Is 11 miles per gallon normal?
8 Answers
No way! This vehicle should be getting in the 20s at the very least.
Have you had a second opinion? I had a 85 pick up that was getting 4-7MPG everytime I took it in and they looked at it they said it was fine and my calulation were wrong. I old friend of mine looked at it, took it for two days and rebuilt the carb (I already changed all filters, Car, rotor, plugs, wires, oil). It turned out to be the carb. Once it was rebuilt I was getting 15-20MPG. You might want to get a second opinion, and ask the new mechanic to look at everything. Best of luck, keep us up to date.
I wish it was that easy! My husband changed the fuel filters. My mechanic, an experienced bug shop, has replaced the gas hose, tested the choke, the odometer, the fuel mix, etc. and everything is working like it should, but I have had 3-4 tanks running at a little over 11 gallons. I don't know where to go next. I bought this car for the gas savings, but my 9 year old van gets better mileage. I am just a bit frustrated.
Hi Drembg I would first make sure the carburetor is operating properly, second make sure the ALWAYS missed vacuum advance and counter weights in the distributor are working correctly, the distributor problem plagued me for months as well as the carb. problem, I was getting maybe 6 miles to the gallon and it ran fine while in the shop or while idling but apparently while cruising at a higher rpm ( hiway speeds ) the dist. would mal function and was the cause, but you really couldn't tell by driving ???? go figure . well that solved my problem
If you're getting anything shy of 20 mpg your "mechanic" is not doing right by you. I've had many bugs come in for different problems from "experienced" shops and after really getting into it wondered what they were experienced in! What is the total ignition advance? CO at cruise? If the mpg is far short of 20 it's the carb. If it has a replacement Brazilian carb they run way too rich! Most "experienced" mechanics replace the carb rather than rebuild the original SOLEX because the Brazilian carbs are too dirt cheap and are easier money than rebuilding the original. For good economy you want a German SOLEX and fully operational stock distributor (no 009) 25mpg is normal.
I have the original distributor...what do you mean by no 009? Thanks for the good info...we'll check out the carb!
NO Way. You should be getting at least 20MPG no problem. Time to go to a new repair shop if they have fully checked it out and that is the best you get.
