# 2002 Nissan Pathfinder SE Bad gas mileage



## Frongo78 (Dec 8, 2010)

Please help. I just purchased a 2002 Pathfinder SE and I believe I am getting very bad gas mileage. I am currently getting 350-400KMs a tank. I have never driven an SUV before so I am not sure if this is normal. Have others experienced this? What can I do to fix this issue? How many kms should I be getting on a full tank?


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## dgangle (Nov 22, 2009)

that's 220-250 miles in 23 gallons (assuming the tank is run dry) or 9.5 to 10.8MPG. That may be excessive but depending on how/where you drive and the maintenance history of the truck, those may be realistic numbers. I get 250-300 miles out of a tank (on "E" truck takes ~17 gallons) on my 01 which is 15-17 MPG. Lots depends on ratio of city to highway and how I drive it. On the highway I can get 17 MPG @80-85 MPH, 23MPG at 60-65MPH. City stop & go can be as bad as 10-12MPG.


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## Frongo78 (Dec 8, 2010)

*thank you*

The truck has only 111000 kms and I believe was maintained very well. I just want to know if I can improve this fuel consumption as the gas price is killing.


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## dgangle (Nov 22, 2009)

check your actual MPG or L/KM over several tanks of gas, get some baseline figures and then report back to your actual consumption. 

IME, these trucks are not going to get better than 23MPG or 10 L/100KM no matter what you do. Here are some good conversion references. 


http://www.american-car-net.com/us-mpg-lkm.aspx
http://www.convertunit.com/fuel-consumption-calculator.php

gas in the SE USA is ~$2.80/gal. What is it where you are?


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## pathfounder (Nov 16, 2009)

If you are in a cold climate, those numbers are about right for putting around in the city. My 97 only gets 11 mpg, and I refill every 300km or so (down to approx 1/8 tank).

Gas is $1.10 per litre here, which is $4.15/gallon.


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## dgangle (Nov 22, 2009)

where is "here"?


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## pathfounder (Nov 16, 2009)

Ottawa, Canada.


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## Frongo78 (Dec 8, 2010)

*need help*

I am in Toronto Canada and gas right now is at $1.12 a litre. I am not sure how to do the consumption figures. All In know is a haved filled up about 5 times now and I am putting 60 litres in the tank. With this tank I am getting maximum 400km per tank and that is mostly highway but stuck in traffic most of the time.


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## dgangle (Nov 22, 2009)

distance driven divided by fuel used = MPG or KM/L

400KM/60L= 6.7KM/L or 

60L is ~ 16 gallons. 400KM is ~ 250 miles. 250/16=15.6MPG....normal

you want 30MPG????...buy a 4cyl Honda


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## pathfounder (Nov 16, 2009)

MPG = kilometres / litres * 2.352

16mpg in your case. I think you are pretty close to what you can expect for stop and go freeway driving in December in Canada. You can do things like run a can of seafoam in the gas tank, or change the air filter, etc, but I wouldn't say anything is really wrong with the truck.


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## dynomax (Jan 2, 2011)

I am going through the same thing. Most of my driving is in the city. I get 20-21L/100KM on the tanks with city driving (that hasn't even changed since winter when i had a few 4x4 commutes) (Thats 11.7 US / 14.1IMP mpg for the older crowd  )

Temperatures since i bought this thing back in december have been mostly cold, with most mornings starting up for 5-10 minutes idling.

I have tried supreme gas, and regular gas which here now has 10% ethanol as of march 1st... no difference there... 

I tested a tank at 80KMPH, and was able to get 16L/100KM (14.7US 17.6IMP MPG).

Before this last fillup, I cleaed my MAF and air filter was almost new...but so far, i doubt it is going to make any difference.

Tire size is 245/75/16 mickey thompson baja Atz which may play a part in increased rolling resitance or throwing the spedo off 3% (showing false mileage also perhaps???)

Anyway, truck is an 04 Chilkoot 3.5L 4x4 auto with 120k kms on it

I am going to replace tranny fluid with Mobil 1 synthetic, and have already been running 5w30 mobil 1 synthetic motor oil. Not to increase fuel mileage, but i'm sure it won't hurt.

Any chance spark plugs would need changing??? they should be good to 160k, but i might as well change now anyway, as i doubt very much i will keep this thing for another 160k... 60k maybe!

Any thoughts??


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## MattyDK23 (Nov 30, 2007)

In my '03, changing the spark plugs at 140,000km made a big difference in fuel economy, increased it by about 15%. I did the same thing with my '04 last month, and the fuel economy hasn't moved. Both times the old plugs were stock and the new plugs were NGK Iridium.

The first summer after buying my '03, I did almost everything to it. New fluids, filters, plugs. I noticed a tiny jump when I swapped out the old tranny, transfer case, and differential fluids. That's about it. Oil, air filter, fuel filter, coolant didn't affect anything. A TB and MAF cleaning help responsiveness a bit, but not fuel economy.

With my '03, I was getting around 19 - 20 US MPG in the summer doing mixed driving; up to 23 MPG on pure highway. I've only been driving my '04 since last fall, and right now I'm getting 17 MPG with premium gas (0% ethanol). I've tried running regular, 10% ethanol gas for a few tanks and noticed a decrease of around 50km between fillups. I could barely break 15MPG. This little test was nothing scientific -- maybe my experiment coincided with a cold snap, or maybe I was stressed out and being more aggressive when driving, or any other number of factors -- but I've had similar experiences years ago with my '03 and filling up at Husky stations (which have been 10% ethanol for a long time now).

I'm hoping my 04's fuel economy will jump up two or three MPG when the gas stations stop selling their winter blend.


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## PathyConvert (Apr 16, 2010)

Over the the winter, my '04 Chinook has been averaging 13.72L/100km (US 17.15 MPG) in mixed city/hwy driving, with winter tires and the obviously fluctuating winter temps here in Guelph, ON. I usually run 87 octane but use premium when gas prices drop or travelling in the U.S. 
You Yankees pay NOTHING for gas, I'm jealous! The difference between regular and premium gas costs nothing down there. Up in Canada we pay ¢15 more per/L or ¢58 more per/gallon (for 91 octane, don't even get me started on 94) !! We are getting hosed up here!

Anyway, fuel economy will never be great on a "Pumpfinder", but mine hasn't been too bad. It's all the little things that will help you improve fuel economy; like keeping tires at the correct pressure, going easy on the throttle, making sure you don't idle the engine when you don't need to be (I shut my engine off when I know I'll be stopped for longer than 30 seconds, like at the drive thru etc..). Take your roof crossbars off when you're not using them and don't drive with your windows down when going over 60km/hr. A decent set of tires wouldn't hurt either. A/T or mud tires will obviously hurt the fuel economy more than H/T (highway) tires. I'll be installing a new set of Michelin LTX M/S2's tomorrow, so my fuel economy should improve a lot over my winter Toyo tires.


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## MattyDK23 (Nov 30, 2007)

The one thing people have to realize, though, is that when your MPG is as low as ours is, the slightest improvement makes much more difference than it would with a car.

For example, if you gain 5MPG with a Pathy, say from 15MPG to 20MPG, that's a relative increase of 33%. If you do get that same 5 MPG gain with a car, say 27MPG to 32MPG, that's a relative increase of 18%. With the Pathy that little 5MPG means a lot; with a car, it's still nice but not groundbreaking.

Plus, it's just fun to tinker around.


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## SLVRPATH (Mar 19, 2003)

My 02 Pathfinder with about 137k miles is getting 16.5mpg on the highway and 13mpg in the city. Hasn't changed much from my 17mpg high and 15mpg city i used to get when i purchased the car. I noticed my driving style kept me that low and when i was a "good" driver i got got 18 or 19mpg but never past 20mpg. Those people who get 20mpg or more i have one question. HOW???? 
My wife uses the car now for approx 80 miles per day commute and i would love for the pathfinder to get better than 18mpg.


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

basic things to check: air filter clean, tires properly inflated, O2 sensors replaced when they are supposed to be, driving habits effect MPG a lot of course. Some of the newer pathfinders don't have regular automatic hubs on them and I know people convert them to manual hubs that way the CV axle doesn't turn with the wheel, not sure what year they started doing that though.

I have noticed at least down here in Sunny Florida that if I use premium gas I would get worse MPG, not that I use premium any more due to the outrageous gas prices !!


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