Fuel Economy - MS112 Crown

[rtrona]

Hey everyone,

i have just purchased a very mint 1982 Crown, it has the 5me, now i know these old girls arent going to be too good on fuel, but i have gotten around 290kms to the 70 odd litre tank!

Im hoping this is not normal lol. if not, what are some things i should be checking, i am going to replace the Oxygen sensor, fuel filter, etc.

What else should i be checking? i drive it very grandma like. its too neat to drive hard haha.

* The old 5ME is running really rough, blowing heaps of black smoke, and fouling plugs! It sounds like its running on a few cylinders. However plugs, distributor cap, coil, leads and that are all fine. Tried a different ignitor, rotor button etc. If i put new plugs in it runs ok. Then fouls them straight away after minimal kms

[pandaah]

doing that would be a great start, make sure its breathing well new air filter.. check the timing, maybe clean the fuel injectors.. see how you go after abit of a service / tune up..

[SilverRA23]

It is a big heavy lump of a car with a relatively small engine.. that won't help your economy!

[Phoenix01]

Check your spark plugs too. More than likely fouled even if only as a result of a separate issue. Which will then compound the problem.

[rtrona]

That's right it is a heavy car. But I honestly don't think 300 kms to a tank is normal. Took
forever finding a fuel filter. Ryco don't cross reference. No one had a listing. Was looking like I was going to have to get a factory Toyota item from Japan, according to local Toyota dealer. At a cost of 80-90 dollars. Luckily I found a donaldson one. Half the price.

[crowncustom]

If it hasnt been well maintained Mark,then 300ks is expected.That old Cressie I had did between 300 to 400ks on a tank which was expected seeing it had done over 400 000ks.
Cheers Brett.

[rtrona]

I figure it has been fairly well maintained. I purchased it off a friend who had, had it for a year. She purchased it off an elderly gentleman. The car is in excellent condition. I will post some pictures up shortly

[MS112]

May I ask under what driving conditions are you experiencing this range of 300km? Highway or around town?

My Crown could push 7km/L (14L/100km) at highway driving, on LPG. Slightly better when using unleaded. I have experienced less than 5km/L around town conditions (driving and accelerating gently). I have noticed that the air filter has a noticeable impact on acceleration and economy.

The engine had 200,000km on it, though of course it is possible that it wasn't the original engine when I removed it from the donar car, so it may have had more KM than recorded. The internal condition was unknown.

While the 5M-E is nigh-unstoppable, it is not the most fuel-efficient motor

If you plan on using the car as a daily, you may consider upgrading to the 5M-GE.

PS. it is good to see another Crown on Toymods

Cheers,
Brendon

[rtrona]

Cheers MS112, that was a good read on the 5M-E. The driving conditions were mostly around town. it has 208,000kms on it. Was considering the 5M-GE, but eventually i would like to go a jz or even a toyota 8 cylinder.

just on another note, are the 5M-GE prone to doing head gaskets like the 7M-GE?

[wilbo666]

Just a heads up that I'm pretty sure that you will find that you won't be able to replace the O2 sensor as it won't have one!

5ME is quite primitive in regards to it's EFI system.

Cheers
Wilbo

[MS112]

...just on another note, are the 5M-GE prone to doing head gaskets like the 7M-GE?

Not that I am aware of.

By the way, the 7M-GE head gasket problem can be fixed with a good quality head gasket, with new head bolts torqued above factory level. Just in case you did not know.

[rtrona]

Just a heads up that I'm pretty sure that you will find that you won't be able to replace the O2 sensor as it won't have one!

5ME is quite primitive in regards to it's EFI system.

Cheers
Wilbo

Ohh right, abit like the SV21 camrys and their EFI setup. Silly repco even gave me a price on an O2 sensor hahaha. Typical.


also MS112, cheers for that there just seem to be alot around with head gasket issues, either engines on their own for sale or cressy's etc.

[rhys80]

sorry to bring up an old thread, but did you have any luck improving the fuel consumption on your old crown? I'm looking at maybe buying a MS112 just for a fun car to boat around in, wont be doing many kms as I have an aurion for everyday driving, but still if I do buy one then I want it to be at least "ok" on gas. Have owned many crowns before and they have never been very good on gas at all. My MS123 with the 5MGE was probably the best in regards to fuel consumption.

Be interesting to see what you managed to get.
Cheers

[rtrona]

Nah it hasn't improved at all! i now run it on BP ultimate and look at about $130 for a tank. I did range 98km's to half a tank the other day :-/, but saying that the fuel gauge is all up the proverbial. When its at half a tank the car is empty (so i was told by the previous owner, i dont fancy running it out of petrol to test the theory). So thats how it stays. Although i have used half a tank as it sits now and have done 147km's. It pours black smoke on start up, and smells rich as!

[cambelt]

put a new coolent temp sensor in and make sure the plug is in good condion . , it will also pour black smoke out when cold if the aux air valve is stuck shut .
Dave