Terrible gas mileage V-6

[markwilliam1]

I think your in the ballpark for accurate mileage with the 6 red. I wouldn't be too disappointed just Enjoy your rig. & the extra power you get with the 6.  When I first got Grannie I was obsessed with mileage thinking the 4 would get 16 to 18 MPG as some other posters stated. Reality hit and I'm now happy with 14. I was tent camping before and now I'm smothered in Luxury! 

[Maineah]

4 hours ago, Totem said:

often times the water park, front desk office hours, etc.  is closed by that hour,  Now imagine a 1200 mile trip...4 hours.

Gas is only $2 bucks and change; to the working man that has good paychecks but little time - time is worth more than money.

If your going that far leave earlier. Who drives 1200 miles a day?

Edited June 29, 2017 by Maineah

[Totem]

Unfortunately the beginning point and end point of "vacation" are static and i always leave as early as possible. Looking forward to retirement and the slowness that comes with it :-)

[jjrbus]

13 hours ago, Maineah said:

A 400 mile trip, 70 mph around 5.7 hours 60 mph 6.8 hours about 8 less gallons of gas what's the rush? Enjoy the ride.

I don't know what their rush is, I am just driving the speed limit of 70. 

 

[markwilliam1]

Wow that's fast jj!

[jjrbus]

1 hour ago, markwilliam1 said:

Wow that's fast jj!

It is actually a bit stressful, if there is no traffic I run 60/65 which is comfortable in mine.  If I run under 70 in traffic here I am constantly getting passed with people weaving in and out around me, which I don't like.

[jjrbus]

On 6/28/2017 at 7:42 PM, Maineah said:

What I have found it does not matter what you are driving/towing 10 to 14 at highway speed is about it for an RV. unless you are on back flat roads doing 50 max. It's no wonder big jet aircraft  burn 9 ton's of fuel and hour!

I don't keep tract of mpg, but I would guess my class a was getting more like 6 or 7 and that was with a V6

[Nam]

On 2017-05-25 at 7:12 PM, Ctgriffi said:

I regularly get about 13mpg in my V6, but I stay close to 60mph and keep tires between 55-60psi. I only turn O/D off on hills, and if I leave it off for long, mileage will drop to 10 pretty quickly. So... you're not far off the mark. 

I get about the same...here in the Bay Area, I do run above 60 mph and 13 MPG has been a norm. My best tank was 14.5 MPG on flat and no head wind

[toyohome]

On 5/24/2017 at 8:14 AM, redskinman said:

I've probably only put about 6 or 7 hundred miles on rig since buying it and it's gotten terrible gas mileage. I was blaming it on the misfire I had but since replacing fuel injs and fixing misfire it hasn't gotten any better. Filled it up after fixing misfire, after driving it home from shop yesterday {getting valves adjusted} it was down to almost 1/4 tank so I filled it up again. It only went 94 miles on 3/4 tank for little under 10 mpg, that sucks!! One of the main reasons for buying this rig was for gas mileage, I wasn't expecting 20 mpg but I was expecting 12-13 at the very very least and hoping for 14-15 mpg. I would say 75% of this latest tank was highway miles. It's got new plugs, wires, pcv valve, fuel filter, new wires, new fuel injs, new distributor and cap, there's no reason for this bad of gas mileage, it's not even weighted down yet for a road trip. What the heck?

I am not using overdrive at all, which I guess would improve gas mileage some. I've read many posts about using overdrive with most being don't use it, but a recent facebook post was talking about it and everyone said if you have a V-6 leave it in OD all the time UNLESS the load on it is constantly shifting in and out of gear. So should I leave it in OD and how much better do you think that's going to improve gas mileage?

I had poor mileage too until I finally discovered a defective master cylinder.  The MC was keeping slight pressure on the calipers and thus causing poor mileage.  Brake fluid was not returning to the MC after braking.  I replaced pads, hoses, calipers and MC in the process.  It's a good idea to replace those hoses anyway because they can collapse on the inside and cause the same sticking problem.  Buy the best hoses money can buy and if your's haven't been changed yet, put it on your maintenance list ASAP.

[redskinman]

1 hour ago, toyohome said:

I had poor mileage too until I finally discovered a defective master cylinder.  The MC was keeping slight pressure on the calipers and thus causing poor mileage.  Brake fluid was not returning to the MC after braking.  I replaced pads, hoses, calipers and MC in the process.  It's a good idea to replace those hoses anyway because they can collapse on the inside and cause the same sticking problem.  Buy the best hoses money can buy and if your's haven't been changed yet, put it on your maintenance list ASAP.

and how did you discover it was doing this,what was the process?

Thanks

[toyohome]

Diagnosis started with death shimmy caused by warped rotors which were caused by dragging brakes.  Then there was the loss of power  and poor mileage.  Finally I noticed that after stopping on a hill, the motorhome would not roll when the brake pedal was released.

The easiest way to check this is to put it on a lift, step on the brake, then release the brake.  Try to spin the wheels.  They should spin freely and if not, the brakes are not releasing fully.  To locate the problem start looking at the wheels/brakes and work you way back to the MC.  Again, collapsed brake hoses are quite common on old vehicles.

My final solution was the MC after exhausting all other possibilities.

It also solved the death shimmy problem with new rotors.

Good luck. Keep us posted on what you find.

[Maineah]

You can use OD with a V6 without too much fear but here is what happens. When the MH slows down on a hill the first thing that happens the converter unlocks. I used the OD on my 22RE but I also drove it like a stick (it was one of the 3 vehicles I have ever owned that was automatic) when I felt it slowing down I disengaged the OD an kept it off until it once again gained speed. I can tell you this even with the OD operating it won't make a lot of difference in your overall mileage it's a lot quieter but that's about it I never did much better that 13.5 MPG. A handheld temperature gun does wonders for diagnostics of brake systems just look for the hot ones.

[markwilliam1]

That's exactly how I drive my 22RE rig now Maineah OD sometimes down hill or flats and manually downshift to 2nd to maintain speed on hills without the engine bogging down. My mileage increased by 2 mpg using this technique getting close to 15 mpg now. That little engine likes to rev it seems. I think the engine bogging down and stepping on the gas to try and increase the speed really hurt my mileage plus its fun to drive this way! Like you said a stick shift automatic LOL!