Can anybody tell me what the M.P.G. for a 1986 El Camino 4.3L auto.should be? I am only geting 13-17 M.P.G..This is a new motor that I just had put in.

Dave,
There are a lot of factors that can affect gas mileage but I would think that is a bit on the low side. You did not mention if that was around town or highway mileage ? I would think that you should be getting a lot better highway mileage any way. I am comparing it to my 85 Blazer with 305 that will pretty regularly get over 20 mpg highway if driven at around 60 mph with the 700R4 in over drive. Around town I get about the same as you 13-16 mpg again depending on how many 5.0 Mustangs I try to out run at the lights ! One of my employees has an S-10 truck with a 4.3, I will try to remember to ask him in the AM what his does. It is fuel injected so it may not be a fair comparison.


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Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md

I have a '90 s-10 4x4 and I get an avg of 13 mpg around town, A whole lot of short trips and idle time, Highway I see around 25 mpg.

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Sean Flanagan
Heavy '73

I am geting that M.P.G. with a combo of side roads & Hwy.. I am not pushing it to hard (take off a little faster than most & 75 M.P.H. Hwy.). It's just that the old motor had the same M.P.G. and it was old & tired. I figured that the new motor would get better.
Thanks.

Just a thought, do you still have the lock-up converter hooked up and does it still work? If not, you may find 3-4 mpg right there!

Yes the converter is working.

You say your 4.3 is a new motor. Things should improve once you accumulate some miles on it. You might see a 5 - 10% improvement if it is still really tight now.

I have a 89 Astro van (4.3)with 140,000 miles on it and I still gets 18-20 on the hiway. I use 20-50 valvoline Racing oil in it. Patrick

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