Hi all,

I would like to start this thread by saying I have searched for a while about gas mileage issues, and that I have some questions specific to my situation. So, my car is a 1983 LE with 181,000 miles on it. When I first got it last fall, it was consistently getting ~13-15 mpg, mostly city. I thought this was ok, that it just needed a tune up. Back then it would run a little funny (There were noticeable "puffs" of exhaust and the engine sounded "lumpy", for lack of a better term) , but the power seemed alright and the mpg wasn't TOO bad, so I just dealt with it. This winter the gas mileage has gotten really bad. It went down to 10 mpg when it was snowy, and the tires were spinning, and I was warming it up. It recently has gotten down to 7.5 mpg (the weather isn't even that bad for MN). I plan on checking the spark plugs to see the color for tune, but the other thing I heard many others mention was vacuum leaks. I thought there was a way to test for these, but I am not getting any results from the search engine as far as how to do this. I would like it if someone told me how to do this and if you would tell me if I'm on the right track. I don't want to spend a LOT of money on the car as I plan on getting a newer RX-7 in the summer when I have more money. I just don't like this abysmal gas mileage. Thanks.

-JP

 

BTW, newer = not as many miles. Planning on sticking with the FB/SA. Also, I remembered today while I was driving that there may be another issue. My e-brake light will stay on sometimes even though the e-brake is in the down position. Is it possible that the brake could be stuck, actually affecting the mileage? Or is it probably just a bad sensor?