Avensis Fuel Problem

[zeefarid]

hi

i have a 98 gls 1.8 avensis but i think it takes too much fuel but im not sure.

it gives around 50miles in £10 thats about 3 gallons.

i have serviced it and the clutch is weak on it, will need replacing soon could this be the problem.

help

[purvesh81]

That does seem poor, I get approx 10 miles from a £1 of fuel. It could be a problem with the secondary throttle valve getting stuck against the inlet manifold. This happened to mine, and at the time, the fuel and performance was well below average.

[uumode]

hi

i have a 98 gls 1.8 avensis but i think it takes too much fuel but im not sure.

it gives around 50miles in £10 thats about 3 gallons.

i have serviced it and the clutch is weak on it, will need replacing soon could this be the problem.

help

£10.00 fuel at 96p per litre = 10.41 litres / 4.55 = 2.289 gallons

50 miles / 2.289 gallons = 21.84 mile per gallon

To be accurate you really need to brim the tank on your next fill and record the mileage covered on the tank.

Then brim the tank again noting the amount of fuel you put in in litres not price then work out your MPG.

Also note what type of driving you have done, e.g. mainly urban, or motorway.

21.84 is low MPG something wrong with the engine setup, or you are maybe doing exclusively short journey urban stop start town driving?

That does seem poor, I get approx 10 miles from a £1 of fuel.

Wow that's good, about 45 MPG

[Bilal8210]

hey i have exactly the same car...(1998 1.8 gls) and have always gotten that sort of mileage. i also thought it was pretty poor...e.g 50 miles for £10...but i jus presumed it was down to the short journeys i make...cant be anything wrong with the car as i got to london from manchester for £15! (over 200miles)

so i guess u just take regular short journeys like mee!

[TRIGGER]

I get about 60 miles out of a tenner, i do short journeys alot though, think this is the cause of my slighty below average reccommended mpg from a tenner. Purves where abouts is the STV located, i want to check mine just incase it might be stuck, is it easy to free off if stuck?, cheers m8 :].

[purvesh81]

I get about 60 miles out of a tenner, i do short journeys alot though, think this is the cause of my slighty below average reccommended mpg from a tenner. Purves where abouts is the STV located, i want to check mine just incase it might be stuck, is it easy to free off if stuck?, cheers m8 :].

Hi mate,

I don't know myself as I took it to the dealers to get it sorted. They first told me it could be either of three things:

1) The oxygen sensors - they tested and said were completely fine (despite the car having done 108k).

2) Cat being blocked - I purchased another CAT and fitted it, still same problem - so that ruled that out.

3) Clutch - again tested out fine (still on the original - touch wood :) )

They know me very well at the dealers, as the whole family take our cars there (through me), so literally all the technicians got onto my car to diagnose the problem.

They then went about stripping the inlet manifold off and noticed the secondary throttle valve was stuck, which they freed and cleaned off. The car felt so responsive afterwards. And despite spending over 3 hours on it, they charged me only £74.

Sorry.. so to get back to your question, I'm going to ask them exactly what parts they removed (hopefully not too many) as I'd like to see if it's still sticking myself.

Come to think of it, I think my problem was along the similar lines of THIS but not exactly.

[Toyota Mickey]

I get about 60 miles out of a tenner, i do short journeys alot though, think this is the cause of my slighty below average reccommended mpg from a tenner. Purves where abouts is the STV located, i want to check mine just incase it might be stuck, is it easy to free off if stuck?, cheers m8 :].

Hi mate,

I don't know myself as I took it to the dealers to get it sorted. They first told me it could be either of three things:

1) The oxygen sensors - they tested and said were completely fine (despite the car having done 108k).

2) Cat being blocked - I purchased another CAT and fitted it, still same problem - so that ruled that out.

3) Clutch - again tested out fine (still on the original - touch wood :) )

They know me very well at the dealers, as the whole family take our cars there (through me), so literally all the technicians got onto my car to diagnose the problem.

They then went about stripping the inlet manifold off and noticed the secondary throttle valve was stuck, which they freed and cleaned off. The car felt so responsive afterwards. And despite spending over 3 hours on it, they charged me only £74.

Sorry.. so to get back to your question, I'm going to ask them exactly what parts they removed (hopefully not too many) as I'd like to see if it's still sticking myself.

Come to think of it, I think my problem was along the similar lines of THIS but not exactly.

Hi mate, how much did the new cat cost you?

Mickey

[purvesh81]

Hi mate, how much did the new cat cost you?

Mickey

I bought one from a breakers yard which had come off a car that had done 36k miles. Cost me £55+10p&p, and a local garage fitted it for £20. After I found out the original was fine, I put it back on and sent back the other one.

There was an original toyota one on eBay a couple of days ago for £200 odd - can't see it on there anymore.

I don't think the CATs on the avensis fail that often (famous last words) :)

[TRIGGER]

Thx again purves let me know what the dealers say, cheers m8:].

[Steve84]

My dads old 98 1.8gs was doing on average 45+ mpg around town mid 30's on a run he got over the 50mpg mark. His current 1.8vvt-i recoreded 49mpg on a trip to the coast last year and around town again mid 30's. My avensis again is around the same went down to the motorshow on saturday and recorded 47.7.

[Jones~32]

i have a 98 gls 1.8 avensis but i think it takes too much fuel but im not sure.

it gives around 50miles in £10 thats about 3 gallons.

I can get 50 miles to £10 in my GT4! :!Removed!:

[uumode]

I tend to get less than the official extra urban (ignoring my trip computer as that is always about 2.5-3.5 MPG optimistic)

In town very light traffic = about 31 MPG

On my 17 mile commute hardly any traffic, free flowing A and B roads with the odd junction and traffic light

= 33 MPG with heavy use of coasting down hills and along straights to junctions/traffic lights and stops.

I cruise about 1 - 1.5 miles on long stretches with light feathering of the accelerator to keep up the momentum, avoid using the brakes with early anticipation of the traffic.

Recent motorway trip recorded about 35 MPG, travelling at the speeds the other traffic were going in the middle and fast lane.

I do have an auto, but the figures some 1.8 owners post for similar driving is something I can only dream about :(

Additionally, car has had major service with new air filter, sparks, oil, and I put in exculsively premium fuel which is supposed to be denser and give a little more MPG (Esso premium, Shell Optimax). Tyre pressures at 32 PSI, brand new tyres. Clean nose, heavily waxed (for a more slippery aerodynamic shape).

However, I do have air-con on full-time.

[purvesh81]

I do have an auto, but the figures some 1.8 owners post for similar driving is something I can only dream about :(

However, I do have air-con on full-time.

A/C and Auto is a juicy combo.

It does come down to driving styles quite a bit too, i.e how you accelerate from standstill, when you change gears, how quickly you get upto 'cruise' speed, whether you drive consciously trying to keep the economy light on (MK1 avensis only) etc...

[uumode]

I do have an auto, but the figures some 1.8 owners post for similar driving is something I can only dream about :(

However, I do have air-con on full-time.

A/C and Auto is a juicy combo.

It does come down to driving styles quite a bit too, i.e how you accelerate from standstill, when you change gears, how quickly you get upto 'cruise' speed, whether you drive consciously trying to keep the economy light on (MK1 avensis only) etc...

I accelerate like a granny, gentle throttle, I switch on the momentary MPG and it amazed me how much the consumption surges under normal acceleration, so try to accelerate as slow as possible within road limits.

Even when I kept all gear changes at 2000 RPM or under i.e. I didn't really stray above 2000 RPM the maximum I got on my commute was 35 MPG

Thankfully in an Avensis you don't get 'bullied' by the cars behind and commands more respect (and they stay behind), in a small car like my Metro or Polo, cars start to overtake you.. or even flash me in the Metro.

Biggest respect goes to the Ferraris that cruise the motorway in the fast lane at about 70MPH, and no-one dare flash it or overtake :D

[purvesh81]

In my manual I aim to change up gears at 3k. I find other than in 1st and 2nd changing gears at below 2k tends to make the car more sluggish and you need to depress the accelerator that much more.

I think I read somewhere, that for ideal mpg it is advised to get up through the gears as quickly but smoothly as possible.

[dibber]

I get about 60 miles out of a tenner, i do short journeys alot though, think this is the cause of my slighty below average reccommended mpg from a tenner. Purves where abouts is the STV located, i want to check mine just incase it might be stuck, is it easy to free off if stuck?, cheers m8 :].

I would imagine the spindle running through the inlet manifold maybe gets gummed up. Not having had my inlet manifold, in bits it is pure speculation on my part. However drawing from my years of experience in the motor trade I would say its likely to be very easy to free off. The spindle is actually operated by a vacuum capsule on the drivers side at the end of the inlet manifold. Another likely cause could be a perished or broken hose leading to the capsule itself though Japanese cars tend to have far superior hoses than other manufacturers.

I am very tempted to pull the manifold off my own just to see what the set up is and check everything is ok. With my recent issues I actually removed the hose off mine to see what difference there was and there was no significant difference which I find a little strange. If the butterfly arrangement is to open another set of 8 ports I would have thought there would have been a very noticable change..

Its possible if you removed the actuator solenoid the spindle could be freed off simply by rotating it back and forward till it frees itself. Once again thats just speculation and not derived from actually doing it.