How to improve the fuel consumption of your Aerostar

How to improve the fuel consumption of your Aerostar

In a few words:
Fuel is the only source of energy that powers your Aerostar, and consequently all the elements you might need that consume energy such as lights, music and air conditioning will impact directly on the amount of fuel used. If you decrease their usage you will see improved fuel economy. Another way of optimizing fuel consumption is by using the recommended type of fuel for your Aerostar.

To know the recommended fuel for your Aerostar you can check the owner's manual.

It is important to use the recommended fuel so that the fuel consumption of your Aerostar is optimal.

Common factors that affect the normal fuel consumption on an Aerostar:

  1. Driving manner: drive in a stable manner. Aggressive acceleration and braking will drastically increase fuel consumption since they require more engine power.
  2. If the car has a manual transmission, do not step on the clutch pedal as soon as you step on the brakes: cars with electronic fuel injection usually cut fuel supply when you stop stepping on the accelerator when the car is put in gear. Take advantage of the “engine braking” by letting the car stop on its own. In this way fuel consumption will decrease A LOT.
  3. Speed: the higher the speed, the greater the power needed. On highways, the optimal speed is of 60 mph with the car set in its highest gear. If we take into account the laws of physics, doubling the speed means increasing the power 8 times.
  4. Air conditioner: Always use the air conditioner in “recirculation” mode. Air conditioning consumes quite a lot of the engine's energy. Cooling the air inside the cabin is a lot easier than cooling the air coming from outside constantly. On the other hand, as the air conditioner compressor is usually mechanically connected to the engine, if there are more engine revolutions the energy consumption will increase.
  5. Tire pressure: it is important that your tires have the pressure indicated by the manufacturer, both to have minimal fuel consumption as well as for security, to preserve the tires in optimal conditions with minimal wear. To know the recommended pressure for your tires you can read our tire pressure guide.
  6. Rolled down car windows: if the windows are rolled down the aerodynamics of the car will be reduced and aerodynamics play an important role when going at more than 45 mph, when air resistance increases considerably.
  7. Electrical consumption: it may be caused because more lights were added or because the sound system was upgraded to a more powerful one. This consumes more of the battery's electricity, which at the same time will need more of the alternator's supply, which will eventually consume more of the engine's power.

Issues of your Aerostar which increase fuel consumption

  • Tight brakes: If you feel that your car subtly brakes all the time, you should take it to a mechanic so that they can clean and adjust the brakes. If you don't do this, you will accelerate more than you want just to maintain a specific speed.
  • Defective battery: a defective battery lowers its efficiency and makes it require more electrical power from the alternator (which, in turn, consumes more of the engine's power).
  • Clogged up air filter: this decreases combustion efficiency and more fuel is required to achieve the same power.
  • Damaged spark plugs and/or spark plugs' wires: the spark of the spark plugs is weaker than usual and the fuel burns in an incomplete manner, for which reason more fuel is needed to achieve the same power (or speed).
  • Defective ignition coil: this is just like the previous item, but you should notice this problem when you drive, as the engine works in a “mismatched” manner; you can feel vibrations, your car suddenly stops or it jerks when you accelerate or drive at a constant speed.
  • Leaks in the fuel circuit: You can identify them if you perceive a constant gasoline smell.
  • Dirty or damaged injectors: they may lead to the leak of small quantities of fuel when it is not necessary, even with the engine stopped. This may also damage the exhaust system of the engine as the waste is accumulated.
  • Dirty or damaged fuel filter: it allows the filth to go through, which damages the injectors.
  • Faulty oxygen sensor (Lambda probe): it indicates incorrect oxygen values which makes the air and the fuel mix inadequately and this increases fuel consumption.
  • Faulty mass air flow sensor: this electronic management system has no way of knowing clearly how much air is actually going inside the engine, and for this reason this mixture becomes inefficient, as well as the combustion.

You can check fuel consumption by paying attention to the instantaneous consumption and the average consumption, which can be verified in cars with an on-board computer. The first one will give you a reference to evaluate in which cases your car consumes the lowest amount of fuel so as to repeat these scenarios, and the second one will give you a value to compare with the values of other users to check if your car’s fuel consumption is average or if your car has any of the problems mentioned in the previous section.

✔️ Recommendations if you want to buy a car with good fuel economy:

1 - Choose small cars with small engines.
2 - It is important that these cars do not have a “square” shape, their body should be more aerodynamic.
3 - Look up information about fuel consumption declared by their manufacturers and other users so that you can compare them.

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Ford Aerostar problems: fuel consumption



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