18mpg with 2.2 N/A?

[Drakien]

I topped off my car today and I only got 18mpg.
81 miles, 4.4gallons = roughly 18mpg.

I will let you know what is done to my car.
Cone filter, 2.25" cat-back exhaust, cobb pulley, neon coil upgrade, oil catch can. This is a 2.2 out of a 95 legacy. I am running stock computer. Manual transmission.

Does anyone else get this low mileage?!

I take the freeway to and from work, I do very little street driving. I do have my spurts of lead foot, but its not all the time.

I think my car is running way rich, when I take off, I see smoke from behind my car upon acceleration. My friend was following me one time and I accelerated and he said he smelt unburnt fuel. :-? I know I don't have a fuel leak.

Any suggestions? *Other than drive like a granny.

[mike-tracy]

Sounds like a dead o2 sensor. Is your check engine light working?

[Drakien]

Yeah Check engine works. It comes on when I turn the key, then goes off from there. I can try swapping out O2 Sensors.
I think I might reset my computer tomorrow.

I have a rally meet Sunday, and I don't want to go through gas faster than I go through Dr Pepper. lol

[Drakien]

Well reseting my computer seemed to make it worse. I can watch my gas gauge drop as I drive. lol
I am going to check my O2 sensors and maybe run some Seafoam through the car, and check my spark plugs, tomorrow after work.

[ouch1011]

Are you running stock size tires? Does your speedo read accurately?

Also, don't freak out based off of 1 tank. You should check your average mileage over 3-4 tanks and see how it does.

[anothernord]

The fact that there was smoke upon acceleration points to a bad O2 sensor. Replace it and your mileage will be happier.

[Drakien]

Stock tire size. Speedo is accurate.
I will try swapping out O2 Sensors after payday. :D

[mike-tracy]

Another thing I was thinking was how my outback had a leaky (rusty) fuel filler neck. Needless to say my fuel economy suffered. :grin:

[Drakien]

Yeah I checked that first thing. :/ And I took off the plastic piece, and it looked fine, and I didn't smell any fuel either.

[ouch1011]

Another thing I was thinking was how my outback had a leaky (rusty) fuel filler neck. Needless to say my fuel economy suffered. :grin:

That made me lol for some reason.

[Drakien]

Alright so I think I found out the culprit here!

I had a nasty exhaust leak. One of the welds on my header got a nasty crack and over time un-welded half the pipe. So, I tossed the stock header back on. Also while doing that, I found that the ground wire on the O2 sensor was snapped and just touching. So I replaced the O2 Sensor. Which was black as could be and somewhat oily. Which brings me to my next fix.

I got rid of the smoke that was in my exhaust by switching the Oil catch can over to the oil breather for the heads instead of the crank vent, then ran from the catch can into the intake. Bam! no more smoke in exhaust, seemed to help with the running rich issue as well. So I killed 2 birds with 1 stone there!

While doing all this I noticed I had a nice oil leak from the camshaft seal on the rear of the passenger head. So I am hoping to get that fixed as well, and since I get to change my oil, I figured doing an oil pan gasket wouldn't hurt.

[DarkPhoenix]

There's no gasket on the oil pan, just sealant.

[Drakien]

There's no gasket on the oil pan, just sealant.

Stock, no there is not a gasket, however, I am putting a cork gasket on, with RTV Sealant for added protection :wink:

[DarkPhoenix]

There's no gasket on the oil pan, just sealant.

Stock, no there is not a gasket, however, I am putting a cork gasket on, with RTV Sealant for added protection :wink:

Nice, added protection FTW!

[harrymaneuvers]

I just wanted to follow up and see if your gas mileage issues were completely gone???

I am getting bad mileage without any cel codes and I am thinking it is just time for new O2 sensors.

[ryanmiller]

i have a '98 outback with a '95 2.2l in it as well. when i first got it, it was getting 24ish city\28ish highway. then it started to feel like it needed a tune up. no power, and didnt like hills at all. i figured i would do a tune up. i started with new plugs and wires. nothing. then i changed the timing belt and water pump since it started to overheat on the highway. i also got a light weight crank pulley form perrin, figuring that i have to take the stock one off anyway. that didnt help any. it felt worse. then i took it to a shop to get checked. we changed the fuel filter, o2 sensor, knock sensor, and checked the timing belt again. we checked the compression, 130psi on all cylinders. then it felt even worse. my mpgs went below 20 on the highway, it didnt even make it 250 miles on 15 gallons. i figured i better just take it to a subaru mechanic since i pissed away around 700 bucks and there was no difference. the subaru mechanic had it for 15 minutes and during which he drove it and checked the pressure of the cooling system, and knew it was a head gasket right a way. now i have to spend a grand to get it fixed. i should have just gone there in the first place. i wonder how much of the new parts i didnt really have to put on. but, it will be nice to know that there will be nothing to go wrong for a long time. so, if your power is down, dont rule out a bad head gasket too.

[TGX4776]

my power isn't down but I need to do my exhaust. hopefully in two or so paychecks. Fuel econ is shite

[ryanmiller]

if i dont sell my generic short ram intake at the swap meet this weekend, i am going to put that on. also i will be saving up for a header and i am going to make my own exhaust with a magnaflow muffler. i just got to get the head gasket repair paid for first.

[harrymaneuvers]

I have been reading posts here for almost two years now and this is the first time I have EVER heard of a 2.2 blowing a headgasket... someone correct me if I am wrong but that seems to be exclusively a 2.5 issue... which would be the first thing to consider if your mechanic didnt realize that you had a 2.2 in your outback.

Are you throwing a check engine light at all?

Next question would be: Can you verify that your check engine light is working properly? (watch the light when you start your car)

I recently thought that I was getting horrible mileage... In the city... i was lucky if I got 275 miles on my 2.2L (then filling up with 14.5 gallons!). But then I went on a long distance drive the other day and spend a half tank on the freeway. I got 200 miles of hiway cruising before my needle was at the half way point on the gas gauge. This is right where it should be. I know because I drive from Sacramento to Portland (600 miles) every couple months.

So I chalked it up to city driving and the fact that I had moved from 7 miles away from my office to 1/4 mile to my office. The fact that I was starting my car, driving 1/4 mile and parking 4 times a day (I go home for lunch), I figured was causing my drop in mileage.

But now I am suspect of my alternator being on its way out... I have began to notice the lights dimming while at idle when I step on the brakes and use the window switches at the same time.

I will be watching this post closely because I am a stickler about gas mileage.

I am driving to Portland next weekend and I am really looking forward to seeing what type of mileage I get.

FYI be alert of the fact that city driving with the AC on will DRASTICALLY reduce MPG... I know it did for me.



Best regards,

[98outbackpdx]

But now I am suspect of my alternator being on its way out... I have began to notice the lights dimming while at idle when I step on the brakes and use the window switches at the same time.


yeah you might want to fix that alternator before you come to Portland, it took me 11 hours to get to thunder valley casino (sac area) from Portland and not exactly doing the speed limit. and i am sure you know the drive, but from what i found was cell signal very spotty from redding till past cottage grove, (with att and an iphone 3g.) also not a lot of big (safe) places to do car repairs along I-5. also a week battery might cause the problem you are having, i had a bad battery, alt checked out fine, replaced battery drove to California and back to Oregon 3 weeks after i get back to Oregon the alternator went out on me, so i was lucky.

[mike-tracy]

I have been reading posts here for almost two years now and this is the first time I have EVER heard of a 2.2 blowing a headgasket... someone correct me if I am wrong but that seems to be exclusively a 2.5 issue... which would be the first thing to consider if your mechanic didnt realize that you had a 2.2 in your outback.

The HG's blew in my 96 Legacy L's 2.2. Needless to say, I wasn't sad with the power increase with the 2.5 I installed. (yes, the 2.5's HG's went as well, but were replaced with the updated part number and at 260k on the block is still running strong, albeit noisily)

[harrymaneuvers]

Yea I will most likely be doing the alternator this week. I am just undecided if I want to get a used alt with a 3 year parts and labor warranty for $50, a used sti alternator with pigtail for $70 with same warranty. Or just get the $79 reman one from the dealership with a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty.

What do you do between Sacramento and Portland???

I have made that drive more times that I can count.

I grew up in Sherwood but now live down here in Roseville... Not more than 10 minutes from thunder. I know a good amount of people who work there too..


Interesting about the HG going on the 2.2L. What mileage did it have on it???

[mike-tracy]

Interesting about the HG going on the 2.2L. What mileage did it have on it???

Mine had about 160k

[98outbackpdx]

What do you do between Sacramento and Portland???

I grew up in Sherwood but now live down here in Roseville... Not more than 10 minutes from thunder. I know a good amount of people who work there too..

i met my dad at thunder valley, won $350 on a slot machine :grin: , my dad lives in Livermore, (east bay) i live in The Dalles Oregon but am in Portland a lot, it was my first time driving down by myself and most likely will not go back to California again soon (feuding in the family :smt014 .) plus it may be psycological but when i hit the california oregon border and got into california it was like a wall of stress came over me, and on my way back once i hit oregon it was like it all of the stress lifted.

[jey]

I am just undecided if I want to get a used alt with a 3 year parts and labor warranty for $50, a used sti alternator with pigtail for $70 with same warranty. Or just get the $79 reman one from the dealership with a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty.


Skip the STi alternator - no point in messing with that. Just buy what you're willing to spend - you can even get an alternator with a lifetime warranty at Autozone.

[Drakien]

I got better mileage. Still not optimal, I did also start smelling gas a bit if I was doing some hard cornering. Come to find out, my gas cap was leaking. Made a mess of the side of my car. :( So I replaced that this evening, and so far no gas smell or mess!