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Getting great gas millage now i cant get above 45 computer

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by ilovemymac, Jul 11, 2013.

  1. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Excellent! Not everyone has 'gotten the memo.'


    It is possible the last oil change put in the wrong grade oil but that is rare if it was last serviced at the dealer. So this car was recently bought from the dealer?

    Can you provide a little more chronology? The more we understand what has happened since you bought the car, there may be 'a clue.'

    Your mileage is consistent with having a high ethanol content, above E10. The car will run perfectly fine up to E50 but the mileage will be terrible . . . consistent with what you are reporting. I know because I recently ran some ethanol tests to find that limit. E50 is fine and in warm weather will not cause a starting problem. Above E55, you run the risk of getting a 'check engine' light because the engine can not adjust the mixture (called fuel trim) enough.

    Now if I were a 'shady' gas seller, I might 'mix my own' ethanol going up to say E50. They save some money in fuel costs and if their customers don't see a 'check engine' light, well . . .

    There is something wrong, your mileage should be better but part of diagnosis often involves going over the basics. If at any time I ask for something without providing the reason why or a reason why that makes sense, PLEASE feel free to ask for more details. I'm not the least bit offended as I'm more familiar with 'talking technical' and often forget that everyone isn't just like me. My wife helps keep me humble. <grins>

    Thanks,
    Bob Wilson
     
  2. ilovemymac

    ilovemymac Member

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    I bought the car from a dealer in may. When i got the car the avg MPG displayed was 49 and i was like i can beat that and i filled the car up that day or the dealer did i should say. And for the first several tanks i was getting easily mid 50s. 1 tank was 49 avg but also had allot more highway driving so not as much battery use. Also had 2 kids and 2 adults in the car allot of the time vs just me.
    I hit a curb one day and bent the lower control arm. This was just after a week of having it. It was going to cost over 1K from the dealer so i said i cant do that right now so i drove it with that for a good portion of one tank. Its my only car and i couldnt afford 1200. Then i started calling around found a local place with a great rep who would do it for 700. And yes it had an alignment. Funny thing is even with 1 tank on the lower control arm bent i still got i think 53 or 54 for that tank.

    My driving is the same most always. Although if i have people behind me i will speed up faster rather then going slow because people get cranky if you drive slow. and i dont want everyone thinking of prisus as slow cars.
    I started seeing lower tank MPG about 3 fill ups ago. Each one has been going down. I went from 50s to 48 then i think it was 44 or 45 and then low 40s. Now last tank gas jumped 20 cents overnight so i went to fill up at half a tank but i was at 39.5 for that portion.

    The issue is weird because i feel like i use to be able to easily get better and i know once i change the tires ill get better but still i was getting upper 40s and even 50s and now im not even close. Something i notice just thought of. When i turn the car off my battery indicater on dash will show like 4 bars or maybe 5 but when i start back up its always lower then when i left it.
     
  3. Madduck

    Madduck New Member

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    If you are looking for a scanner, I bought a $15 bluetooth device from Amazon and paired it with the Torque app. Total cost was $20 for the device and app. It is cheaper than a ScanGage. To find the scanner search ODB II bluetooth. The one I bought is a little blue thing. I hope you can figure out what the problem is.
     
  4. ilovemymac

    ilovemymac Member

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    Thanks madduck.
     
  5. ilovemymac

    ilovemymac Member

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    The app shows as 50 on iTunes where did you get for $5
     
  6. Madduck

    Madduck New Member

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    I am using Torque for Android. There is a iPhone app called Engine Link that is $6. I don't have any experience with it and don't know how well it works.
     
  7. ilovemymac

    ilovemymac Member

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    What was the Bluetooth device you used. I found an app but it says to use go point bt1 which is $100
     
  8. Madduck

    Madduck New Member

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  9. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    The engine side (aka., passenger) or transmission side (aka., driver)?

    Hitting a curb hard enough to bend a control arm would have put a lot of stress on that side of the car. This can lead to new areas of investigation including all moving parts on that side of the car.

    Do you have the dealer write-up with an itemized list of what they were planning?

    At that price, they may have included having the body go to a body alignment shop. In some accidents, the stress can be large enough to bend the body so the front and rear tires no longer track behind each other. On a rain dampened road, you can see the tire imprints do not fall on each other but overlap.

    This would impact the rolling and static drag of the car. A roll-down test should show these coefficents are way off. But we can not rule out the repair might not have secured the parts. Driving around could have loosened bolts and nuts or thrown the alignment off.

    This are things that might have happened and would also explain a recent decrease in MPG.

    Bob Wilson
     
  10. ilovemymac

    ilovemymac Member

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    They said the only thing that was wrong was the lower control arm and it needed an alinement. The extra fee was they charge $200 to do an alinement and they were charging like 400 for the control arm. And dealer time is over $100 an hour vs the other place was a flat fee for doing it.
    Yea they did a write up that was all they were replacing besides the bearing too. WHich they did. It was passenger front.
    Again my millage went down some before i got it fixed but once it was fixed it went back up to where it was before.
    Gas is always 0% ethanol i never use even 10% it hurts the gas millage.

    If the dealer was going to do anything else they did not say. Besides they tried to sell me new tires telling me mine were not good for a prius. I said i knew that however they will work. The way they talked it would ruin the car because they were not LRR tires. I hate when dealers try to get more out of you.
    im going to buy an app and the wifi dongle and maybe next week i can get some info.
     
    bwilson4web likes this.
  11. ilovemymac

    ilovemymac Member

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    My last tank I'm up to about 44 I ran some fuel injector cleaner through and weather has been a little cooler so between that it has helped a little. I noticed something the other day that when I turn sharp left I can hear something making noise from the right front. Makes me wonder if they didn't get something fixed right.
    Going to take it in and have it looked at.


    iPhone 5 ?
     
  12. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Good plan!

    Bob Wilson
     
  13. ilovemymac

    ilovemymac Member

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    Took it in they can't seem to find anything wrong. Said they can't make it make the noise I heard. So want me to try to replicate it again.


    iPhone 5 ?
     
  14. ilovemymac

    ilovemymac Member

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    I thought the alignment was off but took it in they say its in spec. I still think it's off.
    Weird thing is 2 tankful a ago I got 50.4 I think and now I'm back down to low 40s since. No change in driving


    iPhone 5 using Tapatalk
     
  15. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Watch the tires. If you can, cock the wheels to one side and take a photo of each front tire. Then do the same on the rear. In a perfect world, measure tread depth for all treads and check again in 60-90 days. If something is wrong, you'll see it in the change of tread depth.

    Bob Wilson