Date:         Sun, 24 Mar 2002 09:07:37 -0600
Reply-To:     Jeremy Speer <jspeer@POBOX.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jeremy Speer <jspeer@POBOX.COM>
Subject:      Gas Mileage Question
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Folks,

I got a bit of a surprise today at the gas pump.

A few weeks back I drove my new (to me) Westy up from St. Louis to
Minneapolis through a very nasty storm. What with hauling at least 50 pounds
of ice on the undercarriage and 40 MPH headwinds, i expected the gas mileage
to be low... and it was... about 15 to 15.5 MPG (doing the math in my head
at the pump).

Flash forward to yesterday when i took a nice leisurely drive out to New
Richmond and back...127.7 total miles. Since the St. Louis trip i've
replaced the coil, dist. cap & rotor, ignition wires, switched to RedLine
tranny oil, and melted all the ice off the bottom of the vehicle.

Filled the tank this morning: 8.1 gallons. For 127.7 miles that's 15.7 MPG.

What's wrong with this picture?

The engine ran fine and strong when i bought it... runs fine and strong now
(with less bucking!). Seems to run a bit hot (needle about half out of the
LED all the time at speed, fully above in traffic).

Any suggestions on where to begin? Or should i just accept this as normal
for my vehicle?

Thanks,

-jspeer

'89 Westy still not-yet-named (Thirsty?)