Hi all, I haven driven a total of 160 miles and the gauge is only down 1/8. Dose this sound right? Seems like this thing would get about 500 mile to a tank if it's right.
I would venture to say, No, Its not "right".....but is it the first eighth ?? like from Full down to 7/8ths ?? On MY RoadMonster the guage goes Past "F" and the last quarter tank "Evaporates" in no-time. In fact, when I get close to 1/4 mark, I know its time to look for gas. My Wife's guage is whacky so I have her reset the odo. each time at fill-up and to look for gas around the 220 mark. Were you filled up when you started this test ?? did you reset the odometer at the station after fill-up ?? If so, Id suggest you go now to a gas station and refuel, and notice how much gas it takes to fill it up. WRITE IT DOWN !!! Im gonna guess around 10 gallons if you've been driving around town :grin: I *think* the tanks are 18 gal. tanks. Reset your Odo. When you get to the same position on the guage, again refuel and compare. What you want to see is if your guage is reliable, by seeing if it registers the same mark for the same amount of fuel used. Now, say, you took 10 gals and you went close to 160 miles both time. Next time stretch your mileage to 200, and notice where it reads on the guage, and how much fuel it take. etc.etc.etc......until you have a feel for 1) is your guage somewhat accurate, if not callibrated to the marks 2) what your range is on a safe amount of gas (~16 gals) In good tune, running ou the highway getting 24+ Mpg, I've gone over 400 miles on a tank but thats stretching it especially if exits are far and few
Hey Alan, Just got the car last week filled it up and reset the trip meter at the gas station. This would be the first eighth from full. I'll fill it up today and post the amount of fuel it took. Thanks.
I filled it up and it took 12 gal. Thats 13.3 miles to the gal. I did have my foot in it quiet a bit though. I'm going to go for 260 this time and see what happens.
Kinda hard not to, right ???? :bglasses: These LT1 motors are ALOT of fun even in this big whale. what mileage does yours have on it....and does it have the tow package ?? Easiest way to tell is - if it has 1 mechanical and one electircal fan - if its got a round fan shroud that sticks up above the radiator its Tow pkg. equipped which gave you 2.93 gears instead of the stock 2.56. You can also look at the SPID sticker inside the right tailgate opening (opened as a door not a drop-down) and look for G80. ....just like days of yore, G80 back then and even today means POSI in GM-Lingo You might want to visit www.impalassforum.com - the have a similar sight to this with a wagon specific heading where alot of the late model B-Body wagon guys hang
It has 93000. It does have the tow package and posi. It is a lot of fun driving this car compared to the 89 Electra Estate Wagon I traded in for it. It will get out from under you around a corner in the rain. Have you done any engine mods to yours? I'd like too get 300 to the wheels and looking for ways to do it with out getting into the engine. I'm thinking cold air intake, 53mm throttle body, larger MAF sensor, throttle coolant bypass kit, air temp sensor mod (makes ECM think it has cold air all the time), and maybe 1.7 rockers. That should get me close if not more. What do you think?
Hi Steve- You really need to be careful on the Other end of the gage! My Impy SS has the same issue with the forever first eigth, then dropping like a rock. My low fuel light will come on, and I've never run out of gas. My brother-in-laws Roadmonster, on the other hand, runs out of gas at around the 1/8-1/4 mark without the low fuel light ever coming on! If it really bugs you, you can get a fix here for about $65 plus shipping. Otherwise, do as Alan suggests and get a good handle on your mileage and use your trip odometer to let you know when you're getting in the danger zone. That's just one of the few quirks on what is an otherwise very cool car! Good luck.
By the way, Steve, I think getting 300 to the wheels will take more than what you're planning. Your car stock is 260 at the flywheel. Assuming an 18% or so drivetrain loss, your looking at needing about 365, or over 100 additional HP, at the flywheel. These cars respond well to cold air and exhaust changes. Both are very restrictive. If budget is tight, at least get yourself a good pair of Walker's to weld in place of your factory mufflers. A simple K&N cone and "sewer pipe" (refer to the site Alan mentioned) in place of the stock intake goes a long way too. That, and a PCM change (www.pcmforless.com) will probably get you close to 300 at the flywheel. Alot of those changes are advertised at 25 HP each, but it just ain't additive that way, trust me. If you're looking to get 300 at the wheels, your either going to have to go into the engine (cam would be the next choice, followed by heads in order of bang for the buck) or put some giggle gas on it. Stay away from supercharging as reliability is not great without rebuilding the bottom end to something less than stock compression ratio. This is a good place to look at various mods and their impact on 1/4 mile times. If you're looking to get your beast moving out of the hole, you'll probably want to look at a torque converter. I swapped a 2400 stall into my Impy and it made a world of difference. Helped my 1/4 times by about 3 tenths. One final thought. If you do manage to get 300 at the wheels, your tranny will most assuredly grenade. The 4l60E is a good trans, but would need to be beefed up to handle that kind of power combined with the behemoth weight of your wagon. Good luck and have fun! :TU:
Ken, aren't the HP numbers taken at the wheels? My under standing is from 71 till now is how they get the numbers. Did they revert back to fly wheel power numbers? Any body know where I could get the specs for the stock cam?
Alan, I found out the tank is 22 gal. I drove it 284 miles an it took 18 gal. That gave me 15.7 MPG. I did do some hiway driving though. The gauge was just over 1/4 tank. It looks like the bottom end of the gauge may be ok but, the top end is way off.
Steve- Hp was always measured at the crank. The main difference in measuring "gross" and "net" HP that changed in '71 is the gross measurements are through open headers with no accessories attached and the net figures have all accessories attached and is through full exhaust. Here you go on the camshaft specs. You really should join the impalassforum.com, as Alan suggested. That site has tons more information that's related to your car. naturally, you're welcome to hang out here too!
On the Impy Forum they did a dyno test first with the mechanical fan setup and then without and that ALONE netted 12 hp increase so if you never plan on towing, switching to the dual electrics is and easy pickup of HP I dont have any mods - yet - but I swear my '94 wagon is that 1 in 1,000 winchester because it runs like a raped ape even with 147,000 miles and never being apart !! My wife's '95 runs great but I'd kill it in a race of the Whales As for the mileage, My wagon never got above 16-17 mpg even on the highway - running great - until I did a complete tune-up which included wires, plugs, and the OptiSpark, O2 sensors (also waterpump and all hoses). The next week we went on a 8 day vacation and traveled more than 1400 miles in upstate NY mountains.....and averaged OVER 24 mpg for the whole trip.....mostly cruising between 70-80 mph !! YMMV
