Help! Corolla 2000 1.3 xl fuel efficiency problem

**kikoteng** · December 19th, 2008 05:54 PM

Hello fellow tsikoteers ! I recently bought a 2nd hand toyota corolla 2000 xl. From what I've read in the forums,, it should reach fuel consumption 10 kms / liter minimum. Mine is only reaching around 8.5 km to 9km / liter. Seems poor for a 1300 cc engine. Any fellow corolla owners care to share some fuel consumption numbers ? or fuel efficiency ideas ? By the way, I've done tune up, change oil, oil filter and fuel filter, replaced timing belt, spark plugs. Tires are at 30 psi. From a stock setup, the previous owner has changed the air filter to the simota type filter.. the big red colored mesh type air filter. According to the mechanic, nalagyan din sya ng headers and the muffler is the 'powerflow' according to CPM muffler house. This is the wide noisy muffler type. Is it true that the wide mouth mufflers result in increased gas consumption ? That's the next thing I'm looking to change back to stock. I'm not sure if my descriptions are accurate. Am kinda newbie at cars and all that. Hope you guys can give me ideas. Thanks in advance. Happy holidays to all ! Kiko

**ghosthunter** · December 19th, 2008 06:06 PM

You can start with removing the current muffler and replacing it with a stock type muffler. That should get you back some of the lost exhaust backpressure and hopefully some of the lost fuel mileage as well.

BTW, what kind of tires does your corolla currently have? Wider tires do offer better grip but also increases fuel consumption.

**kikoteng** · December 19th, 2008 08:52 PM

The tires are standard size and width ... although from the look of the treads, they'd be needing replacements in about 4-6 months or so.

**lazyfoot** · December 21st, 2008 02:16 AM

try to get rid of additional stuff that add weight, 1.3 cars are very sensitive to high weight. try adding a bottle of injector cleaner into the tank too, it might help.

**kikoteng** · December 24th, 2008 06:32 PM

I just talked to a mechanic this afternoon and he pointed out to me the screw that controls the air/fuel mix.

How do I know if the fuel is too rich or too lean ? For the sake of fuel economy, should I adjust toward lean first ?

hmmm ... what happens if it is too lean ... will the engine stutter or die during idle ?