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Fuel Mileage on Pathfinder 3.5

3K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  moymch 
#1 ·
My only major complaint with my 02 Pathfinder is extremely poor fuel mileage during the winter 6 months.

Worst case is winter, short trips, very cold....15mpg US

Best case summer, highway, warm temps.....29mpg US

I've never heard of mileage swinging that much under different conditions.

BTW, in both cases it is moderate driving. If I was really booting it I'm sure it would be more like 10 and 20 mpg resectively

It's my only complaint in 3 1/2 years.

I'd be very interested to hear of other owner experience on fuel mileage, and very interested in any ideas to improve cold weather mileage.

I'm currently waiting for my dealer to get back to me regarding a possible upgrade (reprogramming) of the ECM which I'm hoping might provide an improvement.

Any comments appreciated.
 
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#3 ·
chilkoot02 said:
My only major complaint with my 02 Pathfinder is extremely poor fuel mileage during the winter 6 months.

Worst case is winter, short trips, very cold....15mpg US

Best case summer, highway, warm temps.....29mpg US

I've never heard of mileage swinging that much under different conditions.

BTW, in both cases it is moderate driving. If I was really booting it I'm sure it would be more like 10 and 20 mpg resectively

It's my only complaint in 3 1/2 years.

I'd be very interested to hear of other owner experience on fuel mileage, and very interested in any ideas to improve cold weather mileage.

I'm currently waiting for my dealer to get back to me regarding a possible upgrade (reprogramming) of the ECM which I'm hoping might provide an improvement.

Any comments appreciated.
You are looking at two extremes, winte you will use more gas because it takes longer for the engine to heat up and more fuel goes to the engine casue the air temp is colder (more oxygen). I think 15mpg is the city rating for your car.
 
#6 ·
chilkoot02 said:
Thanks for the feedback. My winter mileage problem isn't a show stopper as I'm retired and don't do a lot of miles. I'm just over 50,000 km in 40 months. I just feel Nissan could have made it more efficient.
keep in mind this isnt a small 2.0 L motor.. you have a 3.5l pathy, but there are v8's with equal gas mileage. Best thing to go about gas mileage is proper tire inflation, tire size, cargo weight, engine mods will slightly improve gas mileage....Nissans can be moody lol :fluffy:
 
#7 ·
chilkoot02 said:
Thanks for the feedback. My winter mileage problem isn't a show stopper as I'm retired and don't do a lot of miles. I'm just over 50,000 km in 40 months. I just feel Nissan could have made it more efficient.
Is it possible you're buying a different blend of gasoline in the winter that is less efficient than what is sold in the summer?
 
#8 ·
gogriz91 said:
Is it possible you're buying a different blend of gasoline in the winter that is less efficient than what is sold in the summer?
You may have a good point. In Canada the oil companies do make a change to their gasoline in the winter to prevent fuel line freezing etc. Maybe that winter fuel is much less efficient. Something to look into. Thanks!
 
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