i am trying to figure out how many gallons i hold so i can estimate my mileage. in the city around san francisco i am getting 100 miles to a half tank but that doesnt really tell me much.

 

I think it's 25 gallons. (24.6 to be exact)

 

so if i am getting 200 miles city to the tank thats only 8 mpg?!?!? arent i supposed be up at 10? is this an indicator of another problem ? i use the highest octane available which is usually 91 in cali

 

Well it is a 6000lb 4x4 SUV for starters. But you could probably do some small maintenance and increase that to 10. I run 93 octane and I just poured in some seafoam, which by my numbers, has me varying between 9 and 11 mpg city. I never really get out on the highway much.

Also you might want to take a look at your air filter, make sure it's clean. Next I would check everything related to air-intake. Check the MAF and spray some T-Body cleaner on your T-body. Open up the intake valve and spray in there really well. First time I did this it REALLY helped my rover purr. Just a side note, I placed an old towel under the t-body when I sprayed. A lot of gross fluid will come pouring out when you do this. And I'm pretty sure that stuff isn't great pouring down your engine around your plugs and wires. A happy rover usually means a happier wallet when it comes to mpg. They say the fuel filters are supposed to last a long time, but a clean filter means better flow, which in result leads to a more efficient engine. So you might want to look into that.

These are all easy, cheap fixes that could boost a few mpg perhaps. More importantly it will make you feel more at ease about your disco. Keeping the MAF and Tbody clean will prevent other problems, ie codes. And the more time you spend under the hood, familiarizing yourself with it, the more comfortable you will become with troubleshooting.

Hope this helps get you started towards a more efficient, cleaner burning rover.

-W

 

Thanks so much for tha input...
But I have to admit, I don't own and never have had an owners manual... soooooo i don't know where the air or oil filters are, I also don,t know how to get into air intake or what the MAF. And truthfully this is the first vehicle I have ever owned which has required so much of my attention to its engine. Don't get me wrong I love it. I am learning so much and have made friends with a few mechanics along the way. I have decent understanding of engines. And I like to think I am some what intelligent... Where can i get a diagram of my engine? I am planning a cross country drive and wanna get this stuff done.

 

Hey aublec22-
I'm in SF too and get about 9 mpg. All city driving and one round trip to San Ramon, my Disco has gotten 225 miles on a full tank.

 

when i drove out from ny i was gettin 325... maybe 300

 

Fill up your tank and reset your trip counter. Run it down and when you fill it up again, record the gallons. Look at the mileage on the trip counter and divide by the number of gallons it took to fill up. That is the closest you are going to get to exact mileage. Do it 3 or 4 times and average it.


Also, get a Rave CD from ebay. It has the workshop manual and all you ahould need for under $10. Your air filter is in the box at the front of your engine. (driver's side) The oil filter is on the passenger side front bottom. Might have to remove some plastic to get to the oil..

 

If you stand infront of the trk the airbox is on the right behind the headlight. There is a tube connected to it, follow that to a thing with wires connecting to it, that is your MAF (mass airflow sensor)
Continue to follow the tube to the engine, that is your throttle body. Run the drivers side of the trk up on a 2x4 or a curb and then take a screwdriver and loosen the clamp from the t-body.
Take your can of carb cleaner and spray the t-body inside and out. Use the whole can if you need to. DO NOT SPRAY ANYTHING INTO THE MAF!! Reattach the tube and start the trk. It will start hard because it will be flooded.
You do not have a servicable fuel filter, it is inside the gas tank and ischanged when you replace the fuel pump. D1's have a inline filter.
Check your tire pressure, drive with a light foot and use full synthetics everywhere those are the best things you can do to help mpg.
I know that 91 octane is all that you can get in CA, and dont waste your money on octane boosters.
Iridium plugs and a good set of plug wires will help mpg also. These guys swear by Magnacor wires, I used Duralast wires with Iridium plugs this time but will use Magnacor with Iridium plugs next time.

 

If you were my son, I wouldn't let you drive the truck till you took the responsibility to buy a manual and infact spend many hours finding everything on the vehicle. How you can say you have spent many hours on this engine and you don't know where the air and oil filter are, is really hard to believe.
Do your self a favor and get a manual, read it cover to cover a couple of times before ever consider driving it out of town.
By the way, you need to go have a shop inspect and rebuild your front drive shaft because of a lack of grease fittings in the double cardon. Do this before you do anything else other wise you can loose your tranny and possiliy the t/case when it fails, and they do fail.