More Mpg?

[Cumbria]

Hello there everyone.

Has anyone been able to squeeze more MPG out of their Previa?

Mines a 2.4 petrol GX model.

Can the air con belt be taken off? or electric fan fitted to take the fan blades off.

Also I think the power may have gone off, feels slower these days, I'm into the 3rd year with it and its done 138,000 miles

[propnut]

I have a 93 GL and currently am getting 21.5 around town and 27 open road. Am soon to do the electric fan conversion but am leaving the air con attached as I like having the option. Also when not in use the air con pump adds negligible load it's the alternator that saps the power and unless you want a flat Battery not much you can do about it.

Things that add to consumption in these cars are

1. Binding brakes which is a very common issue

2. Underinflated tyres, I run mine at 42PSI

3. Poorly tuned engine - being very experienced with cars I keep mine in tune 100% of the time.

4. Using standard mineral engine oil - change to a 10W-40W semi synthetic.

5. Overfilling the auto box - make sure oil is nice and red and at the correct level

6. Poor driving habits.

These are big cars and if you do some research you will find that their consumption is very similar, sometimes better than other petrol MPV's of a similar size. Believe or not the imported Diesel version of the Previa which is known as the Estima only gives 3 or 4 MPG better than this, suffers seriously from expensive cracked cylinder head issues and requires servicing very 3000 miles. Hence why I stick with a Previa.

Take my suggestions above and you should be getting a similar consumption to mine, even better since yours only has 7 seats and trust me every extra KG of weight makes a difference. Remove the rear seats if you don't need them, this weight saving will help as well.

Service regularly every 6000 miles and do an oil filter change every 3000 miles, clean oil = lower heat and better lubrication = less friction = lower fuel consumption.

Now I have been looking at a diesel MPV (NOT an IMPORT of any kind mind) but the problem is finding one that can carry 8 passengers and still have plenty of room for luggae. There isn't one, although as you only have 7 seats a diesel Sedona, Chrysler Voyager or one of the smaller ones i.e. Citroen Synergie/Pegeot 806/Fiat Ulysse (all the exact same car only with a different badge) may fit the bill.

[Cumbria]

Thanks for the reply, I think it could be down to a Poorly tuned engine, its had filter and oil changes, I didn't change the fuel filter this time around but its not been for a tune up since I've had it.

Next week I plan to change the oil and filters again so will see if I can find somehere it can go for a tune up to.

I'd wouldn't mind changing the fan at some point and see what that does.

I to have had Binding brakes, sized pistons, but its down on the beach everyday so I put it down to that, I'm into my third year and have no rust issues :D

I did notice that steel wheels are so heavey, I bought a set for the tyres only and was shocked at the waight, the alloys are so much better, I would advice anyne who had steel wheels to swap to alloy.

[propnut]

What consumption are you getting??

[Cumbria]

I would say under 17mpg around town, thats why I think itd down to a tune up to improve it.

Did cost me around £80 for a motorway run of 314 miles but not done that for a couple of months so not sure what the petrol cost was then.

[propnut]

A clean air filter does wonders as too does cleaning the throttle body, adding some injector cleaner, checking the timing and the shims.

Also driving habit is a big thing. Slow off the line and treat the throttle like it has an egg under it. Also not accelerating all the way to a stop sign or traffic signal. If you see one is coming up take your foot off the gas and just coast all the way there. If you know the light will be red for some time switch off. Sam for traffic jams if you are going to be stationary for some time switch off.

Here's my bus

http://www.estima-motoring.co.uk/Forum/index.php?topic=379.0

[Cumbria]

A clean air filter does wonders as too does cleaning the throttle body, adding some injector cleaner, checking the timing and the shims.

Also driving habit is a big thing. Slow off the line and treat the throttle like it has an egg under it. Also not accelerating all the way to a stop sign or traffic signal. If you see one is coming up take your foot off the gas and just coast all the way there. If you know the light will be red for some time switch off. Sam for traffic jams if you are going to be stationary for some time switch off.

Hello there, I added some injectin cleaner two weeks ago, but its not been on any run to see if its any better, I'll get it a good tune up and see how it goes, its due a good service.

Thanks for the advice I see how I get on, good luck with the fan I'll do that myself soon

cheers again