Dodge Neon low mpg

[Antigrav01]

Im pretty sure this is the place to post this. If not, im new here, sorry . Ive browsed a few times, im just not a big forum poster.

Anyway, I have a 2003 Dodge Neon SXT automatic. I got it...July? Wow, I completely forget. Well, I definitely got it less than a year ago so the only way I know im getting low mpg is by reading the official specs (and not experience driving it). I get an average of like 20-22 mpg and live in a suburb type area. Not quite city style driving (constant stop and go), but way too many stop signs to be highway style driving. 3 days a week I travel about 35-40 minutes on the highway to and from college though. I think its rated for 22 city, 29 highway, so im barely making city mpg even though im not driving purely in a city-like environment. There are people who are apparently getting around 30 average, even more. Ill try seafoaming my engine before I get my next oil change, but I have a feeling it wont really make much of a difference. I will also someday upgrade to an aftermarket cold air intake and a performance exhaust, so that should help by a little. However, I want to fix this problem first before I do that. I shouldnt have to buy aftermarket stuff to bring my car up to factory specs.

Here is as much detail as I can give you guys:

-MPG manually calculated by dividing miles driven by gallons put in.
-Careful driving, rarely hard accelerating.
-Tires are 195/60R16, inflated to 40PSI.
-Front tires will probably need changed after or before the winter, but the rear ones are nearly as good as new.
-Unknown condition of spark plugs/wires as well as fuel injector and alternator.
-Intake filter seems a little dirty, but not enough to need changed.
-Transmission kept sticking in 2nd gear about 3 or 4 months after I bought the car, but new solenoid seems to have fixed it.
-Oil is currently in good condition with maybe around 1,600 miles on it.
-Odometer reading of over 106,500 miles.
-No holes in exhaust that I could find.
-Using mid grade gasoline (89 octane maybe?) and filling up to full (around 9 gallons) each re-fueling.

Hopefully the problem is just a simple matter of catching up on maintenance. However, if what im getting is what im supposed to be getting, then how the heck are people getting a lot more with little to no modifications? Im not the best eco-driver in the world, but I still try. Accelerating steadily, keeping foot off the accelerator pedal on down-slopes and whatnot. Ill floor it at stop signs/red lights maybe one or twice per tank (I know, I know), but is that one or twice really making that big of a difference in fuel economy?

Oh, speaking of hard accelerating, I think I should bring this up. I tested my 0-60 time once on a chilly night and got 10.5 seconds. I think its factory rated at 8.1 seconds, so im obviously losing some power (and possibly efficiency) somewhere. The question is where. I know those couple hard accelerations are affecting my mpg to some degree, but that loss of power is raising some red flags. I have the philosophy of, as long as all the parts are either replaced or kept in good condition, a car should perform just as well as if it were brand new. Power and efficiency dont just disappear out of nowhere.

[Antigrav01]

No solutions, huh? I guess ill try some basic maintenance then even though it all seems fine, other than the low mpg and slight feeling of sluggishness...

[ksa8907]

injector cleaner and new plugs. could be a crappy alignment.

[Gealii]

any check engine lights on?

Has the tranny fluid been checked?
don't leave this one alone i have felt no difference in driving between no fluid and full fluid, and it should've been changed at least once by now as normal maintenance.

Does it have any problems...rough idle, pulling to any one direction, etc.

A car will almost never perform as new with time and age parts will begin to get buildup such as carbon and will begin to lose power. These parts can be cleaned or replaced to return back to new though

[redpoint5]

If the plugs have never been replaced, they are likely due. Pull them and do a visual and check the gaps. The suggestion to check alignment is good too.

At 100k miles, many maintenance items are likely due. Check the maint schedule in your manual. If you have a timing belt, that may be due for replacement too.

Low power or fuel economy can be caused by any number of things. A Chilton or Haynes book will list possible causes and have instructions for performing the maintenance tasks.

[Antigrav01]

No check engine lights and transmission fluid is fine. I checked that and its at the right level. Idling also sounds good, maybe a very very slight knocking sound, but its hard to notice. Strangely though, the oil light came on a few times as I was driving home yesterday. Hasnt done that since. Driving in a straight line, it does pull to the right just a teeny, tiny bit. As for cleaning the injectors, ive tried Gumout before. Seafoam will be next.

I forgot about the timing belt. I read that these cars could use a replacement after 106,000 miles, which is where im at. Expensive though...but im sure its better than my engine quitting in the middle of the highway. Ill look at the spark plugs too. The thing is though, it was having a missfire before I bought it, and since it was fixed before the dealer sold it to me, he might have had the spark plugs and wires changed. Wouldnt hurt to look anyway.

[2000neon]

As far as the little bit of knocking at idle, most neons shake and knock to some extent, they all seem to have a rough idle. I am guessing that when the oil light came on, you were going around a corner to the right? Did it go off right away after the corner? If so, that means your engine oil is a little low, and when you turn right, the oil sloshes to the left away from the oil pump pickup, causing temporary low oil pressure. Top up your oil and you will be good. That may help your slight knock a little bit too.

My neon misfired and threw a check engine light when I got it, was a plug wire. Do your brakes drag? How tight do you have your rear drums set?

[Gealii]

the oil light if it comes back on with topped oil level is a bad thing. It happened to me on a past car the oil light came on and the motor started ticking badly, the oil pump had quit and in my particular car 96 taurus there was 2 options to fix: pull the motor, or remove the exhaust. pulling the motor wasn't going to happen and to remove the exhaust it had to be cut. this caused it to be scrapped

[roosterk0031]

Stratus had interment oil light coming on last year, sensor went bad and was leaking oil, pretty easy fix. Hope it's that.

[Antigrav01]

Im assuming no spots should be underneath a car whatsoever, no matter how small. If yes, then yeah I probably need something to do with my oil fixed. Sensor, pump, hose, whatever. Ill check into it soon. Engine temperature stays rather cool, so I doubt its the coolant. But yeah, 2000neon, I think I was turning right. It didnt immediately turn off, but it didnt last long.

None of my brakes drag (that I know off), but the rear ones arent tight at all. Basically if my front brakes ever malfunction while im driving, im screwed.

Actually now that I think about it, ive been having this sort of mpg every since I got the car and the oil level was perfect then. Gahh, friggen oil and timing belts. Id go electric if they could match the same range and power...and price. Im kind of eager to get everything checked over soon to see if simple maintenance was the problem. I suppose I could go ahead and do it early... And if it is a wearing out timing belt, thats something I need fixed immediately. What should I look for in terms of wear and tear in a timing belt that might not be obvious? I dont have any experience doing this .

Gealii, do you mean just replacing the exhaust system? Because I was going to do that anyway for performance and aesthetic reasons. Not any time soon though.

EDIT: I just went outside to check the oil level and its right on the max line, though I remember it being a little higher last time I checked before. Its also getting a tad brown. I also have an MSD ignition coil. I dont know when that was installed. I know I didnt do it. Not that I forgot to mention it before, I figure I might as well now since I was just under the hood.