Worked on the car and made it worse.

[lovemysan]

So saturday I did 4 things to the car and the mileage has fallen off 5mpg despite improving conditions.

Oil change mobil1 5w30 instead of 5w20.
removed belly pan engine access panels
new brake pads and rotors
got no name gas out of town

So far the car has been unhappy and there is noticeably more throttle required to maintain speed.

[MnFocus]

Never fix what isn't broke . Why 5/30 over 5/20 ?

[lovemysan]

I was in a hurry and got the wrong kind. I may have used 10w30 I'm going over to the shop to check the bottles later.

Diamondlarry runs 0w20 in his saturns but I'm not that brave. Yet!

[MnFocus]

Don't be skeered of the 0w20!!! It is great stuff - actually *any* of the 20weights are heavy weights in my eyes .

[red91sit]

I'm putting my bet on the out of town, no name gas, as well as the removed belly pan. Tha'ts giving you much more undercar turbulence.

[lca13]

jack your car back up and see if your calipers are sticking, especially now that you have new thick pads.

[Bill in Houston]

yeah, check the calipers and pads...

[lovemysan]

The rotors are the cheapy orielly's version and slightly under OEM thickness. The pads are wagner semi metalic. I also strongly suspect the brakes. Into mileage eoc'ing is about the same though.

[zpiloto]

Originally Posted by red91sit

I'm putting my bet on the out of town, no name gas, as well as the removed belly pan. Tha'ts giving you much more undercar turbulence.

I'm with Red. Jack the car spin the wheels and see if they drag. If not probably the gas.

[lovemysan]

Well if the brakes are dragging, what should I do? There was very little play room after the pads were installed. I could get the old rotors turned I guess. Maybe regrease the caliper guide rods. I don't really what to go back to the old pads.

[lca13]

I just replaced my calipers because of this. Cheap. $100 for the parts and only 2 bolts to remove (on my Honda at least). You have to bleed to lines after though. In my case, the calipers develope a groove at the back of the piston which prevented the piston from returning all the way, leaving it slightly out causing the pad to drag on the rotor. YBefore, you could spin the wheel but only with a few lbs of force and once it was moving it would stop after only a 1/4 turn.