_430]

Hey you guys are lucky. I got up to 300 miles per tank on my 01 430 and now im getting about 240 on my 06. I know its a smaller tank but I should lose that much. I noticed that Im getting around 17 MPG with mixed city and highway. This is well below the posted results. I thought the new tranny would help a little more...

[BillyShaft]

Could this be a symptom of the dealer disconnecting the battery for the service? If the ECU reset to factory defaults it will take some time to reestablish your driving habits. Just thinking out loud here...

[netgabe]

Thanks for the feedback. I do a ton of highway driving and some city. I'm up to about 23.5 this week on the same second filling of the tank. I plan on taking it in on Friday to see what they say about the computer needing to build up history and to recheck the connections. Other than complain to no end, I'm not sure what else can be done.

I sure do miss the 28-29 MPG I used to see!

NG

[steviej]

Could this be a symptom of the dealer disconnecting the battery for the service? If the ECU reset to factory defaults it will take some time to reestablish your driving habits. Just thinking out loud here...

most service centers provide alternate power to the ECU when the battery is disconnected. This way the customer does not lose radio presets, seat memory positions, etc. This alternative power source I believe allows ECU programming to not be reset to defaults.

steviej

[netgabe]

Well, I'm on the 3rd tank and it's now showing 27.5 MPG through the first quarter of a tank... My baby might be back!

Could this be a symptom of the dealer disconnecting the battery for the service? If the ECU reset to factory defaults it will take some time to reestablish your driving habits. Just thinking out loud here...

most service centers provide alternate power to the ECU when the battery is disconnected. This way the customer does not lose radio presets, seat memory positions, etc. This alternative power source I believe allows ECU programming to not be reset to defaults.

steviej

[Lexus GS430 Guzzler]

Long time reader...first time post...

I have a 2006 GS300 that I recently bought and is in pristine condition. I had the recent service recall on the fuel line completed two weeks and I need to share my story. The dealership had the car for 5 days because they did the services on the other two bulletins for the steering and rear calipers. The day I received it back, the car started to sputter uncontrollably and smelled like there was a fuel leak. When I got out to inspect, I did not see fuel on the ground but could smell it coming out of the exhaust. I also noticed that my Average Per Tank mileage was down to 16 MPG! I called service and they stated that I should not drive and they immediately towed me a rental and picked up the car. They had the car for another 4 days and said that the car was using more gas to clear out some particles in the fuel lines and injectors. During the time they had it they said it was being observed as it were a living being! They gave it back to me and I am now in my second tank at an average of 20 MPG. To give you some reference, the car was at 28+ highway and 26+ city. I'm wondering what I have to do next to get my car back to the way it was. I'm really getting frustrated! Any advice?

Got my GS430 back today. I also smelled gasoline after the drive....only 2 campaigns were done though. I don't think they did the fuel one....hopefully it goes away soon.

[Shecky]

I had the last three campaigns done on my gs350 at Northborough Lexus outside of Boston. My mileage didn't change a bit. I averaged 28 mpg on the highway. I will say that Dan at Northborough is great to deal with. I had the IPOD adapter installed as well and it's great. Nice to get a loaner and have the exterior and interior of my car cleaned when i got it back. If i cruise at 70-73 mph on the highway, I can squeek 29 mpg. So far I am enjoying this car.

[06gsjoev]

that has happened to me... I was on at aprox 27+ and now I'm only at 16 t^

Long time reader...first time post...

I have a 2006 GS300 that I recently bought and is in pristine condition. I had the recent service recall on the fuel line completed two weeks and I need to share my story. The dealership had the car for 5 days because they did the services on the other two bulletins for the steering and rear calipers. The day I received it back, the car started to sputter uncontrollably and smelled like there was a fuel leak. When I got out to inspect, I did not see fuel on the ground but could smell it coming out of the exhaust. I also noticed that my Average Per Tank mileage was down to 16 MPG! I called service and they stated that I should not drive and they immediately towed me a rental and picked up the car. They had the car for another 4 days and said that the car was using more gas to clear out some particles in the fuel lines and injectors. During the time they had it they said it was being observed as it were a living being! They gave it back to me and I am now in my second tank at an average of 20 MPG. To give you some reference, the car was at 28+ highway and 26+ city. I'm wondering what I have to do next to get my car back to the way it was. I'm really getting frustrated! Any advice?