My 1993 Toyota Seabreeze Gets Only 10 Mpg Why?

[Toobigboat2014]

Hello everyone I just bought a 1993 toyota seabreeze with only 72k miles. As I was driving it home from San Diego to la, it only average out about 10mpg. I thought these things runs 15-20 mpg. Can anyone help me. Also the gas pedal is hard to push don't know why..... Any tip will help .

[linda s]

Your never getting 20mpg for starters. 15mpg would be good. Get a tune up. Drive slower, most of us stay at around 60. Then tell us what your getting. Have no idea about gas pedal. Oh and at 72,000 miles your ready for a valve adjustment if it hasn't been done. And check and see if the head gasket recall has been done

Linda S

[Toobigboat2014]

Your never getting 20mpg for starters. 15mpg would be good. Get a tune up. Drive slower, most of us stay at around 60. Then tell us what your getting. Have no idea about gas pedal. Oh and at 72,000 miles your ready for a valve adjustment if it hasn't been done. And check and see if the head gasket recall has been doneLinda S

Oh my that all sounds expensive..... How much does a valve adjustment usually cost? Head gasket? I thought these things runs forever, that's the only reason why I bought it.....

Ya on the way back home from San Diego we were going 70 mph. I'm disappointed in the mpg

[Riverman77]

Dear Toobigboat,

Welcome to the Toyota Motorhome.org.

The web designers of this great mini RV forum, built into it a wonderful search tool. It is located at the top right corner of your screen. You might wish to try entering in such terms as, MPG, head gasket recall, miles per hour, valve adjustment, engine tune up, etc. Through the years, many of our members have asked and answered all of these questions; sometimes in painfully great detail. So, try a little R E A D I N G. You might be pleasantly surprised on what you may find on this web site.

P.S. Now that I've got my Dolphin running like a top, I wouldn't trade it for anything!

~Riverman77

[waiter]

Too Big Boat Welcome to the Toyhouse Forum.

It sounds like you found this forum after you bought the toyhouse, otherwise you would have found the answers to your questions before you purchased. Don't fell bad, this is the normal. Now that your here, do as others have suggested and utilize the search feature. I guarantee, any question that you can come up with, has probably already been answered, and usually, in great detail. Read on.


10 MPG at 70 MPH sounds pretty good. If you slow down to 55-60 mph, you'll see 13-15 mpg,

Keep in mind that you just bought a 20 year old truck with 72k on it. Odds are, you don't know what the maintenance status is, so my recommendation is start from scratch. This will get you piece of mind, and you'll learn about the truck. Vehicle longevity and reliability are directly proportional to the scheduled maintenance performed.

Unless you have specific evidence (receipts) that maintenance has been performed, I would suggest doing at least these items to make sure your up to current maintenance standards. Failure to comply greatly increases the chance of a breakdown, and the subsequent repair costs. (Pay now or Pay later) i.e. failure to perform valve adjustments leads to burnt valves. If your able to perform maintenance yourself,

WARNING - IMHO - If you need to hire someone to do your mechanical work, you probably need to re-visit the decision to purchase a 20 -30 year old vehicle. However, if you have any mechanical inclination at all, these toyotas are an excellent learning vehicle for do-it-yourselfers

At minimum, I would do the following:

Check head recall status (applies to V6)
Valve Adjustment (applies to V6 and 4 cly)
all filters (fuel, oil, air)

drain / fill tranny fluid
hoses and belts (replace radiator hose and drive belts)

careful visual inspection of vacuum, intake hose for cracks / brittle.
Brakes and Bearings (Repack all bearings and inspect/replace brakes)
Verify tire code dates - replace tires older than 6 years old.

Good luck, slow down, and enjoy the sceenery.

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[Bob C]

Speed is the biggest thief of gas mpg. I have a 4 cyl 20' MH and get about 15 on a good day doing 55-60 mph. If I travel at 65 mph my mileage drops to about 12-13. Head winds will kill your mileage also.

I hate reading ads with 20+ mpg claims. It gives people unrealistic expectations when they buy. I would like to see some REAL records that prove that they are getting that kind of mpg. I track every gallon of gas that I put in my MH so my numbers are accurate.

I just completed a valve adjustment before putting it in storage so I don't know what the mpg will be now. I know that it runs a lot better.

[Derek up North]

I hate reading ads with 20+ mpg claims.

Unfortunately, claims of 20mpg+ ONLY appear in 'For Sale' ads. With few exceptions.

As already state, aerodynamic drag is a HUGE factor in the fuel consumption of the 'barn door' equivalents that we chose to drive.

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-100-DFRC.html#.UvOmW7R8eE8

[linda s]

Oh my that all sounds expensive..... How much does a valve adjustment usually cost? Head gasket? I thought these things runs forever, that's the only reason why I bought it.....

Ya on the way back home from San Diego we were going 70 mph. I'm disappointed in the mpg

Valve adjustment can be pricey but it is absolutely essential to preserve your engine. This V6 was known to burn valves if not adjusted properly. Every 60,000 miles so if you get it done you won't have to worry about it again for many years.

The head gasket thing was a recall. You can call a dealer service department and have them run the vin for you and see if it was ever done on your rig. Or look up the Toyota 800 number and ask them. If you can get a dealer to do the work it's free. If you need it, the valve adjustment and some other stuff you might be ready to get done can be done at a very reduced price cause they already have the engine apart.

Even a little slow down will save you tons of gas but get the required work done first. You might be suprised at how much nicer it will run and your new mileage

Linda S

[linda s]

Unfortunately, claims of 20mpg+ ONLY appear in 'For Sale' ads. With few exceptions.

As already state, aerodynamic drag is a HUGE factor in the fuel consumption of the 'barn door' equivalents that we chose to drive.

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-100-DFRC.html#.UvOmW7R8eE8

Wow great diagram. You can really see how the drag spikes between 60 and 70.

Linda S

[Derek up North]

And driving 50 mph (ground speed) with a 10mph head wind can make your engine use gas almost as much as if you're driving at 60mph (air speed).

[MontanaChinook]

Only motorhome than can get 20 mpg is a Chinook, and maybe a shorty Sunrader.

Your truck will not run forever. So hopefully that wasn't really the only reason you bought it. Being a toyota it will do better than most others, but it will need expensive maintenance, and it will die someday, especially after all those years of being loaded to its max and pulling all the extra weight of the camper.

Toyotas are great. But everything requires often expensive maintenance, and they'll all break down eventually.

And yeah, if you're paying someone to do the work, be prepared to sink a lot of money into your new toy before you can have all those (hopefully) years of trouble-free fun. Assuming it hasn't been abused all it's life and is ready for a rebuilt engine and transmission...

So enough Debbie downer...it's just that we have to clear your eyes of the unrealistic expectations.

Reality is what you want.

All vehicles are expensive and none run forever, especially a motorhome since every part on it is being heavily taxed by all that weight. But Toyotas are (arguably) the best.

If, once you have a realistic expectation of what your new toy will cost you, both in time and money, you're still interested in owning a motorhome, you will find when you compare notes with other motorhome owners, that if you did your homework and made sure yours was in good shape and well maintained, that you get better gas mileage, suffer fewer breakdowns, and have overall less expense than other model motorhomes. How's that for a run-on sentence?

Owning a 20 year old vehicle can be an expensive, time consuming endeavor. Adding a house on wheels to that equation multiplies the cost.

The Toyota V6 engine was not quite as reliable, and much more expensive to have repaired than the 4 cylinder. For example...under $100 for a valve adjustment on a 22R 4 cylinder, compared to over $300 for the V6. And most anyone on this site could do it themselves on the 4 cylinder. V6 is much more complicated.

Typical things to check when it isn't running great or getting poor mileage:

Driving too fast

Tune up needed: spark plugs, wires, distributer cap and rotor, timing adjusted, air filter, oil change, valve adjustment

Brakes dragging?

Vacuum leaks

[DanAatTheCape]

before I jump into the more expensive things mentioned I would do some data collection.

I would clean or replace my air filter (if it needs it).

gap & replace spark plugs with the ones recommended by toyota - yes many will sell other "newer" "Better' etc but I use what the mfg recommended - on mine NGK BKR5EYA and they were easy to get.

after these easy to do & modest expenses I would drive it enough while carefully logging gas used.I would find the speed that the engine "likes". I have a 93 winnie warrior & have had a 92 itasca spirit (same units). the 92 liked about 55 mph whereas the 93 likes about 60 (by liked I mean where the tranny will stay in OD and the engine is not lugging).

You should get 14-15 for mainly highway operations.

My 93 was getting about 12 mpg. I was getting intermittent check engine lights. Since these campers have pre-OBD2's the codes are sketchy in detail. Anyway eventually I replaced the O2 sensor - about $100 and easy to do (yes they wear out). That fixed my unit - now 14.5 mpg for me.

adjusting valves on these is tricky. spacers are used instead of a screw/lock nut so the average guy who does not have the spacer kit is out of luck.

I do not think there is a recommended adjustment schedule but in my mind 60-90k is logical for the valves & timing belt. The timing belt is about $600 at a dealer - should replace tensioners & water pump while in there. I would not go to any where near these items until I drove the camper enough to get to know it better. Take a few trips - put at least 500 miles on it, the more the better - you may find it runs better just being used. Many of these campers sit too much. Also with just one tank the difference in when different gas pumps cut off (you should not top off the gas tank) can throw off your calculations, but over 5 or more fill-ups of gas such stuff should average out.

[Derek up North]

The Toyota Maintenance Schedule for the V6 calls for both timing belt replacement and valve check/adjustment at 60k miles.

http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-buchanan/93fsm/maintenance/1maintena.pdf

[fred heath]

I hate reading ads with 20+ mpg claims. It gives people unrealistic expectations when they buy. I would like to see some REAL records that prove that they are getting that kind of mpg. I track every gallon of gas that I put in my MH so my numbers are accurate

Many of the smaller lightweight motor homes get this type of mileage.

My 1978 16' with 20R motor averaged between 22-24 documented mpg on a 3600 mile road trip. Around town 16-18 mpg.

A good tune-up, proper inflation on tires, and my favorite "synthetic" lube in the drivetrain.

There will be several naysayers respond to the synthetic comment, but this I'm convinced added to my mpg.

I found 55mph is the best speed for good mileage.

[MontanaChinook]

Nay! . Just kidding

[Derek up North]

I'm happy with Dino Oil. Here's where the Oil Nerds hang out and one of their discussions:-

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/1203069/1

I always prefer to get my 'Facts' from people who aren't selling a product. SAE? EPA? Consumer Reports?

I don't think the CHANGE to the friction part of the fuel consumption equation will be big enough to pay for the extra cost of the synthetic.

I don't think it's the Silver Bullet!

[MontanaChinook]

I was trying to comment without actually dragging us off course...

[Toobigboat2014]

Anyone know why the gas pedal is so hard to push?

[MontanaChinook]

Not from over here on the Internet, no.

My guess is that it's in the linkage. Get down on your back or side in front of the seat, see how and where the pedal connects. Take it apart. See if you can see where the resistance is. Or just spray some lubricant (avoiding the actual pedal so it's not all slippery) all over the linkages then work it back and forth and see if that helps.

You can also find the cable under the hood by looking under the hood, against the firewall, while someone pumps the gas. See what is moving. The cable and linkages there could maybe use some lubricating, too.

[Riverman77]

To add a little more to Montana's post above, I would specifically use "Tri-Flow" Teflon spray lubricant. It is much better than WD-40 and lasts longer. You might also try to get some of the spray lubricant directly up the throttle cable sleeve.

Tip: most motorcycle shops have a clamp on type of small tool (very inexpensive) that clamps directly onto any type of a typical motorcycle cable that allows a person to shoot spray lube (with a straw) right into the cable sleeve.

If you do what Zach said and also lube up your cable real good, I'm sure that little problem should be all fixed for you.

~Riverman77

[5Toyota]

WD 40 is good for killing paper wasps LOL

[Riverman77]

I use WD-40 for starting difficult campfires...really.

But, I don't recommend it others - because it is very dangerous!

[Bitsy Toy]

Congratulations on your motor home.

We have also found that the speed at which we travel makes a big difference in gas mileage. We have a 6 cylinder and we get from 11 to 15 mpg. If we travel on the freeway at 60 to 65+ we see 11 mpg.

Last time out, a couple weeks back, we decided to take the side roads home which kept us at a max. of 50 mph. We were amazed to find that we used 15 mpg (first time in the two years we have had it). We also saw some beautiful farmland and went through neighboring communities that we seldom see. We have decided that in the future we will to try to find alternate routes to our destination, As we have been plotting future trips though, we are finding that the additional miles required by using an alternate route can use up the "saved" mpg. Always seems to be a balancing act.

Mike and Kathi

[toyohome]

Spray the return spring and linkage under the hood. It worked for me!

[Lee & Joan]

Kind of strange but even climbing up and down mountain roads I can get 16 MPG, but get out on the highway and I can drop to 11 MPG. Speed does seem to be the factor, some of these mountain trips I am climbing up and down all day, some hills @ 20 MPH, seems like it would burn more gas doing that, but it doesn't. Nice flat freeway @ 65 MPH gives me the worst mileage. The last bit of throttle travel is much stiffer than the first half, at least on mine, so hard petal is because the petal is to the metal, as they say. Once I went on a trip and it ran like crap, but I went slow and got decent mileage. I got home and found the carbon contact on the distributor cap was gone, it had to jump 3/4" gap in there. On top of that the plug wires were shot. The more I drive it the less I push on the gas petal, I could not do that at first even though people said to do it, but I guess I am "Melding" with my machine more now.