Gas Mileage Cut in Half!

[cmcgill]

My 1985 1.9 liter Westy has suddenly gone from 19 mpg to 9 mpg. The van runs and idles fine. I can not smell any gas and have not detected any leaks in the vicinity of the gas tank or motor. Nothing is leaking on the ground. Automatic Trans is shifting fine. Runs at city or highway speeds with no coughing but is drinking gas like crazy. Any ideas? thank you.

[phil]

I know this might not help much but my '84 Westy was using a lot of gas and running a little funny. One day I was looking at the engine and found this loose wire hanging there. I connected it where it looked like it should go. Viola! the van ran great and my milegage went back to normal.  Sorry, but I don't remember what wire it was and where it connected to except that it was in the engine compartment and actually connected somewhere on the engine. So my suggestion is, give the engine a good look, see if any wires are broken or not connected solidly. It made a big difference for me.

[cmcgill]

Always a good idea. Thank you for the reminder.

[Stanagon]

Phil, any chance that was the 02 sensor wire? That's the first thing that popped into my head.



Something is probably giving the computer a bad signal and telling it to run too rich. A very black sooty exhaust tip could be a sign of rich running.



Basically you need to go through all the fuel injection component tests in the Bentley manual to start sorting out what might be the problem.



-Stan

[cmcgill]

Thanks for the info. I did replace the O2 sensor before this happened. Maybe the sensor wasn't any good.

[phil]

Whoa, I WAS getting a black sooty exhaust! I remember driving through the adirondacks and climbing hills and looking in the rear view mirror and seeing black sooty exhaust coming from the van.

I still don't remember where the wire connected, but I am pretty sure it was a red wire.