hmm, i have a strange problem with my 88 3.0 V6. i posted about a week ago about a funny sulphur-ish smell in my exhaust that happens when i accelerate hard. well, i watch my rough gas mileage, and it recently went to total crap. i normally get 17-20, but now i get about 13 mpg. i didn't change anything at all.<P>i'm wondering if my O2 sensor could be out, and the ECU defaulted to a rich mix (avoiding a valve-burning lean mix)<P>well, i know the O2 sensor hasn't been changed in 40k miles, so i plan to change it. (anyone suggest who has the best price? ) or does anyone have any other suggestions?<P>thanks a lot. gene.

A sulfurish smell from the exhaust is usually a clogged Catalytic Converter. Especially under acceleration the smell would be amplified. I'd take it off and look at it. You should be able to see a small open area, about the size of a quarter, maybe a little bigger of light. If you can't, it's clogged and your options are to gut it with a long screwdriver and hammer or buy an aftermarket one. I did the gutting option since I don't have smog checks, plus I didn't have the $$ to spend on a new one. I will eventually. Chris

gut it. i did that to an older car of mine. just ream out the same ID as the exhaust pipe. don't open it all the way, so if an inspector taps on it, it doesn't sound hollow.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mean__Gene:<BR><STRONG>hmm, i have a strange problem with my 88 3.0 V6. i normally get 17-20, but now i get about 13 mpg. i didn't change anything at all.<P>.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Dude...that's impressive, I want specs as my 1990 4Runner V6 4WD Auto gets that mileage of 13-14 MPG...so give me specs.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mohamed:<BR><STRONG>Dude...that's impressive, I want specs as my 1990 4Runner V6 4WD Auto gets that mileage of 13-14 MPG...so give me specs.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>well, i would normally get about 17 city and 19-20 highway at low altitudes. one summer i driver to colorado, and driving nothing but highway i got nearly 25.<P>i have my window sticker from when the Runner was new, and it says i should get 17-19.<P>i'm gonna try taking the cat off and hollowing it out since we don't have emissions testing here.<P>thanks.gene.

i usually get 10-13 on mine =\ or did, but i drove it a little hard, and i drive mostly city.<BR>i dont have much opinion on your problem =x but i recently went through the problem of my engine light coming on... aparently i had gotten some bad gas and i couldnt get the codes to reset when i pulled the fuse. (ECU)<p>[ 17 September 2001: Message edited by: Cooper ]

to update anyone who was interested in my O2 sensor probs, i have replaced my old o2 sensor with a new one from toyota. it was a little pricey @ $128 vs $64 for an after market, but the only aftermarket i could find had only one wire while the toy sensor has 4 (i assume Toyota knew what they were doing when they required 4 wires to do the job...)<P>well, after a last fill up of 5.5 gallons after driving 55 miles (10 mi/gal!!!), i replaced the O2 sensor and rebuilt the idler arm while i was at it (with a prob of it's own.. see my 'idler arm bushings part #s' posting). at first fill-up since, i traveled roughly 185 miles on 11.3 gal (`16-17 mi/gal) what an improvement. the only down side is that the engine preignites a little on heavy acceleration.. (which it used to but hadn't since the mileage became poor) guess i'll have to go back to 89+ octane petrol.<P>i'm quite a suprised that an O2 sensor could cause that much of a prob with out the 'check engine' light coming on... hmmm.<P>later.gene.

Bonjour Gene,<P>4-wire Ox use a pair of wire for sensing and the other pair to heat the sensor upto 400 F.<P>When the OX heater is malfunctionning, the sensor is indicating, most of the time, constant voltage instead of oscillating voltage. The ECU/EFI ignore that and no ECU/EFI warning light.<P>P.O.