that is so weird....why is it that much different?!....Maybe you need a tune up? or do you have any mods?...My engine is stock, it has about 15k on the odo, gets regular maintanence....

next time I hit 320 I'll take a picture.....

 

I leave ETC on all the time and avg 270-290 in city driving and I have an '02 Sport Edition v6 I like the extra power it gives on take-offs.........

 

lol, I believe you. I've read through some of the gas mileage threads and have come to the conclusion that I probably am in need of a tune up.

Mine's at 83,000 miles, no performance mods at all. My tires are slightly bigger than stock (265/70/r16) but that makes little difference if any.

 

Mine is on all the time. I hate feeling like such a slug with it's off. Especially pulling into traffic. I've never driven a whole tank of gas with it off so I don't really know what the difference in gas milage is.

 

I used to leave it on all the time on my 90 3.0. With the size larger tires it has, the ect on mode helped with the performance. Now I leave it off for economy reasons. Fuel Mileage went up as a result. Good call there. It is more of a slug now but I reason that filling up once every 7 days is better that once every 4 to 5 days. Plus im very mindfull of keeping rpms down now since I dont really have any money to do repairs if I damage it by running it hard with high rpms.

The only time I put the ect on now is when towing. Then its only for getting me off the line. Once I get going good I click it off and work with the overdrive button so as to try to maintain economy and a non lug condition without running unlocked. This I feel helps to keep the tranny temps from running high when towing.

Once several years ago during the summer, I avg 80 mph for 200 miles towing my boat between atlanta and columbus ga. I had ect on and it would drop out of overdrive quite a bit. Talk about the floorboards and console getting hot. They were quite the egg fryers when I got home. Needless to say, I have slowed myself down quite a bit. Now when I tow, I dont go over 50 to 55 no matter what. I still need to see this thing go on to the 250k mark.

 

Driving around town I keep it on norm, but it has to be on PWR when I get on the highway, otherwise the truck can't maintain speed.

 

Sounds like you are running on only 5 cylinders or have some restrictive airflow... Back when I started this thread, I was starting to burn out an exhaust valve and had no clue for quite some time. My catalytic converter was starting to go bad as well. An easy way to test that is to pull you O2 senser and take it for a spin. You will notice an instant difference if that is becoming a problem.

 

I'm wondering something....... It seems that most of the people on this board who live east of California are getting MUCH better MPG??????
Maybe I'm wrong.......But?

I religiously tune-up my 4Runner, with plenty of mods that would lend itself to "better" mileage. But I feel fortunate to get 240 miles to a tank, and that is with really topping it off. I use Seafoam every six months, clean my filter every 3 months change pcv etc.
I now have 165k, and it runs as good as the day I bought it 6 years ago.
But NEVER has it gotten better mileage, not once.
I even bought a new 02 Tacoma DC Trd 2wd thinking it would get better mileage with 2 wheel drive. Wrong.....I got worse mileage than my 4x4 runner......So I sold it and kept my 4Runner......
Maybe the gas mixture burns faster here in CA or ????????

 

mine stays on.... Adds at least 50 mental horse power

 

ater reading this message,I decided to try driving with the ect on constantly,and so far I am pleased with the result's.

Normally I am able to drive 200 miles till I hit a quarter tank.
while using the ect I was able to achieve 230 miles till I hit a quarter tank.
The second time I was able to achieve about 210 miles. So far It seems to be helping with mileage.

 

I've yet to try the ECT for a whole tank but with it off I am happy to see anything near 250 but with all the driving I've had to do in 4wd over the weekend my gas mileage really dropped.

 

Now I'm really confused. I figured since the engine reved(SP?) higher, you would lose gas mileage. I'm reading now that leaving it on improves gas mileage?

 

I use the button almost all the time when getting on the freeway, but it's not left on.

 

LOL!
I got a '99 SR5 Auto and I only use it when I need a little more oomph! I would think that since it changes the shift points and allows the engine to revv higher that gas milage would decrease...

 

waitaminute.... You claim that when your truck shifts at a higher RPM all the time, it gets better gas milage?

 

i find it makes it actually run smoother, with less choppy shifting, which i think may in fact help mileage.

 

I agree. Whether I get better mileage or not, the truck just rides better

 

I know,it sound's crazy but my odometer does not lie. Before when I did not use the Ect all the time I had too really light foot it to squeeze that 200 miles from 3/4 of a tank. When I run with the ECT the engine seems too run smoother. Give it a try if you have not already.

 

I use it for hills, Off-roading and if I were to tow something. Otherwise it's off.
Lower RPMs = Better fuel mileage.

 

Two key points on the puny 3.0 using the ECT button are when doing 38MPH and 56MPH.

Doing that speed while engaging the button unloads some serious screaming out of the 3.0.