I have a 97 850 Wagon with 200,000+ (odometer stopped).

It runs well but gets bad gas milage. I don't drive that aggressively and only get about 19. Why is this?

Perhaps I need a tuneup? I've never used fuel-injector cleaner which I am skeptical of.... is this safe? What is a good brand?

Any ideas for improving my gas mileage?

 

19 City is not bad and on the highway its should get around 25. When was the last time it was tuned up? Look at the dates on the plug wires and you can tell how old they are. I would start with plugs, wires, dist. cap and rotor and see if that helps. Pretty easy DIY job too.

 

Seems about average. I have a 97 GLT with recent FULL tuneup and I am running 19MPH all day in the city. I do 90% city driving, but when I do Highway I see upwards of 27

 

I do mixed city and highway and I am averaging 21 MPG. If you are doing mainly city, 19 MPG is not bad. The combines fuel economy for an 850 turbo is rated at 19 MPG.

 

I get 25 mpg out of one of mine and 24 out of the other combined city/highway with the majority being highway. On a road trip I get 25 in one and 28+ in the other.

 

That's good to know, guys. Thank you.

So.... fuel injector cleaner? Good or bad?

Jim, I will look into the plug wires. Thanks

 

I do about 25 also, although since I have swithed to a non ethanol gas, I have gotten about 30 on highway. have'nt checked in town yet. I also use injector cleaner and tune it regularly(yes, myself). If you want to clean your injectors fully, use some seafoam. Great product! I also use Lucas once a month. A water wetter is good for your radiator. When I did get bad gas mileage, I found some hoses that had dry rot. Check those out. Hope this helps.

 

No big deal. I have used the Chevron Techron stuff, but just put a bottle of Lucas Oil Injector cleaner (Autozone for 5 bucks) and could tell a big difference. I also dropped a bottle of that stuff in my old 240 and WoW!

 

fuel injector cleaner good

 

I usually get around 20-22 with a non-turbo (I'd say my average is about 20.9). My driving is about 97% city and is typically short commutes (less than 6 miles per trip one-way). This seems to be about average based on what I have heard from fellow 850 drivers and it seems as though that is also the consensus here.

I've found BP fuel to be better in terms of MPG. I used to use Sunoco at times but stopped after noticing my MPG in the 18-19 range. Sunoco fuel has a good deal of ethanol from what I have heard. Higher octane fuel doesn't seem to make a difference--I've used all three grades of BP (87, 89, and 93) and have yet to notice a difference between them in terms of mileage or performance. I currently use BP exclusively in my vehicle.

 

I have the same type of communte (if you can call it that) about 2 each way and I am getting 18.8-19. right now on a turbo car. So your numbers are on par where you should be for a N/A car.

 

Thanks, Scott. I'm getting 18-19 -- so I'll try filling up with BP fuel. Thanks for the tip.

 

Today I was stuck in a parking lot so I decided to go through the Volvo manuals with the intent of learning something new. I looked through the regular manual and then came to the little booklet where the Volvo dealer places a stamp for mileage checks.

There was a paragraph in this booklet about gasoline. The 850 can use fuel with ethanol, but the ethanol content should be less than 10%. Check with your local station to see what the ethanol content of the suspect fuel is. High ethanol content can lead to lower gas mileage and supposedly can impair performance of the vehicle.

 

Larger metro areas will have the 10% ethanol in the fuel. If you get out in the country, you can find pure gas, but it's not easy to determine because pumps at little mom&pop stations are not always labeled well. The feds want to bump that up to 15 or 20 percent and I feel bad for all the older cars (my Torino included) which will see deterioration of rubber fuel system parts as a result. 1996 and newer model cars won't be affected as badly as far as repairs. They claim it's for emissions reasons but to be honest, it doesn't make a difference and increases emissions in vehicles not designed to run on primarily ethanol, or E85. Google it and you'll find all sorts of information on ethanol. E85 around here is about 30 cents cheaper than E10 gas. It isn't worth it because a car running E85 will get half to 3/4 of the fuel mileage of the same car running E10.

Take a new Chevy Impala for example. On regular gas it gets an EPA estimate of 19/29. With E85 it gets only 14/22. That is roughly a 25% loss of efficiency. So in 1000 miles on regular gas, you will use 41.667 gallons and spend $95.83 at $2.30 a gallon, but on E85 you use 55.556 gallons and spend $111.11 at $2.00 a gallon. Not worth it at all! E85 would have to be priced at $1.72 to break even, and that's a 60-cent spread and nothing we'd ever see.

 

If anything, E85 is just a band-ad for the fuel shortage issues that we will be facing in the future. The only two real technologies that work are all electric or hydrogen. Hydrogen would be the best in the long run, but will take the longest to develop.