Hello everybody,
It's been about 6 months and 5,000 miles now. My average mileage over this time has increased to approximately 40 mpg versus an average around 35 mpg since I bought the car in 2017. I've gotten 47 mpg a couple of times and my worst has been about 36 mpg on the Interstate to Florida. The trip to Florida in May yielded about 38-39 mpg over the entire trip where the previous year's trip I averaged about 34-35mpg. This year I drove about 5 mph faster overall.
I have been keeping an eye on the temperature gauge. It does want to overheat when the temperature reaches about 90F. On my way to Florida, I was cruising at 78 mph north of Roswell, NM. I noticed the temperature starting to climb. I slowed to about 70 mph and the gauge returned to it's normal reading. Driving slowly through Roswell with an ambient temperature near 90F, the temperature gauge stayed where it usually stays. I did get in a bit of a hurry as I left Roswell going east. I passed a few cars and set the cruise at 80 mph. The car wanted to overheat again so I slowed to 72 mph. The cars I passed caught up with me and since I didn't want to slow them down on the 2-lane highway. I opened the windows and turned on the heater. That instantly brought the gauge back to normal. Once they all passed me, I slowed to 70 mph. When I got to Texas, I increased my speed to 75 mph. And once I got to I-20 I ran 80 mph since it was later in the day and it was cooler in Texas than it was in Roswell. I had no problem for the remainder of the trip.
It wanted to overheat recently. I had to go down to the Rio Grande Valley. The ambient temperature was near 90F. On my way home I was a little hot so I decided to see if the air conditioner still works. It still works but as soon as it started working well the engine temperature started rising. So, I turned off the AC, opened the windows, and turned the heater on for a minute or two. A few minutes later I was out of the valley and the ambient temperature was pleasant again.
It's been a good test and I've been pleased with the results. I've more than got my money back from the purchase of a sheet of plastic. The grill block isn't reliable in hotter temperatures. I hope someday I can find another bumper cover for my old Sentra and do something similar, but better, to it. It's been averaging about 40-41 mpg for years now. I think it can get close to 50 mpg with better aerodynamics.
The old Infiniti is going to be retired when the tag expires this fall. It's been a good car for me. I've got about $2400 (purchase price and parts) and 50 hours of labor in the car. That's not too bad for 7 years of use and almost 50,000 miles. It's the only car I've ever given a name other than calling a few, POS. I call this one, The best f*****g car in the world. I had never seen a car go 217,000 miles (mileage when I bought it) with no evidence of repairs ever being done. It still had the original gear oil in the 5-speed and the original struts on it when I bought it. It rode like a 70s Buick and I had never seen gear oil look like what it's did when I replaced it. G20s might be one of the last Nissans that were really durable and reliable.
Thanks for all the insight and knowledge you have given everybody.
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