Hello, I just purchased a 1997 taco as listed in the subject. I love it, It my 4Runner get along nicely. Anyways, I was told the gas milage is around 20-23 mpg new I am actually getting around 17 mpg any suggestions? (bad injectors?, wheel bearrings?, head/valve problems or signs of? timming belt and water pump was serviced @ 108,000 miles. Thanks

Winter gas???Maybe

Any history on spark plugs being changed?
How's the wear on the front tires? Do they show any indication of being out of alignment?
What's the air pressure in the tires?
When you turn the key to 'on' does the check engine light come on (so you know it works)?

My 96 X-cab, 3.4L, 5sp, 4x4 gets about 20 mpg in the summer and about 18 in the winter. You don't sound far off depending on your driving habits. You can try a tune up but when I replaced the original spark plugs at 130k my mileage went up 0.0! The center electrode was V shaped from the twin electrode but still provided plenty of spark. How old are the O2 sensors? How does it accelerate when you first start it on a cold morning? Another surprise for me was when I replaced the front O2 sensor due to OBD code and sluggish at start up, my mileage still went up 0! Unreal. My previous 93 truck (same config) got 17 no matter what, so I'm happy with 18-20.

Everything is pretty maintained, I think I will give the O2 Sensor a try.

its not really that way off for it being 126K miles on it. My 4 taco with 20K gets about 18-19, that also has the same config as yours. And I dont push the pedal to the metal either.

17 sounds about right. 20-23 sounds a bit high to me. I'm happy to get 17 in my 3.4L. Winter blended gasoline tends to worsen the MPG.

My 99' 3.4L 4x4 with just over 100k miles I get about 17-19mpg lately, usually closer to 17mpg when I'm driving in the city a lot. Sounds to me like you're about normal if you're driving in the city often, especially if you drive like me (heavy foot). Whoever told you 20-23 was nutts, I've never seen that mileage even on highway trips.

I talked to the service manager at my Toyota dealer whom I've known for a long time and was advised that the mpg starts deteriorating around 70 - 80K miles due to the o2 sensor on the 3.4L V6.

My 4Runner (88k miles on it) has dropped about 3mpg above and beyond the winter gas deal, so I got one on order and will pick it up Monday..

You only need to replace the front one.. the one behind the cat (second o2 sensor) would not affect mpg.

My 2001 entended cab 4x4 taco S5 2.7 4 banger gets 19 driving in these mountains all day but on the highway I can get 23. The 2.7 has plenty of power in these hills and will go anywhere my old 350 chevy Suburban 4x4 would go and it only got 12 mpg,Lol. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I put the new o2 sensor in and on the first tank (driving hilly back roads which are not the best for mileage) gas mileage went up 2mpg..

probably will be much better on open roads..