Base 2.4L - Poor Fuel Mileage??

Just got a super basic 98' Taco regular cab with the 2.4L. It is pretty well maintained. Only gets 19-20mpg though, regardless of how it's driven. Supposedly it is to get significantly better than this. What am i missing??

It has 85k mi on it and i've looked over the easy stuff. Air filter, plugs, wires, all fluids, alignment, brakes, are all working properly or near new. Haven't replaced the fuel filter or done a valve adjustment.

Any common causes for poor fuel economy with this car? No CEL or funky engine performance. Plus, it just passed CA smog with super clean emissions.

At first glance, i'd assume maybe an O2 sensor, fuel filter, or coolant temp sensor, but there are no codes and CA smog woulda caught super rich running. Can the mechanical clutch driven engine fan cause poor mileage? Perhaps the clutch failed in the locked position and it's always blowing as if it's uber hot out?

 

manual or auto?

run A/C?

what roads do you drive?

how fast do you go?

I could think of more but anything and everything can have a factor for mileage

 

Mass air flow sensor if you haven't looked at that. And clean the throttle body as well. And what brand plugs and wires are you running?

 

what size tires?

 

Oem plugs and sumitomo wires - dealer installed not long ago

215/70/15 I think. Definitely 215 on 15"s. Kinda odd I know, but that's what it came with

T body cleaned at the dealer recently. I'll clean the MAF

I drive about 35% street, the rest highway or highway in traffic. Keep it under 80 mph...
Even on an 800 mi trip I got 19 mpg, but I was constantly pushing 90mph

 

that little 4-banger isn't gonna be happy running up there. sure it can but a 3mph breeze will make it struggle.

try going no more than 65mph on a tank and see if it makes any difference. traffic is a killer too. never said where you lived or what kind of roads (street isn't very telling)

you can edit your profile and it will show location and everything below your username. btw Welcome to TW and happily owning a Tacoma

 

That's about what I get in my 02 auto 2.4 19-21mpg with fresh air filter and fuel filter, 02 sensor and spark plugs, recently changed mainly drive in town and not much highway miles.

 

Streets suck here. Windy, hilly, lots of potholes. Sure that doesn't help my mileage, but i'm only in that stuff 20% of the time. Other streets i drive are nice and smooth/flat.

Never use AC.

Sure, pushing the 2.4l at 90mph is gonna give bad mileage, but is 19 mpg overall average normal??? Thought this thing could do 22 city, 27 highway?... Shouldn't this thing get at least 20+ with a theoretical 50/50 split city/hwy??

 

4 speed AT

https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/14467.shtml

5 speed MT
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/14468.shtml

 

Well shit... lol. 90mph???

I have the same truck (have two tacos). 98, single cab, 4 banger, stick shift (Im lucky it has AC).
I get 28mpg Highway and 26 city. I Keep it under 70 on the highway and drive it like an old man on the street.

 

Ah, perhaps i'm chasing problem that's nonexistant! Figured i was supposed to easily get mileage like Indetrucks.

I'll try driving super gently and slow for a couple tanks and see how it goes

 

I would assume common sense going 90 mph your gas mileage would suffer horribly and like others have said the faster you go the more wind you fight. The truck doesn’t Weight anything. I go 65 mph now on interstate and I get around 28.6 MPG I went 258 miles on just 9 gallons of fuel.Awesome mileage from a pickup.

 

I get 21.5-22.6 mpg on my '01 2.4l 2wd auto with 215/70/15. I drive mostly highway @ 55 mph but drive 1 mile uphill to get home.

 

. I have 205/60/15 on my Tacoma and that’s why my mileage is probably better also.

 

I would figure your gas mileage to be better going only 55mph I would expect you to get at least 25mpg. I drive 85 miles a day all interstate to work and back. I go 60mph and get 28-29 mpg. I would remove your air intake and clean your throttle body really good with a rag and old tooth brush and carb cleaner. That’s what I did and I have never in my life seen a throttle body as bad as mine was. I also bought a bottle of sea foam for $10 and ran 5 ounces in tank 5 ounces in my oil and 5 ounces thru the brake booster line then let it sit for 30 min. I didn’t get much smoke at all but my mpg has went up since throttle body cleaning and sea foam treatment. I would give both of those a shot cleaning throttle body and sea foam and disconnect your battery to let it relearn. I promise you will see a difference. My intake I recently did the elbow mod but I tweaked it on my Tacoma. I removed it completely going into fender well and then the part that’s s shaped I cut it into a 90 and turned it toward the grille of the engine I used some gasket maker and a hose clamp to make sure it was secure to my air box. I think this helped my mpg and I also removed the resonator and put a brass plug and a hose clamp. This all didn’t take me much time and has helped my mpg go up. Best of luck. Jake.

 

, I just purchased an 03 regular cab, with 82k ,automatic two wheel drive 2.4 taco with 235 tires all the way around .My gas mileage is just barely 20 miles per GL.all highway driving no air conditioning, windows up , going between 70 and 75 miles per hour. New plugs new air filter I thought I should get at least 22 or 23 or better . I'm kind of disappointed . I'm going to delete my resonator and my catalytic converter maybe this will help some.