T-100 MPG vs. Tacoma

[indiana5881]

I recently purchased a '96 T-100. Its a V6, auto trany with 31" tires and only 78000 miles on it. the truck is great but its killing me on gas. im averaging around 12mpg. is this normal for a T-100? i was thinking about trading it in for a Tacoma from around the same year but am not sure if there would be much of a differnce in gas milage since they have the same V6 engin. is there anyway to make my T-100 get better milage? what dose a Tacoma get for gas milage?
any input would be very helpfull.
im new to owning a toyota and to this forum so if im beating a dead horse im sorry.
Thanks
Adam

[rosco99]

I drive a '98 Taco with a 3.4 V6. My gas mileage averages just about the 20-24 MPG mark. You might want to try giving the truck a tune up. You might also want to check the air filter. That seems really low for a V6. My Monte Carlo with a bored out V8 and 4-barrel got better than that. I would have the truck looked at before I spent the money trading it in......although the Tacoma is an unbelievable truck. Let me know what you find out......

Rosco

[amber00dak]

tires all properly inflated, no blown head gaskets or excessive smoking(or any for that matter..),anything like that? unless you have a extremely heavy foot, your mileage should be much higher than that. do you have the OD off maybe? bad calculations- got the tank size mixed up? its possible... either way, i agree with a tune-up, change filters, use some SeaFoam, etc. if it still doesnt improve, id take it to a shop and have it looked at

[indiana5881]

there’s no smoke, smell, drips, or noise. the motor runs strong. tires are all properly inflated. I'm pretty light on the pedal. my mpg average is based on about 30 fill ups of around 21 gallons of regular gas then running it till the empty light comes on. Only on a hand full of occasions have i broken 300 miles on a tank. my T-100 usually gets between 240 and 275 miles to a tank. i’m going to replace the filters and see how that turns out. could my bad mileage have something to do with the oxygen sensor?

if all else fails ill bring her to a mechanic.



Seafoam? i'v herd of it but never used it.



Thanks

Adam

[TRDTURD]

The T100 is way underpowered with the 3.4. It is a much larger and heavier truck for that engine to pull around. Thats why the mileage is so much better in the Taco. You have to run that engine way harder in the T100. With the larger and heavier tires I run on my Taco in the winter I get around 15 to 17 mpg. In the summer I run 15" wheels with 31's and get 19 to 21 mpg.

[TRDTURD]

Just thought of someting else, how's the heat in your truck??? If your thermostat has seized, and they usually seize in the open position, your truck will run way too cold and the computer will compensate for the cold engine temperature by increasing the fuel mixture. I had this happen once. My gas mileage went way down and I couldn't figure out why until I took it to a good mechanic that scanned it and found the low water temp after the truck had been running long enough for it to reach 190. I changed it and gas mileage went right back to normal. Symptoms are cold heat and very strong exhaust smell. Exhaust may be black also.

[tacojet]

The thermostat seized open on my Camry, and I was amazed at how bad the mileage got!! If you notice your temp needle fluctuating at all the stat is sticking. My '97 2.2 Camry went from 27 MPG down to 21-22MPG. I did the new stat and the Seafoam at the same time, and I was right back to normal.

I took 1/3 of a can of Seafoam, with the warmed up engine running, disconnected the brake vacuum line and let it suck that amount into the engine. Do it slowly or the engine will die. After it is gone shut her down, and let it sit for I think 15 minutes. Fire it up, and drive it for a while at least until the exhaust is not smoking. Pour the rest of the can into the gas tank.

[reb]

I'm not sure I agree with TRDTURD regarding engine and truck size. My '94 T100 4WD, with a smaller V6, gets about the same mileage as he reports for his Tacoma. I would expect yours to do about the same, if not better than mine.