I've got a 2010 Tacoma that I have been getting some fairly erratic mileage. The truck is a 2wd, 4cyl, 5spd variant with 33,500 miles on it. I noticed a couple of weeks ago it seemed to be drinking gas. It was consuming it fast enough that I initially thought someone siphoned a few gallons out of the tank. Then when I drove it, I could watch the gas gauge move. When I filled it up, I checked the mileage and it only got about 16mpg. That tank it was fine as were the next two tanks. This past tank full, I averaged about 17.mpg. I haven't checked the mileage on the current tank but I'm guessing close to 27/28mpg. The truck is supposed to get 20 city / 26 highway. Until about a month ago, I rarely got less than 24.5mpg with the type of driving I do. Has anyone heard of these trucks doing this? Any idea what the cause could be? I could understand the poor mileage if I was flat-footing & towing a small formula car - but that's just not the case. I was doing my normal commute and rarely drive the thing faster than 70mph on the highway.
Thanks all!
Gas mileage is usually affected by driving conditions.
Driver, traffic, speeds, loads.
If there is a problem with the engine, you would most likely get a MIL.
Also, there can be a difference in the tank filling.
Of course, out side conditions such as a fuel leak or unfriendly neighbors.
With the price of gas, who knows.
There are absolutely no codes.
The last fill-up average was 28.5mpg - grant it, that was on some fairly flat roads at 65mph. That is a little high but not out of the ordinary. Getting 17mpg with the truck empty (when I normally get 24-25 mpg driving the same route with a 600lb motorcycle in the back or 1,000lbs of firewood) is way out of the ordinary.
The first time this happened I remember driving the truck and could watch the gas gauge move significantly over a 10 or 12 mile trip.
The bothersome thing about this is my driving has been pretty consistant.
The other thing is I'm a pretty consistant Shell gas user and typically buy it at the same station.
Our gasoline quality continues to decrease and be very inconsistant.
I find a monthly treatment of Lucas injector cleaner helps
