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Thank you TFL for diverse and interesting content. It’s nice to see other vehicles that aren’t always the latest and greatest EV or Supercar.

I'd be really interested to see this turned into a mini series where you did an oil change (maybe with a modern fully synthetic oil), removed the roof bars and topped the tyre pressures up. I appreciate you'd get diminishing returns so maybe doing them all together might be nice to see a potential jump in economy. Either way proof that basic maintenance is key. p.s. Calling a tune up seems a bit strange is a US term for a basic service?

fun video idea: slightly lower tire pressure mpg vs good tire pressure mpg, i think it makes a huge difference and such a simple fix + added benefits of not wearing out your tires

Also, there are other things you can do to help your MPG, like removing any roof racks on the car that you're not using. Making sure your tires are properly inflated is another thing to help MPG. And for the love of God, service your transmission and replace filter/fluid at least every 100K miles.

I love Brendan being included more. He is great.

Our 06 Highlander AWD limited has 332k, runs great. At 247k I tuned it up cleaned the throttle body, changed plugs, cleaned the engine air intake, changed coolant and nmany other things. Heading for 500 k!!

This video really teach people that regular maintenance can safe you money and how important it is

I love these types of videos you guys do on the most common cars on the road, cars that everyday people drive. I have one of these Rav4's and they are excellent vehicles. Thanks TFL for your great content!

Not gonna lie, as simple as these videos are they are enjoyable to listen to or watch. I think a car maintenance series would be a good thing for the fleet!

Two other things that would affect MPG, Oil change/tire pressures. Very nice performance for the old RAV👍

I love Brendan being included more.

You got a 8.8% MPG increase. That's about right. I changed my 2012 Prius air filter at 11k miles, and noticed the MPG bumped up from 51 to 56.

I am not a subscriber but I absolutely love these videos about old simple Toyotas and Hondas. I am a big fan of those cars. I hope you guys can do more videos about these please thank you 😊

I recently took a long trip during the holidays, I changed the transmission fluid and wow, my car went up 3MPG on the city and like 8 on the highway. Granted I changed the serpentine belt and aired the tires but other than that. I was pretty impressed.

Would love to had seen if you all cleaned the mass air flow sensor, throttle body and did a fuel induction using a can of any brand of spray in fuel induction cleaner..

Basic maintenance is always key. Recently, I had the fuel filter, air filter, spark plugs, oil change and coolant change in sddition to timing belt and water pump done on my 99 Impreza. It did wonders to the fuel economy and the car feels much more alive. It was well worth the money and overall will save me money in the future with the better fuel economy

More content on 90s and early 2000's vehicles please! I love it and it's more relatable!

Take the rack down from the roof and mileage will increase further

It's not recommended to change spark plugs on a "scalding hot engine" because aluminum gets very soft when it's hot. You increase the risk of having cross threading issues.

Two additional suggestions: 1. If you can find it locally or order it online, pour some ATS 505 CRF Pour-in Treatment into the gas tank. A New Mexico friend of mine (ATS is in Albuquerque) has used this in numerous high-mileage vehicles and says it works wonders cleaning the fuel injectors. And, if that does not make a difference in how the vehicle runs or does not improve its fuel economy, then . . . 2. Replace the fuel injectors. If they have not been previously replaced, at 200K+ miles, they probably need it. And they are not that expensive. One point where TFL misspoke--in a non-turbocharged fuel-injected vehicle, the vehicle will actually get BETTER fuel economy at high elevation. Why? Because the vehicle's computer will lean out the fuel delivery to the engine to compensate for less combustion oxygen being available. The vehicle will have less power (about 3%-4% less for every 1,000 ft. of elevation), but the vehicle will get better fuel economy.

I had a 1999 Toyota RAV4 that I used for deliveries. I was hard on it all the time everywhere I went and I could still average 25-27mpg and the person I sold it to has it up to 220k miles now I believe

For anyone out there thinking they are going to go out and do this, keep some things in mind: 1. If your car isn't stumbling, misfiring, or otherwise having issues, changing spark plugs isn't going to make a lick of difference 99.9% of the time 2. Unless your air filter looks dirty/clogged, changing it isn't going to make a difference (even if it does look dirty, at low engine demand situations like cruising on the highway, it probably still won't make a difference) 3. Doing an MPG loop test and relying on a pump to tell you when it thinks your tank is full based on 60 miles of driving is one of the most unreliable ways to do an MPG comparison test. You would at LEAST need to do it based on fuel weight, not when a pump's sensor thinks your tank is volumetrically full. Conclusion: Do the maintenance items only when they NEED to be done, not because you think the gas mileage fairy is going to sprinkle magic dust on your fuel gauge

Those older Rav4’s were great little vehicles. They’re reliable, last forever, are pretty efficient, and super easy to work on. A synthetic oil change and a new fuel filter might even have you pushing 30 mpg.

I read a comment about worn-out tires versus new tires. There is greater friction with new tires, so mpg might drop a bit. Also a lot of air cleaners are changed when dirty. The key word should be if the air filter is still serviceable. K&N did studies in this field, and so-called dirty air filters have better flow than clean ones.

From 24 to 28 mpg is about 10% - just use that number when discussing fuel savings. $100 in gas now costs $90.

Change to Synthetic Oil, transmission fluid, check filters and spark plugs, inflate the tires to proper pressure. Definitely will get better mpg

I gotta say I really love the old car content! And Brendan has really grown on me!

Yep. Simple things make all the difference. We have a 2007 Nissan Sentra that's used as a beater car for winter and running around. Felt a tad sluggish. 4 new spark plugs, new engine air filter, cleaning the MAF sensor, cleaning the throttle body and a bottle of fuel injector cleaner later the car felt totally different.

I really enjoyed this video. Great job guys. Real information people can actually use to increase their efficiency.

It would also be interesting to see the difference after tune-up and removed roof bars. In Norway are being told that the roof bars add approx 10% to your fuel consumption. Maybe also; reduce the tire pressure to 10% below factory recommended pressure. Then increase it to 10% above factory recommendation.

Tire pressure can play a huge role. Maybe pre pressure and post full pressure diff next time? Good episode guys.

This was a great video. You guys should review which everyman cars that are 0-5 years old that anyone with basic tools can perform their own basic maintenance on. With the prices of new cars going through the roof I think it would make for an informative content guiding folks towards a vehicle they can save money on doing their own maintenance.

I had a 4Cy, 1998 RAV4, 2wheel drive and it was one of the most reliable car ever but it was a performance dog. There is a button on dash called Extra Power, and you definitely need it on any kind of climb or grade.

EPA rating on highway was originally 29, so fairly reasonable for that torque-optimized 4. There's probably a few things that let the ponies out over 200k miles. Compression probably isn't what it once was, but that just affects baseline. As the plugs looked pretty good, I'm guessing most of that gain was the air filter, but just guessing. I think probably a bigger driver of economy is tire pressures and alignment. SO few people pay attention to that. I also wonder about other variables like wheel bearings and transmission service. Might be a good series you've got here to do one maintenance piece at a time and see what it does. I'd be really curious!

One of the things I noticed on a lot of Toyotas is ease of maintenance. I was looking at this gen or RAV4 or an 02-06 CR-V but a family member happened to be selling an 05 CR-V so I got that. But ease of maintenance is something I was looking at and I noticed that the oil filter is up top and out front in a lot of Toyotas, mine is on the back of the engine and I have to lay across the engine to reach it. I'd still like to have one of these at some point.

Great Vid Tommy! You didn't mention the most important MPG helper; Tire Pressure!

If you’re changing spark plugs, change the plug wires as well. And depending on if it’s ever been replaced, your coil/coil pack should be on that list too.

I have a question, why does everyone in Colorado look like they just rolled out of bed and haven't taken a shower in a week?

I got two 1980's BMW'S e28's 533i, one is my daily, and a 2000 toyota starlet, Love the simple mechanism of the old cars

really enjoying the interesting videos lately! keep it up!

Great experiment and solid information on auto maintenance.

I really enjoy the mpg tests series. I always wondered if changing an old O2 sensor the mpg goes up? After testing for the maintenance, I'd like to see tests with eco mods. For example an extended front lip with garden edging.

Great video. Now get rid of the roof bars and gain another 2mpg!!

The thing that’s best about TFL it’s like spending time with old friends every show no matter who in the TFL Family is on. I need to do a plug change on my F150 2.7 Ecoboost, but really worried about cross threading it, any advice that could help would be appreciated very much?

The Rav4 is one of the most reliable Suv/crossovers in production👨‍🔧

Nice I knew it was gonna be around 28 mpg. We always tuneup all vehicles at every 75,000 miles. But on my 2015 ford focus 1.0L did at 65,000 had ford used Bosch platinum 4 plugs. We did Tuneup before going up Colorado to keep my mpg of 50+ with manual transmission.

My daughter in college had a 1999 in the 2010 with a stick and would get 30 mpg on hwy speed 50-65 mph.

I think Mythbusters replaced the gas tank with a small plastic measuring container. You might want to try a few consecutive runs with your current method to see whether your results are consistent. I really don't know.

Cool, full tune up usually consists of the coil plugs and oil change as well. If that was also done i bet the difference would’ve been more than 3 miles

You should get your hands on a v6 awd Rav and compare it to this one. The drag race and snow perfomance difference would be startling. Great video!

Love old Toyota RAV4 I remember seeing a lot of them during middle school back in New York

Tune it up - YES!! Happy squirrels go up the mountain pass better. Bet if you checked economy on the up-arm of the Ike (just passengers), you’d see a larger percent improvement than just the flat-run mpg change.

Running 40 psi in your tires will greatly improve rolling resistance and fuel mileage. As always, YMMV.

You should always use dielectric grease on the coil pack boots. Helps to prevent spark leakage.

i right away knew you were around boulder, co i am always there and it look so familiar, great upload gentleman. i always wondered if these items were actually being beneficial, i thought it was more of a placebo more than anyhing

You should do a comparison between those nearly bald tires and a new set to see if that helps with fuel economy.

Loved the video. I did want to see the difference. No tunes 🎶 though just maintenance. Much love 💕

If only every car was that easy to change plugs, in a parking lot, with a weird guy. My Ford Edge, transverse, it's a few hours worth of work. Not that simple. Great videos guys!

The old Toyota 3S-FE 2.0L 4-inline engine. This engine was in production from 1986 to 2000. Back when Toyota made engine extremely easy to work on.

You guys should use anti seize and dialectic grease when changing plugs!

I had a 00 RAV4 4dr 4wd I improved my gas with iridium NGK spark plugs, NGK spark plug wires, K&N air filter

Great job Tommy. I love Toyota products (and your videos).

uhh what about the ignition wires? ... i would have bought some intake injecter cleaner but that could be another test.

Shouldve done 3 loops. One just spark plugs, and then with the filter added. So we can narrow down which helps more or is a waste of money.

well, my 91 mr2 was burnin like 14-15l/100km after i changed sparks KN air filter switched cables and took cafe of distributor assembly it went down to factory 8l/100 :D so almost twice less fuel. Never smelled fuel when engine started, but it had significantly less power back then

I think you’d easily see over 30 mpg at sea level, checking tire pressure, and removing those roof bars

cool test. My wife had a 99 Rav 4 with a 5-speed transmission. Best quality vehicle we have ever owned. No power to speak of but that thing would go anywhere anytime, and was really a fun car to drive too. Hard to find that kind of quality anymore. You mentioned a Mini Countryman. She has since had a 2011 Countryman S All4 with the 6 speed. That was a great vehicle too, but given the choice we would both take the 99 Rav 4. No doubt the Countryman outgunned it, but the overall quality was not even close...

Things You can do easely without tools to improve MPG: Correct tire pressure. Change air filter. Drive conservative. Windows up on highway. Remove excess weight. Things You can do that need tools/chemicals: Change spark plugs. Change oil. Clean throttle body. Clean MAF sensor.

Excellent thank you!

Not only will your motor thank you, and while savings aren't huge, they are savings, but you'll also increase your range.

MAF cleaner and air intake cleaner could also make a huge difference with a 200k vehicle

I would have liked to see an oil change and top off the air on the tires included in the tune-up.

wow! Sounds great!!! 13:00

I love my 22 trd rav4 great gas mileage and does great in winter driving

Great choice on Denso plugs! Those dual electrode or more spark plugs are no good in Japanese motors

I know first hand how much of a difference a needed tune up can be id like to know if everything is up to operating temp for both runs in those temps my transmission is still 40 ish degrees from operating temp and on long trips I see a good 1.2 to 1.5 mpg difference between filling up on a "cold" vs fully warmed up on my truck

I might have to do this on my Chevy Malibu. It has 100k on it and I've had it since 96k. It's getting a brand new transmission and after 2 weeks I'm finally getting it back tomorrow so I'm excited lol

Great video

Your tune up won't have no where near the effect if you ran it for a week between runs. You should also include an oil change and cleaning of the throttle body. Doing so will clean the valves and intake which improves performance.

what is the temperature outside between runs? is there vapor in the gas tank? i wonder if you put the old plugs and filter back in would the mpg be the same on the 3rd try?

Tommy, The winter blend gas won't be helping. Feel free to bump up your result by 1 mpg.

Tune up used to be a thing when changing points, plugs, dizzy rotor and cap, checking timing made a big difference; now, with long life plugs and no more of the other things, tune ups don't really exist any more.

Should have also changed the spark plug wires

My manual 2004 RAV4 used to get 30 MPG on the highway. The late 90s cars are still rated 28-29 MPG on the highway, idk where you got your “low 20’s” number from unless you just made it up and decided to not check.

It would be interesting to do a few runs back to back with no changes and see how much variability there is between runs.

just so you know tommy... cracked windshields can not be directly in view of the drivers line of site. that windshield is illegal in CO. "A cracked windshield is only illegal in Colorado if it obstructs a driver's clear view of the road."

Did anyone else notice at 8:48 that the oil cap appears to be missing?

Love the visibility in older vehicles

Idk if it affects a car this old but I’m assuming so, but when the front defrost is on your ac compressor does in fact run

I really like this gen Rav4.

Did you make sure to always start with a hot engine? Cold engine uses much more gas.

I saw a flashing seat belt light in the video, did you not have your seat belt on for the "after" test?

Dual tip spark plugs?

I'd think taking off the roof bars will make more of a difference

Was the car cold when you started it the second time

Synthetic fluids all around, fuel filter (if it has one) and higher tire pressure would be a good test.

And it probably wouldn’t hurt to put some KYB monotube shocks on timing belt, which hopefully you’re changing for a second time or third time soon sounds expensive but it’s worth it if you get another 10 years out of it and may be 350,000 miles in total

Making me miss our 98 RAV4

Is the wind shield broken?