Hi everyone, i'm new here obviously. We have a 92 TR Executive with the mpfi 2.6ltr. It's actually my dads car. Now the problem is he struggles to get 400kms city out of a tank. For instance today he showed me the needle sitting just above the 1/4 mark and he had only done 280kms. Now i know they aren't the most economical engines but my dad reckons he got better city mileage out of his old 3.9ltr mpfi EA, and i know for a fact mums V6 camry gets 450-500kms city and that is a 6 compared to a 4, so surely something must be wrong?? Any help appreciated.

BTW: it's auto

hows she running? and i dont think 400 is too bad, they are shockers on petrol

i get at least 400 off a tank and thats in thrash mode...the most i ever got was 550 highway driving all of it.

Well it's serviced regulary. Has 155,000km on it. But it has the typical magna rattles in there. You know the ones that sounds like a belt is slapping around in there on idle, it's also dangerously guttless on a cold engine.

400-420 is the most i get out of a tank, 460 if i drive in grandpa mode..

have you checked a few things yourself? wip out the plugs and the air filters and have a look at them or post a picture so we can tell ya if they are still good.

BTW serviced just means fluid changes and a few other parts. maybe have a full tune done, about 250 bucks but it will be thourough

1 get between 420 and 450 out of a tank, got 520 once when i was highway driving alot thats also on PULP.

my mates TR SE 4cyl was just a disgrace on petrol. One of the reason he got rid of it and i dont blame him. My TE V6 blows it out of the water in terms of fuel economy. i got 670kms out of a tank this week (1/3 highway driving)

i like the fuel on the 4cylder 1996 3rd gen!!
i can get 130km b4 the needle has left the FUL mark!
But thats not with out some little engerneeering help ;)
i have worked on this car for a bit now.

But it has the typical magna rattles in there. You know the ones that sounds like a belt is slapping around in there on idle

That would be your timing chain mate......a Timing Chain kit, which includes 3 chains (Timing and Balance Shaft chains) as well as the chain guides will set u back about $140-$160.
Labour on the other hand will kick u in the back of the nuts.

Im lucky to get 400 from my TS wagon in city driving, different story on the highway though. I got a cannon and my tyres are 7.5" wide not sure if that has anything to do with it.

That would be your timing chain mate......a Timing Chain kit, which includes 3 chains (Timing and Balance Shaft chains) as well as the chain guides will set u back about $140-$160.
Labour on the other hand will kick u in the back of the nuts.

We got the timing chain replaced at about 40,000kms but i guess 115,000ks is alot and prob due for a new one eh? the thing is it's intermittant. for example it will rattle on idle. while not on idle it's OK. also while on idle if it's rattling if you give it a rev to 3k and then let it drop again it's fine. Could it still be it? Also it has been doing this for a couple of years now, so how come when we take it to get serviced regulary the mechanic has told us nothing? Is it possible it may just get loose. Because after a service it's fine for a couple of weeks but then it comes back again and can be quite imbarrasing at times because it is quite loud. :confused: If i get the oppourtunity i will try to get a sound recording of it rattling away so you guys can diagnose for for me. :D Also about taking pics......i'm not very mechanically minded since i'm only 16 so i don't exactly wanna be pulling it apart if you understand me......

it might just need adjustment.....although the lash adjusters should do that, unless they are broke......timing chain should last u at least 100,000km's.......dunno y u had it replaced at 40,000.....what are u doing to the poor car?

u probably dont hear it after a while from the mechanics as the oil is nice and new....once it wears out a bit it gets noisy again.
Without hearing the sound all else i can think of is the tappets....but yeh they'd be doing it constantly i think.....

i like the fuel on the 4cylder 1996 3rd gen!!
i can get 130km b4 the needle has left the FUL mark!
But thats not with out some little engerneeering help ;)
i have worked on this car for a bit now.


What engineering help have yo done?

dunno y u had it replaced at 40,000.....what are u doing to the poor car?



LOL. We got the car 2nd hand at 36,000km so it wasn't us. It was a ex-government car. Anyways, thanks for all your help and if i get a chance i'll post up the sound recording. Oh also, one more thing. I am 95% sure it doesn't matter but we recently got the muffler replaced. Now our previous 2 mufflers were dual(2 pipes) and every other TR/TS magna i see has the dual muffler type but our new one is just a single. Now does it matter? I doubt it. But the car does seem to sound very "restricted" at the moment if you know what i mean. :nuts:

If its rattling at idle or low revs it could be your oil, my TR had the same problem so i just made sure the oil was chockers and the noise has dissappeared.

ill get 450-500 a tank with quite abit of thrashing, i could probably go 550 grandpa mode, but i would rather waste some fuel :P i do pretty much all city driving (morley drive has wayy too many lights) but sumtimes my needles is outta whack ill do like 60 or so kms then it leaves full, but ill hit half around 170-180kms then it slows its arse down all the way to 420 then it like stop for last 30kms then will drop suddenly to empty or below empty

the 2.6 is way more thirsty in city driving than the v6's, but is very economical at high speeds above 120kmh for some reason. i used to get about 400-450 to a tank city driving but could drive almost 700km on fast highway cruising darwin to katherine and back.

the rattle sounds like the timing chain and adjuster, what is probably happening is the timing gear being thrown out by all the slop and this throws the timing out causing poor economy lost power. u should be looking at around 700$ to get it fixed. Then only use minimum 25w oil, as 10 or 15w shortens the life of this part.

Thanks for all your help. I'm gonna get my mate to help me looks at the plugs and ask him if the noise is the timing chain when i get the chance. Also..............bump..............on the exhaust question. :D

man i jsut finished fully servicing my car fully, sent bout 180$ doing it all myself. well now i just got 550km out of a tank and i still just above empty....going alright..thats with trhashing it a little bit aswell.

man i jsut finished fully servicing my car fully, sent bout 180$ doing it all myself. well now i just got 550km out of a tank and i still just above empty....going alright..thats with trhashing it a little bit aswell.
what did you do in the service? and which fluids did u use?

ok, sorry for the delayed post LOL. I finally got a chance to record the rattling sound. Do any of you have any idea what it is? Is serious? Is it cheap to fix? What is it? e.t.c. Your help would be greatly appreciated. http://members.optushome.com.au/ben_8_old/magna.wav


BTW: it was recorded with the bonnet up and the mic kinda close to engine bay. The mic is some crappy $2 computer mic so when it was reving it starts to distort abit and sound worse than it really is. But on idle it doesn't distort so you get the idea.

My TR drinks 11 litres with mostly city driving and the aircon on , I drive the same rounds daily so I usually get a good idea what the engine is doing ,luckily its still in good health.

My TR used to get 12L/100kms initially. After i got extractors it went to 13L/100kms which has recently decreased to 12.5L/100kms since i got the rest of the exhaust done. But it does do pretty well on the highway. Last trip i went on i got about 9.5L/100kms on the highway.
The wav file does sound like a bit of a timing chain rattle but not that bad really just typical 2.6L 4 cylinder magna.

The wav file does sound like a bit of a timing chain rattle but not that bad really just typical 2.6L 4 cylinder magna.

Thanks man,
Bump on some more replies.
Also does anyone know how much it would cost to get fixed/get rid of the rattle.

there should be no rattle at all if the chain is good.....nuffin 'typical' about a rattling timing chain in a 2.6l 4cyl.....

What's wrong with the 2.6 fuel economy? Don't compare how far you go on a tank, they only have like 45 litre tanks. 400km to a tank is good.
Comparing a Falcon 70 litre tank to a 45 litre Magna tank is a bit pointless now, isn't it?
They get worse economy around town just like any engine, because they are constantly accelerating.......

Regards, Andrew.

What's wrong with the 2.6 fuel economy? Don't compare how far you go on a tank, they only have like 45 litre tanks. 400km to a tank is good.
Comparing a Falcon 70 litre tank to a 45 litre Magna tank is a bit pointless now, isn't it?
They get worse economy around town just like any engine, because they are constantly accelerating.......

Regards, Andrew.

falcon is 72, magna 64................

i didnt think that noise was a rattleing timing chain tho. i thought it was the tappets and the typical whine that all 4cylinder magna drivers are accustomed to.

Wow, you must have a Bathurst Magna with a drop tank..I have never managed to squeeze in more that 42 litres into a TS magna tank...and we were talking about the 2.6? Not the V6, which I believe has a larger tank.

Regards, Andrew.

my fuel gauge goes to empty at about 45L of fuel used but i know theres still close to 20L in there. I usually put in about 45-50L tho coz i dont like using the last little bit in the tank. I think the remaining fuel is like the reserve or something.

Funny that, ever since I got my new TH I've been comparing the fuel economy with my TS. Now I can do on avg city driving about 400km out of a 'tank' on the TS, and that reading is probably higher due to my incorrect speedo. I've managed about 500km on the highway though.

Now I've been looking at my fuel receipts, and it seems I only ever put in at most 55 litres, which is 16 litres less then the capacity of the tank (The wagon has a 71L tank, Sedans have a 64L tank). So I reckon the fuel gauge is incorrect and can probably do a bit more, but I havn't got the guts to keep it going below Empty.

That posted wave file does sound like the timing chain, but it's the lash adjustment that tensions the timing chain which could be causing the problem, and that is controlled by the oil pressure. For your info, timing chains lasts at least twice as long as belts, you shouldn't need to replace them at 100,000k intervals. Hear my Astron roar :P Only done 60,000k and has no timing chain noise :D

yeah i used to have a TS 4cyl wagon and i thought the thing used to drink fuel. i would always aim for 10km from every litre but usally only managed about 450kms from full tank(about 65 litres) cause **** knows whether it is really empty of not when it says it is. I could do another 100kms when the needle got to the empty line and by the time i filled up the needle was about 2mm below it. they are definitely not great on fuel although mine had done 250000kms when i sold it, but hell, mu TH doesnt even use as much as the TS did and i drive it heaps harder!

yeah i used to have a TS 4cyl wagon and i thought the thing used to drink fuel. i would always aim for 10km from every litre but usally only managed about 450kms from full tank(about 65 litres) cause **** knows whether it is really empty of not when it says it is. I could do another 100kms when the needle got to the empty line and by the time i filled up the needle was about 2mm below it. they are definitely not great on fuel although mine had done 250000kms when i sold it, but hell, mu TH doesnt even use as much as the TS did and i drive it heaps harder!


Yep, 690km from one tank (hwy driving) on the TH which I just came back from, I think that's pretty good.

if your worried about the rattle in the timing chain just put some oil stabilizer in helps quieten it down. i am now getting about 430 klm around town and still have about 1/8th of a tank left. have been using the neww ethanol fuel and fpc fuel catalyst.seems to help. i have tr 202 thousand klm

Not sure about highway driving but a TE goes mininmum 500km in city driving. Reaching my 3rd week have not top up my tank yet as it is only 375km atm just a below halfway mark. Those who reach 600+ IMO are very good anything above 450km for city is already average, wouldnt complain that much actually.

I find the Fuel garge strange as some has said, after the halfway mark it starts to drop a bit suddenly and a bit faster.

hahahah ive got 450kms currently on my speedo and the empty lights on now but that was from half a tank!!!!!!!!! which means i can probebly get 800kms form a tank :P
and why does ur car sound so rattly?? mine sounds allot better apart from the fact you can hear it shuddering constantly coz it idles at 400rpm in park :doubt:
then inot drive and it hits 150rpms hahaha takes me a while to get moving somtimes it stalls 95% of the time when ur going from p to drive