There must be a leak in one of the manifolds....or something

m2736185 · Post by **m2736185** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:14 am

I am a little disappointed in my 03 SXT ATX MPG. I finally replaced the head and the timing belt got it on the road and its giving me 23 MPG. I seafoamed it and replaced the plugs and ignition cables and threw in my old CAI and im still at 23 MPG. My 00 MTX ran like crap and overheated about every other month, but I still got no less than 30 MPG on that. I am thinking there is a leak perhaps in my intake or exhaust manifold....whats the best way to test for that. I did replace the gasket in my exhaust manifold but it does sound a little loud.

jT · Post by jT » Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:08 am

mine is the same.. at least in lost MPG.. dont know exactly what i'm getting but i's like 220 miles to the tank.. used to be closer to 300..

also loss of power.. also louder than it used to be.. have not looked into anything though.

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:26 am

WINTER GAS

m2736185 · Post by **m2736185** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:51 am

maybe....

ZeroChad · Post by **ZeroChad** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:09 am

Did you replace the intake manifold gaskets? I had a substantial vaccum leak through there.

excon · Post by **excon** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:04 pm

what are your driving habits like? are you doing a lot of city driving? Are you constantly downshifting on the highway? etc...

m2736185 · Post by **m2736185** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 4:51 pm

Most of my driving is highway maybe 15% city. I just drove from NY to FL at about 80 MPH the whole way. My avg was about 26 MPG...which really sux compared to my 00 Neon I had an average of 35 MPG. I didnt tihnk their would be such a big difference between ATX and MTX gas milage.

Post by **occasional demons** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 5:00 pm

Do you have a tach? Can you tell if it is actually shifting into 4th, and the TC is locking? If you have a tach, you should see when the TC engages, and the shifts. If the t'stat isn't up to snuff, as in the temp isn't getting warm enough, it will not shift into 4th either.

Yes an ATX will not get near the mileage that an MTX will, at least in most cases. V6 Sundance/Shadows are the one exception. Having owned an ATX and an MTX version of both, the ATX actually did better. Tho the MTX was still more fun.

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 5:24 pm

80mph isn't exactly the sweet spot

55mph will probably yield the best mpg's

and most road rage