850 wagon gas mileage

I have a 96 850 GLT non turbo wagon that I bought used a couple of
monthe ago with 129,00 miles on it. I've been getting only about 15 or
16 miles per gallon driving conservitively in mostly local city type
driving using 89 octane fuel. It also has a very strong exhaust odor
so maybe it's wasting fuel. I don't have any service history on the
car. I've replaced the air filter and spark plugs but not the ignition
wires which seem to be in pretty good shape. I used the standard Bosch
paltinum plugs. I bought a new distributor cap and rotor but didn't
install them yet.

Is this the mileage I should expect or is something wrong?

Thanks,

Bill

 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

That doesn't sound very good. I presume you're talking about US gallons. But
16 miles per US gallon is still less than 20 miles per 'real' (Imperial)
gallon - which is pretty diabolical.

I would get it thoroughly checked over.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Like the man said, 'Nobody ever bought a Volvo for the fuel economy'.

cheers,

Henry

 

Our UK imperial S70 2.5 gets 32mpg or so *average*...
Tim..

 

Our V70 non-turbo gets around 33 to 35 mpg on the highway, about 25 in
straight city driving.

 

You should get at least low to mid 20s around town, something is wrong.

 

I get 24-25 mpg with general all around driving on both a '93 and '95
850 non-turbo wagon using the lowest octane gas I can buy. It sounds
like your pollution system is bad. Probably the oxygen sensor or flame
trap. How long has the check engine light been on?

 

What impact do a bad O sensor or flame trap have? Do you get an overly
rich blend?

 

A bad O2 sensor can cause poor gas mileage and the strong smell of an
over rich mixture.

A bad flame trap shouldn't affect gas mileage much, but it would cause
crank case fumes to be released rather than burned causing a bad odor.
It also increases oil consumption.

 

Where is my flame trap (V70) and how can I check it? I am using about
1l oil every 1,000 or so recently.

Thanks.

 

The check engine light isn't on which is a little surprising
consdiering how bad the exhaust smells. I was also a little suprised
that the car passed the PA emsissions inspection.

Thanks, Bill

 

My V70XC gets about that.

Before that, my 240s used to get 12-14mpg.

So I look at it as an improvement!

 

And what was wrong with them?

I get about double that, even on my petrol-hungry '90 245 with B230F
and AW-70... mostly on highway, naturally, but 12--14 sounds a lot
even in town.

 

Our 240 sedan got around 25 on the highway, mid-teens in town. I guess
the wagon/estate is heavier.

 

Go to:

http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search?hl=en

And enter:

All Words: V70 Flame Trap
Group: alt.autos.volvo

Set to: 100 messages

and then click "Gougle Search"

You will find many discussions on where it is and what to do.

 

I got that low in my 240 once, it was the few days after I first cranked
the turbo boost up to 17 psi and was flooring it practically every
chance I had. Driving more reasonably I get close to 20mpg mixed even
with the old mechanical injection and turbo. A standard 240 will get mid
to high 20s if everything is in good order.

 

They are by about 300 lbs, they also have a slightly lower coefficient
of drag. My mom has a 245 with a manual gearbox and it occasionally
manages a hair over 30 mpg if it's all on the highway.

 

Is that with manual or automatic transmission?

There's some kind of reference here:

<URL:http://www.fueleconomy.gov/>

Actually I think that this 23--24 mpg I'm getting on mine is so bad
that I'm even considering to have the engine and the transmission
replaced with a VW diesel and an M-47. ;-( At least the gearbox. There
could be something wrong with the autobox, I guess... it's (I think
it's the gearbox!) making hissing noises occasionally but still
switches nicely. Oil is okay.

 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

It would be helpful in this discussion if respondents specified which type
of gallon they are referring to - since an Imperial gallon is more than 20%
greater than a US gallon, and makes quite a difference to the mpg figures!

Only then can we be sure that we are comparing apples with apples.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

 

OK, the government rating for the 96 850 wagon is 20 MPG US in city
driving using premium gas. With all the stop and go driving and short
trips that I have 16 MPG with medium grade 89 octane gas probably can't
be improved on much. The EPA ratings are usually higher than what you
can actually expect to get in practice.
Paying the extra cost of 93 octane premium seems like it's not worth it
since the engine only can make use of 91 octane. So which is more
economical - cheaper 87 octane or slightly higer priced 89 octane which
should get better mileage thatn the 87? I guess there is a break even
point somewhere depending on the price differential.