Fuel economy in my 2013 LTZ 1.4l poor

6823 Views 64 Replies 14 Participants Last post by Porkchopkb, Feb 16, 2017

Porkchopkb

Discussion Starter · Feb 4, 2017

I've been reading a lot of posts here about the subject and have done some of the things with no avail. I have a 2013 LTZ 1.4L with 74k on it. I average about 23mpg with driving mostly at highway speeds. I drive about 45 miles daily and 12 of that is back roads with constant speeds at 60mph the other is highway at about 70mph. I used to have a 2014 LTZ and it got much better fuel economy. I could go almost 420-450 miles on a tank. I barely get 300 on a tank now.

So far I've replace the air filter, changed the plugs (delco iridium) and regapped them to .035 instead of the stock .026-8 ish that they were. I keep the tire pressure at 44psi which is the max on the sidewall. I keep the oil changed and use Mobil 1. Can't get AMS oil anywhere local so I use this instead.

Anything else I can do?

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Blasirl

· #2 · Feb 4, 2017

Welcome Aboard! :welcome:

There is a thriving community here that is into extracting the maximum amount of miles per gallon, so be patient and they will start chiming in soon enough.

Blasirl

· #3 · Feb 4, 2017

Wait a minute... joined in November and just now posting?? No garage yet? Have you been hibernating? :1poke:

Porkchopkb

Discussion Starter · #4 · Feb 4, 2017

Yeah but I've been busy as **** lol

Tomko

· #5 · Feb 4, 2017

You had a '14 LTZ and now have a '13 LTZ?

So you're not the original owner of this LTZ?

Porkchopkb

Discussion Starter · #6 · Feb 4, 2017

Economy took its toll and I couldn't afford the payments anymore. I bought this one last august with 60k on it. No not original owner

Tomko

· #7 · Feb 4, 2017

Porkchopkb said:
Economy took its toll and I couldn't afford the payments anymore. I bought this one last august with 60k on it. No not original owner

$h!t happens. Sorry to hear.

The challenge you face is that you're comparing similar models - but not exact models.

I presume that you took good care of your '14. But this '13 no one can really say what happened to it before you got it.

Was it abused - like a daily rental? Maybe. Did it always have a dexos1 or better oil? Correct viscosity and oil filter? Did it run a K&N and damage sensors or the turbo? Are the tires the same? We're the brakes done incorrectly and they now drag? What about the emergency brake - is it dragging? Did it have a tune? Poor quality ATF change?

What changes did GM make between when your '13 and '14 LTZs were assembled?

You pose a valid question - but as you can see there are a ton of variables.

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Porkchopkb

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 4, 2017

I can't say what the past history is on it. The turbo is factory, it isn't a k&n air filter. I change the oil with Mobil 1 and use a Mobil 1 oil filter too. It was owned by an older couple and a 1 owner. It had a lot of the maintenance done at a gm dealer. I've checked the brakes and the slides move freely. The ebrake isn't holding on or isn't that I can feel. The tires all match and are the Michelin it came with from the factory. Same ones I had on my 14. I'm not comparing this one to that one, just saying it should get more than 300 out of a tank. 22-24 mpg is not that great. I had a 2002 Grand Prix with a 3.8l that got 26mpg.

winks79

· #9 · Feb 4, 2017

Yeah, something is not right for sure. I own a '13 LTZ/RS, and have never gotten worse than 30 mpg, and that is with a mix of city and highway driving. This is also running 87 octane. You can get a little better fuel economy running higher octane, but I'm happy with 87 in mine, and it has never given any reason to run a higher octane. Some say they have hesitation and lack of power issues running 87, I have not had those issues, and until I do, will stay with 87. Winter gas is worse, I'm averaging about 31-32 mpg right now. I travel 50 mile round trip to work and pretty much keep it at about 60-65 mph. When on summer gas I will get at least 4 mpg more on the same drive. I run synthetic oil and keep my pressures at about 40 psi. Mine has never been to the dealer for anything, not even the recall they sent me 2 years ago to reprogram the ECM for emissions. As far as miles per tank, I'm usually around 500 or so.

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ChevyGuy

· #10 · Feb 4, 2017

winks79 said:
Yeah, something is not right for sure. I own a '13 LTZ/RS, and have never gotten worse than 30 mpg, and that is with a mix of city and highway driving.

I have a '13 LTZ and get around 20 MPG - but that is in "traffic light at every corner" city driving. 23 for what OP describes seems way low. But I would be curious to see what his average MPH as shown in the trip odometer is to be sure.

The only MPG killer I remember reading about was a member who had dragging brakes. He didn't know about it until he fixed the worn brakes and found one was more worn than the other.

It would be interesting to know the full history of the car. I'm wondering about a partially clogged cat after a turbo failure.

Porkchopkb

Discussion Starter · #11 · Feb 4, 2017

The trip average fuel economy says 22-23mpg and that's basically on par with my math when I fill up. I recently started using mid grade fuel and I don't see any difference. Only way to know about a cat converter is to temp test pre and post of the converter to see the temp difference

ChevyGuy

· #12 · Feb 5, 2017

Just to be clear, I was wondering about your average mpH. If you use the trip odometer for tracking your trip, you'll see that along with the mpg.

In this case, the cat test would be more along the lines of measuring back pressure. I'm not worried about it doing it's job, I'm worried about a partially clogged cat restricting the engine's breathing. A failed turbo is going to dump a lot of oil down the exhaust pipe. If the turbo was replaced, but not the cat, then that could explain some things. That's why it would be nice the know the full history of the car.

Porkchopkb

Discussion Starter · #13 · Feb 7, 2017

The average mph is 44mph. I have gone 185 miles now and it has just under a half a tank and I guarantee that it will barely if it does reach 300 miles on this fill up.

It is actually at the dealer now having the water pump and T connection replaced under warranty

The service history shows the ECM reprogram, replaced RF axle shaft. It has never had the turbo replaced. The dealer said today that if it were failing it would have a check engine light and even if one of the vanes inside were failing i would know. I don't have any power loss. We have a 2012 that the turbo failed in and it had no power, so I know what it feels like with no guts

Cruzen Vegas

· #14 · Feb 7, 2017

I have a 2012 LTZ with 42k on it and my Lifetime ave MPH is 25 with an AVG of 26.1 MPG... That's where a LTZ is supposed to be at Minimum as I drive mostly city with 30 PSI in the tires as recommended.... Running the tires higher than 35psi just feels like crap and you wont get any better mPG..

Porkchopkb

Discussion Starter · #15 · Feb 8, 2017

Filled up last night and I got 22mpg with an average speed of 43. I drove 20 miles and the needle moved already from full. And yes it was completely full. The dash showed 360 til empty which isn't accurate at all. Really disappointing

brent769

· #16 · Feb 8, 2017

Wow that is low. I have a 2013 2LT but with a manual. Getting low 30s mpg right now (in Canada, colder days recently). More highway than city. Is your transmission shifting through all gears (ie: going into over drive)? I don't know the auto trans to well in these cars. I filled up yesterday and my readout said 800km, which is 497mi. My needle usually moves around 80km (50mi). Is your trunk full of stuff?
keep us posted.

ChevyGuy

· #17 · Feb 8, 2017

Porkchopkb said:
Filled up last night and I got 22mpg with an average speed of 43.

That's pretty bad. Anything that would spoil the aerodynamics? Perhaps something on the underside of the car?

Blasirl

· #18 · Feb 8, 2017

Is this gas or diesel. The diesel guys are talking about the MAP sensor being dirty causing lower mileage. Otherwise I get about 25-26 mpg on my '14 gasser.

ChevyGuy

· #19 · Feb 8, 2017

Gas. No diesel in '13.

A few guesses:

Bad transmission. (Slipping/not locking up) Not sure how to test it.
Fuel leak - not sure if it would show on the DIC MPG or not.
Dragging brake. Do an inspection. The culprit will be worn.
Engine running really rich. Not sure how to test.

jblackburn

· #20 · Feb 9, 2017

Has this car had the automatic emissions recall performed?

The 2014 had a slightly revised engine tune. A similar tune should have been applied to the 2013 as part of a recall campaign to address rich running conditions under load.

Plug in your vin number to my.chevrolet.com and check open recalls or past services to see.

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