# 20MPG in 1995 Sentra XE



## Omega3k1 (Jan 6, 2005)

I'm new here and a new Sentra owner. Its my first car i got it on New Years day. Well i filled the tank up right after i got off the lot and today i had to fill it again, i thought it seemed kinda fishy when it only had 173 miles on that tank and it took 9 gallons to fill it so its about 20mpg. I dont know what the problem is cause i know i should be getting at least 30. Yeah i drove it hard to test it out in the first week but still even w/ hard driving it should've got better then 20mpg shouldnt it have? I dont think its a gas leak but i'm not sure cause its been raining every day since i've got the car and the ground has been wet so its hard to tell. I did notice that i could smell gas today while i was driving it, i'm not sure what that means though. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

On a side note i hate deer... I got this car less then a week ago and i hit a deer on the way home today. Lucky there's not to much damage and now i've got an excuse to buy some aftermarket headlights(seeing as how the LH side is shattered). I've already ordered replacement parts off of Ebay. I've just got to fix a couple of dents on the fender and hood and its good as new and it wont matter for real long anyway since i plan on replacing both of them w/ aftermarket stuff after i get the money(probably like a year).


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## Larry200sx (Nov 17, 2004)

I get 24-28 mpg on mine. Use another tank of gas in it to see what mileage you get. It may have not be completely full in your last tank. If you have an automatic, 4 door, and drive it very hard; you might get only 20 mpg. I don't think a sentra could get 30 mpg unless it's all highway mileage.


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## Omega3k1 (Jan 6, 2005)

no it was full... i know that much. Yeah it is a 4dr auto. I figured at least 30 though... i mean my dad has a 2.4 L Toyota pickup and it gets 26, and we've got a shitty Kia Sportage 2L and it gets 23... I'll run another tank through it without me driving it like a maniac (i had to open it up and test it out to see what it'd do).


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## Punkrocka436 (Jul 8, 2003)

My 4 dr gets 30 MPG city and 39 MPG highway, then again i do drive a manual, but the difference should not be 10 MPG. Check your spark plugs, fuel filter, and air filter


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## B14_Stealth (Aug 14, 2003)

on a full tank in the city i could get between 240-250 miles per tank on my 95 sentra


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## 98Midnight (Apr 23, 2004)

My 98 XE is a 4 door auto and at best in the city I get about 25 mpg with normal driving. I have had the car for 2 years and have kept it well maintained. I assumed that 25 city and 28 highway is normal for this model Sentra.


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## Tavel (Aug 21, 2004)

best we can manage with out ga16 is 26mpg in summer. getting 23 in the winter. we are pretty lead footed though :thumbup: 

(my sr20 runs 22-23 in summer and 20 in the winter)

20mpg is a hair low, (i highly doubt you can drive harder than me...im used to my sr20, so i really WOT the ga16 when i drive it.) 

-change the air filter
-change fuel filter
-change spark plugs/wires
-clean the engine out by running 3 qts synthetic oil and another 1 qt of ATF for a week(dont redline! lol), then change back to your 5w-30. it wont mess your car up any, GM does it all the time to clean out the gunk after someone goes way over on an oil change. 

should get you back up into the normal 24-28mpg range. :cheers:


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

I have a few questions before I offer a diagnosis: How many miles are on it? Is the check engine light on?Is the exhaust overly "muted" sounding? What is your tire pressure? Do you like in a mountainous area? Has there been heavy snowfall on a regular basis since you bought the car?

I kick the snot out of my 95 GXE auto and get 23-26 mpg all day long in city driving using it for deliveries, and the one time it did get that bad, something was wrong (but I can't remember what).


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## Bbc84 (Sep 5, 2004)

40MPG on my 98 200sx se


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## B14_Stealth (Aug 14, 2003)

40MPG??? Damn...


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## Terran200sx (Dec 30, 2004)

the first day i got my 200SX SE-R i did about 29mpg, but as soon as i got used to it i started doing about 20mpg, Depending on how i drive i can see a a real difference in the MPG.


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## Omega3k1 (Jan 6, 2005)

-change the air filter - New Filter
-change fuel filter - Dunno might look into it
-change spark plugs/wires - Supposedly New plugs, wires, and cap and rotor. But not sure cause this guy was a crack dealer. I need to pull them and check.
-clean the engine out by running 3 qts synthetic oil and another 1 qt of ATF for a week(dont redline! lol), then change back to your 5w-30. it wont mess your car up any, GM does it all the time to clean out the gunk after someone goes way over on an oil change. -might try this as well

I have a few questions before I offer a diagnosis: 
How many miles are on it? 123000 miles
Is the check engine light on? Nope
Is the exhaust overly "muted" sounding? Its not loud... but i dont really have anything to compare it to being muted w/... Its quieter then my dad's Toyota and a lot more quiet than our shitty Sportage that we've removed the cat on.
What is your tire pressure? 32 in the front, 30 in the rear. Do you like in a mountainous area? nope live in Southern Illinois. Mostly flat w/ a few hills.
Has there been heavy snowfall on a regular basis since you bought the car? No snow at all since i've bought the car.


I put another tank in it and didnt ride it hard at all and it still got pretty crappy mileage. Now my odometer/trip meter are going out or are sticking or something. But either way i know its still getting crap mileage cause i drove like 115mi yesterday do a motocross race and it used 1/2 a tank of gas... Thats still not what i am expecting. Of course i was doing on average 80 most of the way there and on the way back i took a different route and was doing around 95... I love how this car feels at that speed, It doesnt even feel like your going that fast.


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## Omega3k1 (Jan 6, 2005)

Omega3k1 said:


> -change the air filter - New Filter
> -change fuel filter - Dunno might look into it
> -change spark plugs/wires - Supposedly New plugs, wires, and cap and rotor. But not sure cause this guy was a crack dealer. I need to pull them and check.
> -clean the engine out by running 3 qts synthetic oil and another 1 qt of ATF for a week(dont redline! lol), then change back to your 5w-30. it wont mess your car up any, GM does it all the time to clean out the gunk after someone goes way over on an oil change. -might try this as well
> ...


actually now that i think about it 115miles on 1/2 a tank isnt that bad  I still dont think somethign is right but i'll see what happens.


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## B14_Stealth (Aug 14, 2003)

what kind of gas you guys use? Super or Regular ?


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## Omega3k1 (Jan 6, 2005)

first tank i ran 93 octane in it... 2nd and 3rd i ran 89. I never run 87 in any of our vehicles.


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## Terran200sx (Dec 30, 2004)

i run 92 cause i have no idea what else to run.


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

Omega3k1 said:


> -change the air filter - New Filter
> I put another tank in it and didnt ride it hard at all and it still got pretty crappy mileage. Now my odometer/trip meter are going out or are sticking or something. But either way i know its still getting crap mileage cause i drove like 115mi yesterday do a motocross race and it used 1/2 a tank of gas... Thats still not what i am expecting. Of course i was doing on average 80 most of the way there and on the way back i took a different route and was doing around 95... I love how this car feels at that speed, It doesnt even feel like your going that fast.


My 97 GXE 4 dr manual 1.6 l does 25 around town (Dallas) in rush hour traffic. This is pretty consistant week after week. 
Full to Empty this is 300 miles.
On a trip it really depends on speed. I have just come back from a trip to Austin and got 237/8.5 going and was driving hard, speed limited by traffic and enforcement. say 27.8
coming back slower and the gauge is over where I filled up before and over 250 miles. So I think its returned to the normal 30 - 34 on the highway. 
This was quick , say 70 to 80 typical max 85 mph, but slower than the other way.
BTW this is mpg is lower than when the car was when new. I expect some of that is due to speed limit increases and speed of the journey, and some due to the wider tyres. Also think the O2 sensors are getting old. I am waiting to see information from someone thats changed the O2 sensors and the mpg change. All on Regular fuel.
Good luck.........


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## Terran200sx (Dec 30, 2004)

What revs do you guys try to cruise at? I try to stay around 2 - 2.5 for normal driving.


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

Terran200sx said:


> What revs do you guys try to cruise at? I try to stay around 2 - 2.5 for normal driving.


Sentra GXE = No Tach !!!!  
Revs proportional to noise, so guess ?? beats me. 
80 mph in 5th gear = 4,000 rpm ?
I do have a 200SX instrument cluster that includes tach and will install soon.
Will test it before the re-wire, have to sweet talk my daughter into borrowing her Car and into letting me remove her cluster so I can try mine. (200Sx-SER)


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## Junbug (Oct 21, 2002)

If I run till truly empty... I have never gotten less than 375 miles with a 12 gallon fill up. Sounds like you're right and you're using too much gas.. Try the plugs... cheap and doesn't hurt.


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## B14_Stealth (Aug 14, 2003)

Junbug said:


> If I run till truly empty... I have never gotten less than 375 miles with a 12 gallon fill up. Sounds like you're right and you're using too much gas.. Try the plugs... cheap and doesn't hurt.


 damn 375, thats like 125 miles more than me lol


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## Junbug (Oct 21, 2002)

B14_Stealth said:


> damn 375, thats like 125 miles more than me lol


If you wanna know something really funny... when my car was brand new in 1995, I had one tank of Shell 92 octane that went 475 one one tank filled up with 12.8 gallons.


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## Larry200sx (Nov 17, 2004)

A bag/old O2 sensor can cause low mpg. If you replace it, get the nissan brand. Don't get Bosch. There is a difference in quality. Change the plugs too. It's cheap and easy. Check the distributor cap and rotor for wear and replace it if needed. A bad MAF could also cause poor mpg. They are expensive($300?) and they aren't the most reliable from what I hear.


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## Omega3k1 (Jan 6, 2005)

its getting a bit better milage now... not sure why but i still havent gotten around to pulling the plugs or checking out the O2 sensor...


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## timothyc1234 (Oct 14, 2003)

i get about 350 miles per tank in city, and i drove from here to dallas (about a 6 hour drive) at speed limit which was 70, and didn't have to stop. so with a 13.5 gallon tank, and i don't let it get past 1/4 tank in the city, that's 468 miles total per tank in city, or 34MPG in city. dallas is roughly 420 miles from here, and i still had about 1/4 tank from that. city mileage is roughly 560 for a whole tank, which comes out to about 41MPG on the highway.


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## Terran200sx (Dec 30, 2004)

I was getting 19 - 23 mpg after i first got my car. On a really good day i got 25mpg. I pulled the old plugs, sombody had stuck Bosch Quad's in there, and i got some Denso standards. We'll see if it's better now.


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## Omega3k1 (Jan 6, 2005)

i'm going to do some work on my car tomorrow
(i hit a deer 4 days after i got the car and i finally got my replacement turn signals in) so i'll pull the plugs then and see what brand and how good of condition they're in... But i've got this gut feeling that they're bosch  Which if they are i'm going to promptly replace them w/ some NGK's. Maybe that will improve my mileage. I might take a look at that O2 sensor as well.


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## Terran200sx (Dec 30, 2004)

Terran200sx said:


> I was getting 19 - 23 mpg after i first got my car. On a really good day i got 25mpg. I pulled the old plugs, sombody had stuck Bosch Quad's in there, and i got some Denso standards. We'll see if it's better now.


Holy fritos batman! I've definantly gained like 1hp and like anoother 4-5mpg.


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## Omega3k1 (Jan 6, 2005)

well i pulled 1 of the plugs real quick(didnt get around to fixing stuff today, doing it tomorrow), but the dealer didnt lie to me, they're brand new autolites. I know they're shitty but its better then bosch . They look good so i dont think its my plugs causing the shitty mileage. Wouldnt a bad O2 Sensor throw the check engine light though? I just cant figure this out though. Something just isnt right and i dont know what it is.


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## Jared592 (Dec 21, 2004)

My mileage also seems a little low as of late; I got a check engine light for EGR about 2 weeks ago, and I cleared it. It just went on again today. I'm thinking I need to replace my EGR valve; think this could also cause less than stellar gas mileage?


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## arte.et.labore (Dec 17, 2004)

Similar problems on my '98 200sx se-r, on the last 2 fillups im getting 20-23 mpg (I drive manual, conservatively, so I'm rarely above 3500).

My tires were riding real low, so I pumped them back up to mid-lower 30's (they're remington xt120's in the front and older goodyears eagleII's or somethin in the back). O2 sensor replaced a month ago because of check engine light and got that taken care of for emissions .. but mileage is still crappy.

Im going to look into a new air filter by myself.
Do I need a professional to check my plugs and fuel filter as well as EGR valve?
Also, someone said something about running 3 quarts of synthetic + 1 qt ATF .. what's ATF, and will it help my mileage?
Edit: Apparently, ATF stands for "automatic transmission fluid", so that won't help me any .. but what about just the Synthetic?

Thanks. :thumbup:


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## 97SE-R (Feb 23, 2005)

I bet the check engine light was pulled out or something. Sounds like you need an O2 sensor. Go to your local auto parts and have them check it out, its free. They will plug right into your computer and it will check all your sensors. Go to like advanced auto, murrys, some kind of chain store.


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## arte.et.labore (Dec 17, 2004)

97SE-R said:


> I bet the check engine light was pulled out or something. Sounds like you need an O2 sensor. Go to your local auto parts and have them check it out, its free. They will plug right into your computer and it will check all your sensors. Go to like advanced auto, murrys, some kind of chain store.


My dad's friend owns the Merlins I go to, and they installed a new one in early January so I could get my emissions tested .. you think it could be bad already, or maybe they installed it incorrectly? I doubt the light is broken because part of the emissions test is testing to see if they can make the light come on when they hook up their machine to it, but I'll definetely take it back to the shop soon.

I checked my air filter this morning and it's almost all white, so that rules out that problem.


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

keeping in mind we have a 13gal tank, if you fill up when you're at empty, you're really only putting in about 10Gal. The fuel light goes on when you have about 2.5gal left. This will make calculations easier.

Since you're really only burning about 10gal/tank, just divide your trip meter by 10 and that's your MPG. The most I've had on a tank of gas with my new SR20 is about 350mi on the highway, roughly 35mpg. On average, I get about 260-300mi per fill-up so I'm around 26-30mpg with a combination of city and highway.

I could get over 300 per fillup if I weren't such a lead foot, I'm at WOT several times/trip.


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## matcapir (Feb 20, 2005)

Ninety-Nine SE-L said:


> keeping in mind we have a 13gal tank, if you fill up when you're at empty, you're really only putting in about 10Gal. The fuel light goes on when you have about 2.5gal left. This will make calculations easier.
> .


Is the 2.5 gal a nissan standard?? I have a 96 200sx se-r and was just wondering if it would be the same and if not, what it would be. Thanks.


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

well, it depends, next time you go to fill up, check for yourself. Unless I'm expecting a long drive ahead, I almost always run it down to the fuel light (don't ask me why, that's jus me). Typically, I end up putting in about 10.5-11 gal. till it's full again. The most I've had to fill up at one time was 12gal and that was b/c I was running around looking for a place to stop. You have to be an idiot to run below the 12gal mark.

Anyway, just look at the sales receipt next time you fill up, if you ran the car to empty and the fuel light isn't on, I would def say you have just put in around 10gal.


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## arte.et.labore (Dec 17, 2004)

I believe my tank is a 13.4gal but I'm not too sure, I might have read it in the manual. The light does come on at about 2-2.5 gal left, though, but since my mileage is so sketchy these days I haven't tested it to see how many more miles I can get out of it when the light comes on.

In the morning tomorrow I'm taking my car into the same shop that replaced my o2 sensor about a month ago and they better tell me what's up. After paying $250 to have my mileage decrease suddenly, they can at least diagnose it or somethin ... :thumbdwn:


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## Tavel (Aug 21, 2004)

Ninety-Nine SE-L said:


> keeping in mind we have a 13gal tank, if you fill up when you're at empty, you're really only putting in about 10Gal. The fuel light goes on when you have about 2.5gal left. This will make calculations easier.
> 
> Since you're really only burning about 10gal/tank, just divide your trip meter by 10 and that's your MPG.


a more accurate way is to take a gander at the pump meter, divide miles driven by whatever the pump says. if you start with a full tank, drive, and then fill it up...the amount you fill it with is the exact amount that was used. im not into that whole guessing thing.


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

yes, that is correct.


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## Omega3k1 (Jan 6, 2005)

yeah i know how to calc my milage. From the way it seems though the warmer it is outside the better mileage i get. When it was around freezing i was getting like 20mpg, well on my last tank i managed 263 miles on 10.4 gallons, and it has been warmer all this week. Now its back down into the 30's and so far i've got 93 miles on 1/2 a tank... Its stumping me. I'll run by autozone tomorrow and have em test it to see if it throws any codes.


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## jswatson (Feb 14, 2005)

Larry200sx said:


> A bag/old O2 sensor can cause low mpg. If you replace it, get the nissan brand. Don't get Bosch. There is a difference in quality. Change the plugs too. It's cheap and easy. Check the distributor cap and rotor for wear and replace it if needed. A bad MAF could also cause poor mpg. They are expensive($300?) and they aren't the most reliable from what I hear.


What's wrong with Bosch? I have a Bosch O2 sensor in my car right now and it does just as good as it ever did. I have the Platinum+4's and they perform seem to perform better than stock. Of course I did advance the timing at the same time as I changed the plugs.


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## 2nrguy (Feb 18, 2005)

during the winter months im getting about 26-28 mpg and thats from letting the car warm up a little before i get in it and when i get to school letting it idle for about 20-30 min before i go to class. now in the summer i can get about 31-35 mpg because i dont have to let it warm up as much at startup and i dont need to let it idle at school to keep me warm. 9 out of 10 fill ups that i put in the car are 87 oct from BP.


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## arte.et.labore (Dec 17, 2004)

OK, my dad said that since I had a new o2 sensor installed, the car's computer wasn't calibrated to use it efficiently, so I just disconnected my battery for five minutes so it could all reset. Hopefully this will help?


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## Omega3k1 (Jan 6, 2005)

if i'm not mistaken there's something on the ECU you can clear the codes and stuff w/ then it will start to build new ones. But i dunno. Someone who has more experience w/ that kind of thing could probably verify it.


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

arte.et.labore said:


> OK, my dad said that since I had a new o2 sensor installed, the car's computer wasn't calibrated to use it efficiently, so I just disconnected my battery for five minutes so it could all reset. Hopefully this will help?


Um, you kinda hijacked this thread. To answer your Q and correct Omega3k1 go to the very top post in this (the B14) section, there's a sticky about how to pull and reset error codes.


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## creature0077 (Feb 2, 2005)

i get about 38mpg in my 96 sentra gxe


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## thestunts200sx (Jul 11, 2005)

Just change the plugs, wires, air filter, fuel filter, oil and tranny fluid.

Adjust tire pressure accordingly...that will affect ur MPG also.

Other then that, you can use fuel additives to clean the fuel injectors and what not...make sure your timing is on...and you should be ok.


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