Long Awaited Update

Maintenance log:

May 29: Fuel filter replaced

June 11: Starter rebuilt

Gas log:

May 29:  241.3 miles / 11.783 gallons = 20.48 mpg

July 8:  247.2 miles / 11.105 gallons = 22.26 mpg

August 24: 244.0 miles / 11.616 gallons = 21.01 mpg

Caravan odometer = 181,619 miles

March/April Gas

March 13:  244.2 miles / 13.449 gallons = 18.16 mpg

April 23:  262.1 miles / 14.177 gallons = 18.49 mpg

Caravan odometer = 180,967 miles

January Gas

January 24: 191.7 miles / 11.812 gallons = 16.23 mpg

The mpg was achieved with 87 octane (no ethanol).  I decided to fill up with 91 octane (no ethanol) for a winter treat for the caravan.  The gas cost $3.429 per gallon.

Caravan odometer = 180,455 miles

Backlog of Gas Mileage

August 9: 257.5 miles / 12.044 gallons = 21.38 mpg

October 7: 295.7 miles / 14.843 gallons = 19.92 mpg

November 13: 287.2 miles / 14.314 gallons = 20.06 mpg

December 18: 225.5 miles / 12.276 gallons = 18.37 mpg

Caravan odometer = 180,191 miles

July Gas

July 4: 285.9 miles / 13.866 gallons = 20.6 mpg

Caravan odometer = 179,176 miles

April Gas

I filled up the caravan on Monday with 87 octane (no ethanol). I will no longer be using 91 octane because I didn't see an improvement in mileage.

April 23: 266.7 miles / 13.6 gallons = 19.6 mpg

Caravan odometer = 178,744 miles

Gas and Tire Pressure

Another fill-up using 91 octane at a Sinclair station:

March 13:
261.8 miles / 14.032 gallons = 18.66 mpg

I don't know what to think about this stat. On one hand, it's pretty good mileage for winter. But on the other hand, it's been a mild winter, and it's 91 octane! 91 octane was $3.909 a gallon. If I don't start seeing 22+ mpg with 91 octane, I'm going back to 87 octane at a Cenex station.

One possible reason for the lower-than-expected mileage would be the tire pressure on the new tires I recently purchased. I like to have my tires at 40-44 psi (max load on tire sidewall is 44 psi). The mechanic or technician might have set the tires at 35 psi, which is what the tire pressure placard on the driver's door recommends.

(5 minute break)

I just went outside and checked the tire pressure, and the tires were indeed set at 35 psi. Boy, the one time I go to a different mechanic...

Yes, the ride is a little smoother at 35 psi, but I'd rather have higher MPG and longer tire life (more even tire wear at 40-44 psi).

Caravan odometer = 178,422 miles

Wintervention

The caravan should now be ready for winter. I bought 4 Firestone Touring P205/70R15 S95 tires (with mount, balance, and alignment), and installed a new 18" rear wiper.

I filled the gas tank with 91 octane (no ethanol) again.

January 23:
137.3 miles / 7.919 gallons = 17.3 mpg (Note: It has been a lot colder since my last fill-up.)

Caravan odometer = 178,160 miles

The Van is Back.

In my last post, blogger "have a nice day" pretty much described the repair work my mechanic performed better than I could have described, so read his comment.

Other information:

1. The oil pressure sender was replaced because it was leaking oil.

2. I have switched from Valvoline synthetic blend 5w-30 to Valvoline synthetic 5w-30. I have had problems finding the synthetic blend recently, so I thought now would be a good time to make the switch to full synthetic.

3. Lastly, I filled up with 91 octane (no ethanol) after getting the caravan back from the shop. I won't be doing this very often, but I thought it would be interesting to see any differences in performance compared to the 89 octane (10% ethanol) and 87 octane (no ethanol).

The following fill-up was achieved with 87 octane (no ethanol):

December 27:
277.9 miles / 13.935 gallons = 19.94 mpg

Sea Foam and Gas

I added a pint of Sea Foam to the gas tank before filling up with 87 octane (no ethanol).

October 13:
300.7 miles / 14.322 gallons = 20.99 mpg

Caravan odometer = 177,832 miles

Late-August Gas

I spent $49.20 filling up the caravan with 87 octane (no ethanol) today, after going over 300 miles on 1 tank. That's normally not a big deal for most minivan owners, since they are usually 20-gallon tanks, but my gas tank holds only 15 to 15.5 gallons, thanks to an off-road incident with a rock.

There are a few things I should note before displaying the MPG:

1. This tank had about 10 gallons of 87 octane (no ethanol) and 5 gallons of 89 octane (10% ethanol).

2. I added a quart of Valvoline Max Life synthetic blend 5w-30 to the crankcase, and I made sure the tires were full of air before leaving for my trip to Lake Albert, America.

3. Roughly 190 miles came while I drove to and from the lake, so a lot of interstate/highway driving.

4. There's a small chance I didn't fill up completely, and my next MPG update could be significantly lower. I don't think this is the case, because the fuel gauge displayed 1/8 of a tank left. 1/8 of a 15-gallon tank is 1.875 gallons, and I bought over 13 gallons today.

So with those notes in mind, here are the numbers:

August 30:
335.5 miles / 13.482 gallons = 24.885 mpg!

I'm very proud of Beulah, myself, and our accomplishments together.

Caravan odometer = 177,443 miles

Odometer, mid-August Gas

The caravan is finally over 177,000 miles.



August 13:
214.7 miles / 10.185 gallons = 21.08 mpg

I'm surprised I was able to achieve 21 mpg considering I had the air conditioner turned on a few times. It was very humid outside for about 3 weeks. This was with 89 octane (10% ethanol). The next gas update will be with 87 octane (no ethanol). Check back for the results.

Caravan odometer = 177,293 miles

July Gas

I completely forgot about updating the blog, so I apologize for being so late with the newest MPG information. This fill-up was exactly $50.00.

July 9:
301.9 miles / 14.049 gallons = 21.489 mpg

Caravan odometer = 176,949 miles. The next update should have Beulah with over 177,000 miles! I think I might have a pizza party in celebration.

May Gas, Traffic Lights

May 23:
243.6 miles / 11.515 gallons = 21.155 mpg

It's a solid improvement, but not as high as I would like. If you look at my previous spring/summer MPG posts, I was getting 21.9 to 22.75 mpg.

Most of my driving occurs at night, after I finish work. There are very few people in the grocery store when I shop, and a limited number of cars on the road. I take a route that is considerably flat, with only 2 minor hills.

Unfortunately, the town and city I travel between have switched some of the flashing yellow traffic lights to flashing red traffic lights (midnight-6 am). Instead of possibly being able to make it to the store with only 1 stop sign, I now could end up having to stop at 7 traffic lights (8 stops total, if you include the stop sign) in a one-way trip. I thought the point of traffic lights was to keep traffic moving along. Apparently, it's to increase stop-and-go driving to ruin my gas mileage.

In conclusion, towns and small cities need to switch back to the flashing yellow lights to move traffic along quicker, and so I can get the best gas mileage out of my caravan possible.

I feel like Pierre Bernard after this rant.

Caravan odometer = 176,662 miles

April Update

Here's my update for April 2011: I filled up the caravan one time. That's it.

I rarely drive long distances now because the US Dollar is getting weaker every week. It cost me $51.35 to buy 13.771 gallons of gasoline (89 octane, 10% ethanol). Too bad we don't have silver in our currency anymore; 1 quarter from 1964 (90% silver, 10% copper) can buy 2 gallons of gasoline! 25 cents for 2 gallons of gas, can you imagine that? Damn you, paper currency, that has no intrinsic value and can easily be debased!

April 18:
264.2 miles / 13.771 gallons = 19.2 mpg

Caravan odometer = 176,408 miles

Tire, Gas

One of the tires (rear-passenger side) had a psi in the low 20's, so with that fixed (37-40 psi range), I noticed a slight improvement in gas mileage. In addition to the increased air pressure, I don't recall the weather being as harsh since the last time I filled up the van with gasoline.

March 4:
209.5 miles / 12.688 gallons = 16.5 mpg

Caravan odometer = 176,084 miles

Gas

Not very good numbers so far this winter.

179.6 miles / 11.381 gallons = 15.78 mpg

I take a lot of short trips, but 15.8 mpg? What the bleep is this about? Maybe I lost a bit of gas when the fuel pump and hoses (line and injector) were replaced. I don't know. Time to check the tire pressure again.

Caravan odometer = 175,873 miles

Update for late November, December

The last 45 days have been unpleasant, weather-wise. There was a night of freezing rain, which annihilated my gas mileage. The ice was too thick for my scraper, so it took about 20 minutes to defrost. It was still raining when the ice melted, and I ended up having the caravan run for 30-35 minutes while driving only 2 miles.

Due to various reasons (cold weather, limited income, high gas prices), the caravan only takes short trips, which doesn't allow the engine to warm up for efficient mileage. The South Dakota winters make for cold starts. I have been thinking about installing an engine block heater to rectify this problem.

December 30:
194.3 miles / 12.14 gallons = 16 mpg.

November Update

I recently bought an oil filter wrench to make oil changes easier. It works swell! I also installed new front wiper blades for the upcoming winter. It's impossible to find a rear wiper blade that will fit with the windshield washers.

November 17:
253.3 miles / 12.375 gallons = 20.5 mpg.

Caravan odometer = 175,500 miles

Gas Mileage for September/October

September 26:
291.3 miles / 13.654 gallons = 21.3 mpg

October 21:
180.0 miles / 8.784 gallons = 20.5 mpg

Caravan odometer = 175,382 miles