My 4runner is so bad on MPG

20.4 MPG on a 60 mile highway trip last night. Contrary to popular belief, cruise control will not help, but harm your gas mileage. It will force downshifts frequently to keep speed and rev up your RPM's. Instead, to prevent downshift, you can gently accelerate over a period leading up to an incline without downshifting, and then ease back on the pedal while actually going uphill, while letting the speed drop slightly to stay in your high gear. Then press the gas again in the downhill to get back up any lost speed, and just take your foot off the pedal and let it coast when possible. Tiny micro adjustments in pedal handling make for the smoothest ride and best fuel efficiency.

 

Hold on a darn second, the 4Runner gets poor gas mileage?!?! Who knew!

 

Just like people who buy suburbans and expect 25 mpg, why people buy trucks or suvs and expect good mpg I will never understand. I hate that they even add cylinder deactivation to v8’s now. Rather burn more fuel and have a more reliable engine.

 

There are ways to get better fuel economy, but the return of investment would negate it. By the time you start seeing the money you invested in items to get better gas mileage, its years down the road.
Examples, Headers, cat back exhaust cold air intake with a tune.
Gearing, to reduce rpm on highway?
Torque converter in transmission. A smaller lighter one with same stall speed, if they even make them, frees up hp/tq due to drivetrain weight loss.
Lighter body panels? Maybe
Aero mods. Kinda hard to justify it in a truck made to go off roading..
Tires make a big difference. Less rolling resistance always does.
Underdrive pulleys?
Electric water pump?
Just suggestions.
Your best bet, is have it retuned to extract better hp/fuel economy. Most car manufacturers run a little rich, especially wide open throttle.
Just my opinion.
Other than that, just put in 40 to 50 bucks each time you pull in, leave that as a mental thing..

 

I just dropped my 21 4Runner off at the dealership service center for a poor mileage issue. When I told the service advisor I was getting poor gas mileage he said they are known to get poor gas mileage. But should it get 11 mpg I asked? He looked at me like I was crazy or lead footing it. I told him the following.

Backstory... I have consistently been able to get around 15.5 city miles (what the center gauge says) for the first 5500 miles or so. Then, without any changes in driving habits (light on the accelerator), tires, weather, roof rack, etc. I started getting around 11 in the city. I paid closer attention and hand-calculated the last 2 tanks and it was still in the 11 range (hardly any, if any highway driving). So I know something out of my control has moved the average mpg from bad, which I accepted when I bought the truck, to downright attrocious.

Question for the forum. When I get the call back from the dealership saying, "sorry, we couldn't find anything," what can I say or what questions should I ask (like did you check the oxygen sensor or air filter?) so I am not stuck with this issue for the next 250k miles I plan on keeping it?

TIA -snyds

 

Mine ranges from 14-20. Usually 16 mixed driving. My wife, who drives a hybrid, drove my 4R for a week and was shocked at the MPG. MPG is my guilty pleasure.

 

Your rig is completely stock? I have 285's and a Gobi RR; I get about 13-14MPG. 11MPG seems super shitty...

 

ESCT4R I put Bridgestone REVO 3 P265/70R17 ALL TERRAIN tires on the truck about a week after purchase so I never saw a drop in MPG. As I mentioned, I typically got 15ish in mostly city driving up until the last 3-4 months. When I first noticed it I thought it was that my wife would sit in the car line to pick up the kids from school with the AC on but then when it became my daily in the last 2 months I still saw 11ish...

I just need some education on what to say / what questions to ask if the service advisor tells me they didn't find anything...

 

Are you really getting those MPGs or could it be a sensor issue?

 

No lights came up on the dash but who knows what might come up after checking the codes. I certainly hope it is a sensor issue that can be replaced and I'm back to sipping Chevron at 15-16 instead of 11 mpg. But yes I am getting those crap numbers, both calculated by the 4Runner and manually after a fill-up.

 

SO many little things. If the fuel you bought has more alcohol in it, you will get worse gas mileage... Think about how they are proposing 10% to 15%. Thats a 50% increase of alcohol. I am not saying this is the only factor, but its one of many.
Tire pressures.
Ignition issues? Coil burning out? Plugs? Air cleaner dirty? Basic stuff.. But other than that, driving habits..
Post what you find out.

 

I'll post what I find out.
Given it's only a year old with 6500 miles, it's perplexing that it would be a dirty air cleaner, coil burning out, etc. But stranger things have happened.
Regarding fuel, no clue if mixtures have changed in SoCal in the last few months... Costco, Arco, Chevron.

 

California was given permission via the Governor to use winter bend in September, vice November. It has more alcohol and Butane, as butane burns hotter for cleaner exhaust.. Winter vs Summer blend. BIden released more for Ca to use early in the year. Ca is their own worst enemy.
Unless you test the fuel at home, which is sorta easy to do, you cant tell.
But, its been tested to show 2% less fuel economy. But, I digress. If you are the only guy in Ca or New England area posting here, than we have nothing to compare to.
Air cleaners can get dirty quick. One off road trip, voila, it can get filthy.

 

What kind of mileage can you obtain on the computer in steady state highway cruising…say 60 mph in light traffic for an hour or so?

I’m talking about a clean measurement here, where throttle isnt varying much beyond small adjustments to maintain speed. Once you are up to speed, reset the MPG and see what it says after an hour , or 15 min, or whatever you can spare. As a point of comparison, I usually get get around 18-19mpg at 70mph average and around 23mpg at 58 mph avg in this scenario (over the course of an hour). I have a roof crossbars on, and stock size AT tires.

The reason Im asking is that city driving can be a very variable number. Having a clean readout of mileage of steady state situation can make it more cut and dry when you try to argue your case. It’s not to say the dealer will listen anyways, but at least it wont be for lack of clean data.

Good luck and report back!

 

This is good advice. OP — I think you should experiment with different scenarios like this one. If steady extended 60 or 65 mph on highway only gets you in mid teens, you know there’s a real problem. It should be high teens, even 20-22.

 

I inspected the engine air filter ... I had no traffic my 2016 4runner is 2021-22 gas MPG 20.5 ...
in 2016 the MPG is 16 ..


I was changing the rear diff 5,000 miles change the gear oil ...grease the drive shafts ... also inspect the brakes .. pads are binding on the calipers ..

 

Another thing some folks will do in overinflate their tires, which is a bad idea. For the extra .1 MPG you might get, you're looking at early tire replacement, and reduced traction.

The most effective thing I've found is to slow down my cruising speed. I know this isn't always a great option, but I have seen a huge difference by cruising at 65 VS cruising at 80.

11 seems crazy low. I'd expect mid teens in the city, unless I was a very aggressive driver.

As mentioned by @McSpazatron , have you tried taking a highway trip just to see what the mileage is in that scenario?

 

I bought a 2023 4Runner SR5 with no factory options. It's 4x2 so it weighs 275 pounds less than an SR5 with 4x4 and 350 pounds less than a TRD Off Road. In stop-and-go traffic in the city I have been getting 18 MPG. I plan on removing the spare tire as well to reduce the vehicle's weight even more and simply keep a small air pump in the truck. No complaints with the mileage. Best to fill the tank only halfway and save another 45 pounds. It's a dream compared to the 100 series Land Cruiser that got flooded in Hurricane Ian. 12.5 MPG was common. This Land Cruiser Prado -- er, 4Runner -- is great on gas. Love it.

 

Geez, okay already... I aired them down!

 

I wasn't referring to you. If you're running LT tires, they're designed to run at higher pressure.

I'm referring to the "hypermilers" who will run the max listed on the sidewall.

 

I know, I'm just teasing. We've had this convo a lot on the trail.

 

A few of my buddies have reported pretty shitty gas milage with Costco gas.

Maybe they use the highest ethanol blend allowed there (I think max allowed is 10% for regular unleaded, unless otherwise specified).

That's the only thing that makes sense to me with such a new vehicle.

 

I was going 2 yrs ago in Naples Florida in the winter . I was using shell gasoline in florida ... then Costco was in Naples , gasoline and the 4 runner was dropping a couple of 2 MPG ..
could be 15% .............

 

Install a front air dam like those on Tacomas, run fuel efficient tires like Michelin Green X in a narrower than stock width such as 245/75r17, leave any excess weight such as spare tire and unneeded seats at home, install lighter than stock wheels, use a polyetheramine fuel system cleaner every couple months such as Redline SI-1 to keep injectors working correctly, learn to accelerate less and drive slower as if driving an 8 ton water truck.

 

My 2018 stock height/wheels sr5p 3rd row gets consistently 18-19 combined. And I'm amazed actually. It's a far cry from my Titan which was 13 on a good week. But the caveat is i drive extremely light footed. Senior citizens shake their fists and flip me off. So its a grain of salt comparison.

 

UPDATE: Toyota service couldn't find anything wrong after checking everything. The service advisor even told me they looked at the "computer" to review acceleration and braking and their recommendation is "pay attention to how hard I drive it." No point in arguing on the phone, it wouldn't have changed anything, but my issue is that when I noticed the mileage was much worse (falling from 15ish to 11ish) I actually consciously began driving ultra-conservative and that did not move the needle in any way. I'm going on a long road trip of 1500 miles (CA, AZ, NV) over Thanksgiving week so I'll get a chance to see city, combo, and highway and then report back.

If I still notice it is terrible afterward, should I try another Toyota service center nearby and get a second opinion? Think a fuel system cleaner would potentially help (at around 8000 miles after my trip)? Fingers crossed it fixes itself in the next few weeks. Thanks for all the activity and responses.

 

I tuned my 3rd gen with OV and I still switched to a 4runner lol.

 

I was able to beat mine like a corvette and get 11 mpg+, something is totally off here! I’m tuned in. Getting more than that in my new hemi!

 

Just to throw my 2 cents worth into the mix. I have a 2020 off-road with 33 Nitto tires. On the highway between 70 and 73, I can get between 19 and 21.5 depending on terrain and wind. If going downhill with a tailwind, I can sometimes get over 22, or even more if the coming down a mountain. When using my 4R, I am normally pulling a 5x8 off-road trailer. When doing so, I average between 11 and 16, primarily because I am limited to 4th gear. Attempting to pull in 5th gear only worsens the gas mileage, due to too long a gear ratio, and it is hard on the transmission. Again, all of this is dependent on terrain and wind. I do routinely check my tires and ensure they are at 44 psi. You can definitely hurt your mpg by accelerating quickly. The 4R likes slow even acceleration in order to get good MPGs.