1990 Plymouth Laser rs turbo

Tiny
WOLFRAT1
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  • 1990 PLYMOUTH
My question is gas mileage. I just bought this vehicle roughly two weeks ago. It runs great. No vibrations of any type. On mainly highway driving my gas mileage is crap. I can drive 50 miles and eat up a 1/4 tank of gas. I feel the mileage should be better then that. I'm thinking of replacing the air filter and sparkplugs. Although it runs smoothly, I can't think of anything else to do. Does anyone else have ideas of what else I can do? Sorry the long drawn out question, just wanted to explain what was happening.

thanks in advance to anyone for their help.
Monday, January 29th, 2007 AT 11:31 PM

7 Replies

Tiny
STRATUS98
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  • 96 POSTS
It is an older car, your not going to get the factory mileage it had in 1990, but 50 miles and 1/4 tank of gas is excessive. Are you sure the gas gauge is operating correctly. A good start would be a tune up, keep tires inflated to specs.
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Tuesday, January 30th, 2007 AT 8:45 AM
Tiny
WOLFRAT1
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Thanks for the reply. The gas gauge appears to be working correctly. Although, after I fill the tank, the gauge does move to the full side very slowly. I don't know if this is a factory design function or what. Would the function of the turbo take away from the gas mileage? This is the first car that i've owned that had a turbo. Still trying to figure it out. Also would using synthetic oil increase mileage or just start leaks?
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Tuesday, January 30th, 2007 AT 10:47 PM
Tiny
STRATUS98
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  • 96 POSTS
With the turbo yea your going to lose some gas mileage. But not like your talking, your car I believe requires a higher grade gas as most turbod vehicles do. Just make sure you have a new air filter in the oil is clean, change the plugs and wires. See what happens from there.
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Thursday, February 1st, 2007 AT 9:25 AM
Tiny
WOLFRAT1
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Thank you for your help. I'm going to change the plugs and go with the bosch 4 point platinums. Probably a k & n air filter if I can find one in a g.M. Town. Don't know what wires yet. I have been using premium fuel. I will also switch to a synthetic oil.
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Friday, February 2nd, 2007 AT 1:31 AM
Tiny
STRATUS98
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Be careful with plugs, your car may or may not like those. I worked on an srt-4 that had misfire issues because he had a 4 tip platinum plug, a Iridium plug is a good choice, and is what I used to fix his misfire issures
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Saturday, February 10th, 2007 AT 9:52 AM
Tiny
WOLFRAT1
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So far they seem to be working pretty good. Gas mileage did improve quite a bit. Went through an act of congress to change the air filter. That was a pain. I do have one more question. When I accelerate, I notice a jerking or chugging feeling. It did this before I changed plugs. On a slow acceleration I don't notice it. But when I press the accelerator quickly I notice it almost everytime. Could this have something to do with the turbo or some other component? As I said before, this is my first time owning a turbo equipped car. With the exception of that, the car run great.
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Sunday, February 11th, 2007 AT 10:15 PM
Tiny
STRATUS98
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You might be experiencing a little bit of turbo lag
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Tuesday, February 13th, 2007 AT 10:45 PM

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