Best (20) and Worst (6.8) mileage in one trip! Bad Gas?

[Pskhaat]

Just drove DEN->PHX. Get into Moab about 2:30am; got fuel outside of Fruita so didn't even really check fuel guage. Head out in the morning Southward from Moab. Look down at the guage and freak out because I'm plumb empty. ******?

Pull into Chevron in Blanding (in a County where I've sworn I'll never spend any $) and fill up. MPG? 6.8! How could I possibly manage only 6.8? I'm checking for leaks in the fuel tank & lines, smelling brake and driveline components and looking like a desperate wild dog crawling around looking for food.

Kids are loosing it, it's time to get on the road and expect some major problems.

Drive Blanding->Flag. MPG? 20.2!

I've tripple-checked mileage, and fuel receipts. Could there have been a trapped air bubble in the tank & lines in CO; the guage read full on each fill? Even with a tank of really bad gas, I wouldn't expect the ECU to retard enough to cause that kind of inefficiency.

 

[whipp]

Any chance somebody could have siphoned 10 or so gallons out of your tank while you were stopped in Moab?

The best mileage I've ever recorded in my cruiser, 18mpg, was also between Moab and Flagstaff. Perhaps road conditions and speed limits in that stretch are conducive to high mileage...?

- Whipp

 

[blupaddler]

Sounds weird.
I assume you triple checked all the numbers, etc.

Out of curiousity was this in the 80? 100? With or without tent?

 

[upcruiser]

Scott, which Cruiser were you driving? Sounds suspicious. With the cost of fuel these days, I've been expecting to hear more of people siphoning gas, wouldn't surprise me. Problem is though, if it were the 80 or 100, they'd have to either break the gas flap open or pop the lever from inside.

My worst mileage to date with my FJ80 was 7mpg driving into a head wind on the freeway in eastern Montana. I usually can squeeze around 12mpg if I take it easy highway driving between 55-60mph.

 

[Pskhaat]

Sorry, I should have specified this was in the 100, and no tent on that one Well, it is possible to get under the truck and drain the fuel out the plug, but it's nearly impossible to get the plug back in (don't ask me how I know) once the fuel starts coming out.

Anything's possible I guess from a theft standpoint, really weird though.

I can pull 18 mpg in the 80 without the rooftent and driving like granny on sedatives, otherwise, I've been as low as 10 driving to BiBe beating to wind with the 2200 atop.

I think the Hwy 191-163-160 route isn't fast enough to be doing 75+ in the Cruiser and due to rez traffic, mild hills, and scenery usually have to drive a lot slower which the drivetrains seem to love .