Worse than average gas mileage?

I recently bought a '93 Tracker with the 1.6 liter and has 156000 kms on it. No frills, but I absolutely love it. It runs like a top, except that I'm only getting about 18 mpg. From what I've read, about 25 is the norm; I'd be happy to top 20. I drive very conservatively, and did a tune up on it, putting in platinum plugs even.

From what I can tell, the previous owner was pretty good at maintaining it. I suppose I could do a compression test on it, but that sort of mileage is relatively low. I can appreciate that this could be effected by a number of things, but being new to the tracker family, is there anything obvious I should check? Again, it runs perfectly smooth and has no obvious quirks through RPMs. I've read that a header will raise the horsepower by about 10%. Worthwhile?

Thanks!

I presume that you do not have a check engine light shining at you, or perhaps the bulb is burned out or missing (like on my '92 when I bought it). Did you do wires, cap and rotor while you were doing the plugs?

Check your emission controls and sensors, as well as all vacuum lines. Any of these will throw off your mileage, and may not cause the CEL to come on.

Are you driving with the hubs dialed in? The increased drag from the front axle will reduce gas mileage as well.

Good luck and keep us up to date.

I would also check the timing to be sure it is correct.

check each wheel and make sure it is rotating freely. and make sure hubs are not lock in and make sure you are in 2 wheel drive.

Ditch the platinum plugs.. In all the cars I have worked on copper cores are the best I personally use NGK and use NGK on my 10 sec Eclipse and on my 01 Camaro SS. Also what fuel are you using octane wise. 89 octane yields better MPG than 93.
Do you have a hole in your exhaust?
Your mileage figured from city driving or highway?
Do you have oversized tires?
Do you lug a lot of stuff around in your tracker?
Are your tire properly inflated?
A header will not add 10% it'll add 5-10 hp roughly with exhaust also.

If you install the header and a free(r) flowing exhaust your MPGs will raise along with HP.. However if you go too big you lose back pressure that a Normally Aspirated 4 cylinder engine needs and will result in less torque down low and hurt you on MPG.

my .02 cents.

Well, I'm not sure the condition was there when I posed the question, but I recently developed a serious gas leak. I'll see how things pan out once I get this fixed. :banghead:

about your gas leak. i had the same problem on my 94. have some one turn the key on to power the fuel pump. look in the back passenger rear wheel well above the frame. there should be a 2 1/2" (roughly) fuel line that goes out of the tank and into the fuel pump. i lost about 1/2 my gas before i checked that. that hose is natorious for rotting, splitting and popping. hope this helps



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