Model: 98 volvo s70 glt
I would say I am getting between 13 and 16 miles per gallon with just me in the car. I am not a fast driver and I dont gun it very often. On the freeway I get around 17. When I have other people in the car I get around 11.
I make two 3 miles drives to and from work. Stop and go traffic I guess, but nothings to heavy. When I start going I let it hit around 2500rpm before I start to cruise at around 1700rpm.

Whats bad:
Air pump is dead-- if anyone is selling one pm me!

Could this be affecting my gas mileage?
Also the car has about 208k miles on it. So whats parts could be wearing that would affect the mileage in that?

 

Any other codes in the system?
Last tuneup?

 

tune up: unknown - did just do an oil change, tire rotation
codes: will be getting scanned again on the 22nd

 

If you haven't had it tuned up in the last 30,000 miles have it done.

That could be the bad gas milage issue.

 

Congrats with the high mileage. Hope my volvo makes it that far. Have you noticed the mileage getting worse slowly over time, or did you just notice things recently? I agree that a tune up can help. Something has to be out of whack. You should be getting nearly double the mpgs. My brother's Expedition gets 19! Besides plugs, wires, and cap check these:
tire pressure should be mid 30s or better. By the time tires 'look' soft, they could be as low as 18psi or so.
fuel system cleaner. you could use a bottle every 3000 miles or a little with each fillup.
oil system flush. something like autoRx to flush out sludge. With 200K+ miles you're bound to have some.

I say this because my last couple cars have all (thankfully) been high mileage cars. They all pretty much kept to their rated MPG throughout their lifetimes.

 

Yeah I will check all those things an get back to ya. The high miliage is a plus and negative. To start I bought the car for really cheap when it had 204K. Now on my trip down to sanfransisco,CA it got 25mpg (I live in seattle,WA) But my parents were driving some of it and they tend to stay in the 55mph zone. Honestly I dont know wether its my driving or what, but with gas being as it is, its taking a chunk. Another negative to high milieage is I now ge tthe pleasure of putting in a new power steering rack, left front wheel bearing, front stur assemblies, air pump, ect(All several hundred dollor jobs) Also on a minor note the car seems to be running hot and staying hot for a long time after I turn it off.

 

Your thermostat might be bad as well. That will also contribute to the bad gas milage as well.

 

well I think a major part of the hotness, is all the dirt in teh engine bay. I am gettign some cleaner, and will be cleaning everything off, well atleast the top of everything off since I have no way to lift the car up.
Question:
How would a bad thermostat affect gas mileage?

 

Changes the temp. of the engine and what it runs at.
If the computer things the car is running cooler it will apply more gas to the engine.
If it thinks the car is running hotter it will lean it out. (which actually makes the engine run hotter.)
Alout of people think running a car without a thermostat will make a car run cooler.
They are WRONG on that. It actually makes the car run hotter and maybe even overheat.

When you have no thermostat the coolant moves to fast through the system to be cooled by the radiator.

The thermostat slows the flow of the coolant through the engine and system to be properly cooled off.

Now the thermostats on these cars usually break and restrict the flow through the system.
Builds up excessive pressure as well. Sometimes even causes failures of items in the system.

The thermostat is pretty cheap and takes about 5-10 minutes to replace.

 

how do i know if its broken? Its not stuck, and it doesnt automatically go to the same place. Would it send a code? Also after I clean off the engine I will see if it still seems as hot. May also be doing a raditor flush soon.

-Volvos have 5 spark plugs in them? -random question I know, but I relaize I just dont know how many they have.

 

Yes Volvo these engines have 5 spark plugs.

You will have to remove the thermostat to see if it is broke.

ALSO Do not wash the engine with a hose. It will fill the spark plug holes with water and cause more problems.

You have to wipe everything off or use Brake cleaner.

 

was planning to use a spray can with the solvent then wipe it off, that wont hurt anything right?
I have VADIS so I will look into the procedure of removing the thermostat.

 

No that won't hurt anything.

 

well, i figured out why the car stays hot for so long, the big fan right behind teh radator doesnt seem to ever turn on whether the car is on or off. Just one more things I will have to replace Starting to wonder whether I should keep this car or not........