I am a female that is very confussed[&:], and need you help.

I have a 1999 Dodge neon RT DOHC 5 speed manual transmission. And I am getting REALLY bad gas mileage. ForONLY highway miles I am getting only about50 miles for 1/4 tank. And for only city I am getting about 80 miles for 1/4 tank. And combined I am getting about 60-75 miles for a 1/4 tank[:@]. What could be causing me to get such bad gas milage?

Question number 2. When I am driving my car at speeds between 30-50 mph my steering wheel shakes. and you can feel a viberation on the passager front seat when sitting there. And I have replace the front brakes and rotors. I have made sure the tire pressure is right. What else could be causing the shaking in the front end passager side? [&:]Could it be a control arm?

I have had another neon before and it was a 95, 5 speed manual and didnt have a problem with it at all. Other then regular maintance.

PLEASE HELP ME!! [:@]I am tired of speeding $80 a WEEK in gas. my gas prices are $3.05 a gal. And in my neon I should be putting $80 a week in it.[:@]

 

60-75 miles on a 1/4 tank......i wish i got that much with any of my neons....that would average out to about 240-300 miles on 1 tank.....doesnt sound too bad to me....
have you figured out what kinda mpg it gets????

as for the shaking, it could be a few different things....
worn tie rods, improperly balanced tires, or the car might just need an alignment

 

I am suppose to get 36 miles per gallon on hwy and 24 milescity combined is 28 miles. For a full tank I am only getting about 250 miles. and I should be getting about 350 miles for a full tan with a 12.5 gallon tank and the conbine driving of 28 miles a gallon.

The shaking I have even had my tires all balanced aand its still there I will have the tire rods looked at and see if it needs an alignment too.

Thanks spudsterier.

Anyone else

 

First off. When doing mileage checks alway buy you gas at the same station and try to buy from the same pump. Do you fill it until the pump shuts off? Depending on which way my Dodge Diplomat is positioned, it means a difference of over two gallons of gas when the pump shuts off. Also the factory fuel mileage figures are under "ideal" conditions. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
Did you have an alignment done? Or just the tie rods checked for play? Did the shop that balanced your tires check for bent wheels and out of round tires?

 

the best milage that i have ever gotten out of one of my r/t's was about 260 miles to a full tank....

 

I'm not sure I follow. By that do you mean you filled up the tank and ran until it was empty and the car shut off? Or are you going by the gas gauge? The only way to get the true mileage is to set the odometer to zero every time you fill up and to fill the tank unil the gas pump shuts off. The gas guages aren't that accurate. A reading of a quarter of a tank is just a wild guess. You could have anywhere from a third of a tank to a fifth of a tank.

 

Yes I have fulled my tank full and ran my car until it shut off. that time i only got about 250 miles. when I put gas in it I fill it till the pumps shuts off then I add a little more to make the price an even amount. say the pumps stops at 25.09 I make it 26.00. And I reset the odometer ever time I put agas in it. I have not had an alignment done or had the tire rods check. I am going to get that done soon, cuz I noever thought of those things. And as for the tire balance I dont think they checked for bent wheels and out of round tires, I had it done at Wal-Mart's Tire and Lube Center.

In my old neon I had the 1995 I always got almost 400 miles for a fuel tank. My unlce 00 neon gets the same as my old one did. Mine must not like me. Cuz I have a thing for cars everytime I touch one it starts to fall apart.

Thanks guys. If you have any more advice send it my way.

 

I have never went passed 250 for a whole tank but i also have the smaller 10 gallon tank.

 

i would absolutely love to find a neon that can get me 400 miles on a full tank....that would be so bad ***

 

Running a car until it dies from lack of fuel is very hard on the pump. They rely on the gas for cooling. My daughter got a personal best of 36 mpg in her 96 SOCH 5spd Highline Coupe on the way back from Drexel in Philly. That was cruising the PA Turnpike at 65 mph plus.
Ask around in your area to find a reliable tire and alignment shop or technitian. Here in the Harrisburg, York and Lancaster area I go to a little shop called Keener's. They did my Diplomat when I first got it years ago and it still wears tires evenly despite the abuse I give it. My daughter's Neon is a recon title car that had massive front end damage. There is a crease in the pasenger's door jamb. Keener's did the alignment some years back and it is still good.