Greetings,

What sort of gas milage should I be getting (expecting, hoping for...) on my '70 280SE. I'm talking best-case scenario here. I'm currently getting about 11-12 mpg under mixed driving conditions. Mostly city with 2 or 3 highway jaunts per week.

TIA,

Peter

P.S. I don't really baby the accelerator. This engine really moves this car when you get on it!

This is a 4.5 correct?

I see about 13 mpg in town and almost 16 mpg (15.9) on the highway. I also feed a steady diet of Redline Fuel System Cleaner, and have seen a 10% increase in mileage as claimed on the bottle.

__________________
Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

I wouldn't be so concerned with the milage if it were a 4.5!

Its gotta be the injectors!!! ....am willing to bet one or two is pissing gasoline into the chambers. If you love the car, you might replace ALL the injector tips with new as matter of course. For some reason, gasoline injectors wear out more quickly than their diesel cousins.

Otherwise, have you crawled around underneath lately? Leaky fuel line problems can be difficult to detect. They dont leave tell-tale oil spots in the driveway.

If 240DieselDog is right, I'd think checking oil frequently for gas contamination might be an issue--am I right?
My dad's 280SEL (2.8) when new (1969) ran maybe 13-15 in town, better on the road, overall usually being in the 15-16 area as I recall--better than the 8-12 he saw with the Caddy it replaced!

__________________
Craig Bethune

'97 SL500, 40th anniversary edition

'04 Olds Bravada (SWMBO's)
'06 Lexus ES330
'89 560SL (sold)


SL--Anything else is just a Mercedes.
(Kudos to whoever said it first)