Finally I have some results. But before the actual numbers I'd like to say, that I have auto and I didn't drive like grandma at all, I used A/C, had road trip to Chicago, IL (70-80mph) and so on. And still have mpg improvement: from 26 to 30-31 mpg. ME like it

 

Were you led by remarks in this forum to remove the EFI fuse? Were you trying to educate the ECU to something? Is removing the battery a better way to teach the ECU? Under what situations does the ECU need this? When you change air filters, remove the snorkel, change gas octane, change the muffler? How often does the ECU need reminding, or can it remember, or does it forget? What about regular, pre-emptive resetting, to freshen up the ECU and head off any possible problems? So confusing

 

I WANT MY MOMMEEEEEEE!!! WAAAAAAA!!!

 

Ok, after about 2 weeks of being "snorkel-less" I've driven down to the gas light coming on..

I removed the airbox snorkel, and replace the stock filter with a K&N Dropin filter. When the gas light came on, I calculated my MPG to be about ... 23.5 MPG...

Am I missing something? Why such low MPG? It is because it's my daily driver? But here's the catch.. I only drive about 1/4 a mile to work and back home every day.. and also I had 1 100mile trip on this tank too. A couple days of about 20-30 mile around town trips as well.

Could this be affecting my MPG? Or should I look at popping the ECU fuse to reset it? Or will it take another 2-3 tanks to work out the kinks? Before the snorkel mod and filter, I was about 28-29MPG..

 

1/4 mile drives will kill your fuel efficiency. If you haven't changed your driving habits that's not the reason for the change, though. I'd stick with the mod for a bit to see if maybe it's a math error or just a one-off flukey thing. Wouldn't hurt to double-check that the filter's properly in place, I suppose.

 

As mentioned in previous posts, these cars get CRAPPY mileage until they're warmed up, and with a 1/4 mile drive, it sounds like yours just isn't ever warming up.
Some folks here have had a bad tank or two right after doing these mods, so it may just take a couple before things settle in for you, as Gs noted.
The ECU reset may help, too, but I'm no expert in that field.

 

If I missed it somewhere I am sorry but what kind of mileage were you getting before you removed the snorkel? My mpg increased even more after a couple tanks. I agree with the above posters about the 1/4 mile drive killing your mileage. Do you just start it up and take off driving like normal, or do you let it warm up a bit? I try to drive very easy until the blue temp light goes off. Yeah I would stick it out a couple tanks and see if it increases after that. Oh yeah and I would go ahead and reset the ECU. It won't hurt anything and could possibly help you out.

 

Yeha sounds like on the brake on the gas for that 1/4 mile hey why not WALK!! Even a half mile is quicker to walk and way better for the engine. Not getting it warmed up you will probably loose your exhaust system pretty quick with all the acids and water trapped in it. Heck for 1/4 mile you should be able to start it up gas it once in a gear and then coast the rest of the way.

 

Oh fer gods sake, you kiddin me? A quarter mile?
WALK! or hop on a bike!

 

I would, but with my job, at any given time in the day, I might be called to make a run to another store about 10 miles away..

I'm sure it has to do with the short drive. I know I could walk, but given that I might have to run somewhere else, and that all the resturaunts in the area are about 1.5 miles away, if i get hungry, I have to go get food..

 

btw, things will change in a couple weeks where i'll be moving and the short drive will be irrelevant..

 

Well I just did the snorkle removal and filled up a fresh tank.
It takes me a little while to go through a tank but I will keep y'all posted on MPG of the next several tanks. We'll see if my MPG gets worse before it gets better.
37 mpg here I come

 

after reading all 17 pages, I am going to do this. My drive is 98% highway, 2% street. Right now I average about 33-35mpg already, but I am a conservative driver in it. It has 11k miles.

The only thing I may try as well is get larger tubing and route it to the side.

Is there any place that may sell K&N filters, such as a pep boys, napa, o'reilly's? I live in Oklahoma, so I don't know if these same stores will be everywhere, they are just generic here. Any help is appreciated.

BoxOffice, thanks for the thread!

 

My pleasure!
Pep Boys (out here in CA, anyway) stock them now, but there are also several discounters on-line you can order from.
Good luck!

 

Wow, I just discovered another advantage to this mod.
Now that the weather is warmer, I've been driving around town with the windows down (which I seldom do), and man, does that exhaust tone sound great! Definitely healthier sounding than stock, with a deep, mellow tone that sounds awesome without being obnoxiously loud. Coolness! :D

 

I feel your pain g0nk. I have the same driving pattern. I live & work in town, as a city employee I drive between buildings in town 88% of the time. I average around the low 20's for MPG. An odd tank her and there with 65% highway jumps me up to around 28 mpg. Even worse in the winter... not to mention I've only got 1400 miles on the car at this point....

 

Woohoo an hour and a half reading this and I'm finally thru it all! Sounds like a good mod and will definately try it soon.

 

Finished my first tank after the snorkle removal. Mostly city driving and I got a .3 MPG improvement over my last tank that was 150 miles of tailwind freeway trip.

35.71 MPG on this tank (x1.03 adjusted)

And I have not changed my driving habits at all (except I don't redline much anymore)

 

Well, I thought I'd toss up an update now that the weather's changed, and so has my MPG. Now that I've got a mostly-local-city-driving only commute, and the temperature's been in the 95-105 degree range, so the A/C is on almost full time, the odds are now pretty well stacked against me, mileage-wise. Regardless, I still haven't really been driving all that conservatively - at least not like when I was really TRYING to get the best MPG - but somehow, I'm still averaging in the 33-34 range. I even had a recent best tank of almost 36! Not bad for lagging around town with the air cranked just about all the time!
On the other hand, my worst tank ever was a couple of weeks ago, running A/C constantly, and a few too many jumps on the gas pedal, for just a tick over 30 mpg. Also not so bad really, for the way I was driving, especially on sticky 205s. Some people would kill for that kind of mileage on their best tank!
Did I mention the exhaust tone sounds _____in', too?!

De-Snorking Ruleth!

 

Thanks for the update Box! Anything 30 and over (mpg wise, lol) is pretty decent, especially there in cali with the high price of gas (what does it cost there in OC anyway? Here its $2.82). Refresh my memory about your I/H/E, I know what you have for an intake , are you running a header yet? And what kind of exhaust?

Since my car is a daily driver Ill probably stick with the stock size tires (lighter rims and some better tires one of these days). My next big mileage mod will be a 'fog warmer' http://www.brightgreen.us/photos/ , funds are tight right now because of all the rain we've had here in texas, I should be getting all the overtime I want and then some this time of year, but not so far, its like spring time just hotter.

After the fog device Im leaning toward a 4-2-1 header, but only if it will improve my mileage.