Hello All! 1997 Oldsmobile 88 Here!
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Hello All! 1997 Oldsmobile 88 Here!
Hello all!
I am excited to see that this website is not only for Bonnevilles, but other H-body'* such as the 1997 Oldsmobile 88 that I picked up! I received this car from my uncle, who is an excellent mechanic. It has 110,000 on the body and chassis, and as of now about 200 miles on a brand new L36 3.8 V6. I love the car, it rides great. It did need a really good scrubbing, but now that that'* done, I can say that this is a good looking car despite some rear damage to the drivers side of the rear bumper. My first question on here is going to be why this H-body gets such bad gas mileage? I traded my 1988 Pontiac 6000 A-body with a 2.8 for this, and it seems that the 2.8 resembled a Toyota Corolla in fuel economy compared to this 3.8, which is comparable to the 350 in my bosses Tahoe when considering fuel economy. In any case, just wanted to say hello. I'm sure you all will be seeing me on here more often. Take care.
I am excited to see that this website is not only for Bonnevilles, but other H-body'* such as the 1997 Oldsmobile 88 that I picked up! I received this car from my uncle, who is an excellent mechanic. It has 110,000 on the body and chassis, and as of now about 200 miles on a brand new L36 3.8 V6. I love the car, it rides great. It did need a really good scrubbing, but now that that'* done, I can say that this is a good looking car despite some rear damage to the drivers side of the rear bumper. My first question on here is going to be why this H-body gets such bad gas mileage? I traded my 1988 Pontiac 6000 A-body with a 2.8 for this, and it seems that the 2.8 resembled a Toyota Corolla in fuel economy compared to this 3.8, which is comparable to the 350 in my bosses Tahoe when considering fuel economy. In any case, just wanted to say hello. I'm sure you all will be seeing me on here more often. Take care.
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Most often if they are in 100% good tune they will do about 20 city and 29-32 on the highway...
Welcome to the forum..
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Welcome to the forum..
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It appears that I am somewhere near 20 highway, and like 14 city. I don't sit in a lot of traffic, and I don't mash the pedal at all especially since this is a brand new engine that needs to properly break in. The new motor consists of a used, re machined block (stock bore), freshened heads (the same that came with the car), new crank, new rods, pistons, timing chain, valves, etc. The intake manifold is also somewhat new (it was off the old engine but put on the new one). Lets put it this way, I have filled it up to the 3/4 mark, put about 65 miles on it (about 50 of which were highway), and the guage is halfway between 1/2 and 1/4. I know that these guages arent accurate, and vary depending upon going up or down a hill, but these measures were taken on a flat road while standing still. I might sell this thing if it doesnt do good on gas.
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First you need to let it break in before you Doom it...LOL
Did you use the Original O2 sensor? And if its a Bosch O2 we are going to tell you how much they Suck...
That could be one of the issues...
There are several things that can affect fuel economy...
Both Of my 3800'* are easily 20 city and 30+ on the highway
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Did you use the Original O2 sensor? And if its a Bosch O2 we are going to tell you how much they Suck...
That could be one of the issues...
There are several things that can affect fuel economy...
Both Of my 3800'* are easily 20 city and 30+ on the highway
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I am letting her break in, I'm going to give this thing a good month before I start tearing into it/selling it. I don't know about the 02 sensor(*). In fact I have a lot to learn about this L36. I am an LS1 fanatic, I have a Camaro (which currently gets better gas mileage than this thing), but am now finding out about this motor because I just go the car. Will breaking the engine in cause my mileage to get progressively better?
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It should improve some as the engine frees up a bit..
The Low Mileage makes me think that the O2 is possibly shot or getting slow..
Lets just say with 2 people, AC Running... Crusing at 80 mph... With 700 Lbs in the trunk and another few hundred in the back seat... I still ripped down a 31mpg on my Trip back from West Virgina
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The Low Mileage makes me think that the O2 is possibly shot or getting slow..
Lets just say with 2 people, AC Running... Crusing at 80 mph... With 700 Lbs in the trunk and another few hundred in the back seat... I still ripped down a 31mpg on my Trip back from West Virgina
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I will have to ask my uncle as to what 02 sensor he used. The car doesn't throw any codes, and the exhaust does not smell like gas. It runs really smooth, and has a ton of power especially up top (hit it on the freeway once), but burns a ton of gas with no symptoms of anything that could be bad.
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Nice to see another Oldsmobile owner around.
I would like to recommend you check your gas mileage the proper way, and not use the gauge as a mileage basis, especially since as you noted, they arent always accurate.
Fill the tank up completely, I now listen for gas coming up the filler neck, because most stations I stop at seem to pump too fast for my car to handle if I use "the clicker".
Then reset your trip meter, drive around for however long you choose, refill and divide miles driven by gallons pumped. That might get you a workable figure, that might even surprise you.
I will also agree that sluggish O2 sensors are usually the biggest cause for poor mileage in a car that is otherwise running great.
I would like to recommend you check your gas mileage the proper way, and not use the gauge as a mileage basis, especially since as you noted, they arent always accurate.
Fill the tank up completely, I now listen for gas coming up the filler neck, because most stations I stop at seem to pump too fast for my car to handle if I use "the clicker".
Then reset your trip meter, drive around for however long you choose, refill and divide miles driven by gallons pumped. That might get you a workable figure, that might even surprise you.
I will also agree that sluggish O2 sensors are usually the biggest cause for poor mileage in a car that is otherwise running great.