[EscapeSteveXLT]

The vehicle is a 4cylinder escape with auto tranny. since last week it has dropped in mpg. no noticeable differences in throttle or take off at all. just using more gas. gets only 21.3-21-5 mpg all the time no matter what. car only has 1,700 miles on it. was previously seeing 23++++ mpg on it and almost never under 25. now its making 21 which is even under what it is rated.
one idea i had was that these are break in miles and that the oil needs to be changed from all the new parts. i dunno. any other people experience this.

[mod]Moved to Problems And Solutions[/mod]

 

[Squishy]

Have you switched gas stations lately? Switched tires? Had a lot of windy weather?

 

[jonas1022]

:shrug: I have an 08 Tribute with the 4 cylinder and auto (four speed). Over 12K miles and so far it's still over 25 mpg around the city and over 30 mpg on the highway. ug:

 

[EscapeSteveXLT]

i did move over to chicago from southern indiana but didnt notice this difference in mpg until being here for more than a month. i did switch to a k&n replacement air filter before coming here and thinking of switching back to a paper one just to see what happens.

 

[zippyworld]

My 08 V6 4WD gets an average of 21mpg back and forth to work with only 20% of the ride highway miles. Sounds kinda low for a 4 banger.

I do know by experience that you will get different mileage with different brands of gas so I would try a different station.

 

[stone]

I am not experiencing any fuel economy problems. My escape has a 2.3 litre four cylinder engine. Is it the tires? Could it be your driving style? Brand of petrol?

 

[andjayik]

i find i get the best milage with shell and sunoco

 

[jpark]

...and I won't give a dime to Exxon-Mobil.

PS...I'd get rid of the K&N, like you said. Ford spends millions trying to get every last MPG they can, and changing the way that their emission and PCM systems are programmed probably make a difference in mileage.

 

[EscapeSteveXLT]

i'm going to get a cheap paper air filter today. switch it back in and see. i think maybe the higher flowing k&n might be better at open throttle but maybe sucks for mpg around town here. we'll see. i switched the k&n filter in a few days before traveling here and within a month of being here the mpg has slowly dropped then just dropped off to like 21mpg solid. on the trip up here i was actually exceeding the manufacturers estimated mpg. i was getting 31+ on the interstate which is nice. but locally since i've been here the mpg dropped a lot.
also i've been using 93 octane because that is the only thing above 91 octane they sell here. i dont know if using full premium on this 4 cylinder is actually what it wants or may be closer to actual 91 octane for optimum mpg.

 

[EscapeSteveXLT]

i just put a motorcraft air filter back into the car. topped the 1/2 tank off with BP instead of whatever other local gas they have. almost no difference at all yet, after driving conservatively for about a half hour.

 

[jonas1022]

Why are you using the higher octane gas? Do you have pinging when you drive down the road? Buying too high an octane will affect the fuel mileage you get. It has an ignition inhibitor in it to prevent preignition. So, your fighting yourself if you think your improving the engines performance with higher octane rating. Go for the lowest octane rating the mfg. (in this case Ford Motor Company) has designed the engine to run on. Usually 87 in the US.

 

[andjayik]

I have used mid grade one tankfull and got my best milage ever for city at 470km to the tank.

 

[jonas1022]

You live in Canada, it doesn't count... :bill:

eace:

 

[andjayik]

lol :yahoo:

 

[MichaelJD1980]

I would disconnect the battery for 10+ mins to reset the engine computer too. When you switch to a filter like the K&N, the computer has to learn how to deal with the different air flow (to mix fuel, etc.). It may have been dumping more fuel into the engine to compensate for the increased air flow. Now, it is trying to learn again. Reset it so that it's not confused anymore.

Second, 87 octane should be good enough.

Third, you aren't doing a lot of sitting with the engine running, right? Any time you are sitting at a drive through, in traffic, or in a parking lot, you are getting 0 mpg. That really hurts the average fuel economy shown by the trip computer.

 

[andjayik]

Am i going to loose all my presets in the radio?

 

[Squishy]

You might, you might not. On most cars, you do lose them when you unplug the battery. However, my Escape's radio seems to store it on non-volatile memory or has a battery backup. My clock resets, but my radio stations stay put.

 

[andjayik]

yes i lost all my settings. I had the battery dissconnected for like 20 mins, how do i know that the computer is reset? Or is that fact without power for a period of time.

 

[MichaelJD1980]

Twenty minutes should be long enough to reset the computer. People usually say to leave it for at least ten minutes to be sure that any residual power is "soaked up" by the computer and it is really without power. Now that the computer is reset, it will "learn" for a few miles, adjusting to your driving style and the conditions to achieve optimum fuel economy, emissions, and performance.

 

[Squishy]

Check your manual for the idle relearn procedure. The previous generation Escapes all had a recommended procedure we were to follow after disconnecting the battery.