Hi Guys, I have a 74 Maverick 6C auto, my problem is I'm only gettind 15 to the gallon,is this normal for this car? I recently put in new spark plugs,put on new tires and had a wheel alignment,fresh oil and filters . The car runs very well and other than the lousy gas milage ,I love the little car. I guess the next thing I could try would be a new carb,unless some one has a better idea? I would appreciate any help you can give. Thanks, Mike.
They are not the most efficient cars,even with a 6.Make sure your plug gap is correct @0.044 and your timing is set properly at 14deg BTDC as well as your carb being adjusted properly,Idle/mixture?choke etc...Tires properly inflated and your catalytic converter is in good shape(not plugged up)A good High flow cat would probably help performance/efficiency a bit, but hey,30 plus year old tech as well as parts wear,15 mpg is not too bad.Hope this helps you a bit.Good luck.
depends on who you ask......a well tuned small block will get better MPG than the 6 banger But not my well tuned small block
Alot of times,a stock 302 will be more efficient in these cars than the 6.In hilly terrain,the 6 just works too hard to be worth it.My 75 2dr is a 200/3speed manual.It gets about 23 mpg,however I had a 74 250/auto that barely got the same as the stock 73 v8/auto grabber I had at the same time(about 15-18).My '72 Comet 2dr has a roller 302 w/a B303 cam,holley 600,dual exhaust off the stock manifolds and an auto w/a shift kit that has gotten as high as 18,but usually gets 15-16.I haven't tuned much on it,I know it could be leaned out a bit because it runs a bit rich idling,but it runs ok & I'm not daily driving it anymore.Useless info to you I guess,just illustrating that a mild v8 will get close to 20 mpg,easily over 20 w/some sort of overdrive(AOD auto/T5 stick).The 200/250 six is a good engine(just about indestructable),but power/economy is not one of their strong points.
I would look into a tune up, my daily driver gets 23 with a I6 although it runs kinda lean,sounds like a overhaul kit for the carb would be a great investment GL
I think it also depends on which 6 you have. The 200 will do better than a 250, for example. What rear gears do you have? Not that it is very practical, but if you have 3.00 gears, you could swap in a 2.79 chunk and gain some economy. Exactly which carb you have matters too. My son took a Holley 1946 off his 200 and replaced it with a Carter RBS off a 250... He gets better mileage AND power now. As a side note, that is a super easy carb to tune as well. He has much better throttle response now too. Other things that help: Electric fan, instead of mechanical. Clutch fan helps in place of stock fan too. Weight loss is a big factor. Tire size. Headers help power AND economy. Free flowing exhaust. Being a 74, you probably don't have a cat, so that is a start. An overdrive tranny always helps. I'd imagine an aluminum driveshaft would help. Alot of these items seem a little over the top, but they are ideas.
I was getting around around 24 hwy. with my 250. I currently have no problem getting 25+ with a 200, have seen as high as 28 mpg with this 200. You need to be sure your car is in proper tune. That means, new plugs gapped correctly, wires, cap and rotor, not running rich, proper timing, properly adjusted and working vacuum advance, all your tires are in good condition, match each other and are inflated properly. The width of your tires especially matter, the wider the tire the worse mileage you will get due to increased rolling resistance. Make sure your front suspension is in good condition and the front end is in good alignment. Driving style is EVERYTHING. You gotta be smooth and easy with that gas pedal, especially driving in town. Anticipate red lights or what the car in front of you is going to do. The less you slow down or come to a complete stop, the better. I always love it when a light is red so I slow down a ways back, and the car behind me passes me, flys up to the light and stops completely. Then I get there right as the light turns green and just cruise right by them before they even have a chance to get rolling again. If your car still has points, get rid of them. Just keep in mind that every time you let up on the pedal, you will have to push down on it again. Every time you push down, there goes your gas. Keep it under 70 on the interstate, preferably around 60, especially if you have the 3.00 gear. As far as hills go, north GA, where I do 95% of my driving, is a pretty hilly area. Just like red lights, anticipate the hills. Don't hit your brakes going down a hill, because that's energy wasted that could have been used to climb the hill on the other side. My little 200 has no problem with most hills. I think the next engine to go in my '72 will be one of the late model 200's with the partial SBF pattern and a T5 behind it.
If you are getting 15 mpg in town, I would say that is pretty normal. If that is your mileage on the highway, I would say it is low. I would expect 22 mpg on the freeway with a 6 cylinder. When my Comet had a 3:00 gear in it, it got 17 mpg at a steady 70 mph, and that is with a warmed-up 351W/C4 auto.
