RE: 88' getting very bad gas mileage

[Colin <cwass99@home.com>]

     I can't imagine that a dying alternator would kill your mileage like that,
but it certainly could be the cause of your gauge being bit on the wonky side.
     Have you checked to make sure the gas tank isn't leaking?  I ask because
there was a recall on Sciroccos for gas tanks that could develop seam leaks.  I
took mine in to get it done, no charge for the replacement (as an interesting
note, they also busted the brake lines removing the tank, so they replaced those
free as well) about 1 year ago.  A leaky tank would probably look a lot like
you were burning more gas than you should, and if you never park indoors, it
would be pretty easy to miss.  Especially because it could very possibly only
leak until the residual fuel pressure was released (that's what mine was
doing).  By the time you came back to it after parking it, all the leaked fuel
is evaporated leaving no evidence of the problem.
     Just a thought.  There are probably as many ways for your mileage to go to
hell as there are people to tell you about them.  How's it running?  Does it
seem to lack power?  Any noticeable changes in the idle?  Any of those things
would point to engine problems that could cause lousy gas consumption.
     Good luck.

Cheers,
Colin


On 29-Nov-01 M. W. wrote:
> In the past couple of days, I've been getting VERY bad mileage on my 88'
> 16v. I havn't caculated the exact number but I think its somewhere in the
> neighborhood of 12-16 miles per gallon. ACK. I've put about 35-45 miles on
> it and the guage is sitting is at 3/4. I've noticed the guage acting a bit
> odd, when I'm moving down the highway it'll read between 3/4 and full, but
> when I'm idling it will read the previous amount initially and then slowly
> make its way down to 3/4. I noticed this a few days before when I thought I
> had a little under 1/2 a tank only to find it read 1/4 in the parking lot. I
> thought maybe the guage was just wrong, but driving it a bit more put it
> down to 1/8th and when I fueled up I put 10.3 gallons in. Last time I took
> it into a shop I was told the alternator was noisy and should be replaced
> soon. I think it's pretty much at that time now as I've had a couple
> instances while driving around a parking lot in low gear and my battery
> light would blink on momentarily. The car is also due for an oil change, not
> to mention I STILL havn't gotten around to replacing the fuel injector seals
> to try to fix the unsteady idle. Any ideas? Is it likely that my alternator
> is not providing enough power and is killing my gas mileage? Could that also
> be the reason why my fuel guage is acting strange? Should I try to get ahold
> of a new alternator or a rebuilt? Etrik mentioned to me that maybe I just
> need to replace the brushes...
> 
> 88' 16v
> Fort Lewis, WA
> 
> Thanks,
> Matt Wagner
> mattwagner@softhome.net
> 
> 
> 
> 
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