Hey guys,

Just a quick question about fuel consumption, as I'm starting to think mine is using excessive amounts of fuel given I barely go more than 20k's out of my area most the time my 380 seems to chew a lot! I'm talking about a tank of fuel a week.. I heard there was a recall on these cars for that particular problem, is that true? If so how do I go about fixing the issue if it's even possible?

Thanks in advance!!

Lots of small local trips kill the economy of a 380.
What does your average fuel use say?

Short trips for me show around 16
around 9 on a freeway trip

I have found that fuel economy tends to suck while the engine is cold. If the engine is only ever running for 15 minutes at a time then it might explain it.

I have found that fuel economy tends to suck while the engine is cold. If the engine is only ever running for 15 minutes at a time then it might explain it.

Thats because the engine is dumping more fuel in. Same with any engine

Hey guys,

Just a quick question about fuel consumption, as I'm starting to think mine is using excessive amounts of fuel given I barely go more than 20k's out of my area most the time my 380 seems to chew a lot! I'm talking about a tank of fuel a week.. I heard there was a recall on these cars for that particular problem, is that true? If so how do I go about fixing the issue if it's even possible?

Thanks in advance!!

How much is excessive amounts of fuel to you? 20k's out of your area, but how far is your trip to work each day? Saying your car uses a tank of fuel a week without kilometers travelled is pointless. Recall for excessive fuel use? Refer to my original point.


Your post is ambiguous and equivocal. You need to be more clear of the machinations of your situation.

Your post is ambiguous and equivocal. You need to be more clear of the machinations of your situation. agreed? I think?

Your post is ambiguous and equivocal. You need to be more clear of the machinations of your situation.

I totally agree - if you are going to start a thread and ask a question - provide people with useful information so they can help you! Saying your car uses a tank of fuel per week is meaningless.

There was as far as I know an update or something that applied to early 380s supposedly to solve an issue of excessive fuel use. But it was only excessive while idling. Is probably the update you've been told about.
A tank of fuel a week is probably about right. I live 4 or 5 kms from work and use a tank a week. Driving to work each day. Hockey training two or three times a week. And a few misc trips usually gets me 400-450 mms that the 380 gets fro. A tank around town.
Although I agree with the others some indication of how many kilometres you are getting from a taank would be good.

Hi, mines averaging 16s is well,
I have recent got my engine light went on, got it checked by mitish, they said my oxygen senors are faulty, causing the high fuel consumption,

There's 2of those senors in a 380, about 300~ea Not including labour

No doubt that is for 'genuine' Oxygen Sensors (in other words, just repackaged parts). If they use a standard 4-wire Zirconia sensor you can pick up reasonably decent ones for around $50. They're easy to replace too, you can do both for $100. It's probably a good thing to do at each 100,000km service.

I use my car for work purposes as well, most of my driving is urban and cbd and rarely get over 60kmph. But I seem to be averaging around 14, when I fill my tank up though from empty the range usually says 580-610kms though. I haven't checked how many I've done though, and fill up every fortnight.

Going 20kms a day the car would not go out of closed loop(??) so it would be chewing through petrol as it tries to warm up.

Hi, mines averaging 16s is well,
I have recent got my engine light went on, got it checked by mitish, they said my oxygen senors are faulty, causing the high fuel consumption,

There's 2of those senors in a 380, about 300~ea Not including labour

There are four O2 sensors on a stock 380, not two, so you need to find out which one(s) are faulty.

If in doubt or it's done high ks, replace all four of them.

Not hard to DIY.

I replaced one of mine with one of these a few months ago, so far has worked perfectly:

NEW STANDARD SMP 4 WIRE UNIVERSAL OXYGEN SENSOR SG1273 (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-STANDARD-SMP-4-WIRE-UNIVERSAL-OXYGEN-SENSOR-SG1273-/150678254176?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item23151fb260)

Helluva lot cheaper than $300 a pop plus labour from a Mitsu dealer.

Not plug and play, you need to cut & join the wires, but easy enough to do.

Going 20kms a day the car would not go out of closed loop(??) so it would be chewing through petrol as it tries to warm up.

Watched mine on OBDii during warm up - short term fuel trims kick in about 70 C on way to normal 90 C

There are four O2 sensors on a stock 380, not two, so you need to find out which one(s) are faulty.


Helluva lot cheaper than $300 a pop plus labour from a Mitsu dealer.

Not plug and play, you need to cut & join the wires, but easy enough to do.

NGK have dedicated "plug and play"

Not sure where to buy them

A quick look shows about $100 at http://www.carpartsaustralia.com.au/index.php

http://www.ngk.com.au/oxygen-sensors-part-finder?PageMode=Results&Make=MITSUBISHI&Model=380+DB+&Capacity=3.8L&Year=10%2F05++-+04%2F08&Engine=&Engine=6G75%2C+6MMDB44%2341V6+Cyl+SOHC+MPFI+24V++



Sensor PositionConnector No.No. of WiresWire LengthWith ConnectorProduct NotesRecommended Sensor
Manifold - Front 1244360 OZA659-EE85RecoSensorManifold - Rear1244490 OZA659-EE83Recommended Sens
rPost-CAT - Front 1254530 OZA659-EE86Reco SensorPost-CAT - Rear 1254705 OZA659-EE84

The Bosch pdf at

http://www.bosch.com.au/content/language1/downloads/Oxgen_Sensor__Cat_WEB.pdf

is an interesting read with info on fault diagnosis etc

woow nice to know i got ripped off by the local dealer,
can someone kindly show a quick diy guide ?

The 380 uses more fuel than the FG turbo that I used to have - I average about 15 liters + per 100kms for city driving - but it is mostly trips of 10kms at a time.

What made you change from a FG turbo to a 380?

What made you change from a FG turbo to a 380?

it was on a operating lease and i changed jobs

How does the FG compare regarding build quality?

it was on a operating lease and i changed jobs

Fair enough, that makes sense!

I have the same results, on short trips while engine is cold extremely bad mileage. On longer trips good mileage.
Most of my travel is rural at high speed (100klm/h) with short trips to work 5 days.
Averaging 9.8 ltrs per 100k 10.46 klm per litr overall.

Just as a comparison, my wife's ZG Outlander XLS 2.4 I4 with CVT gets low 20/100 when just driven from home to local school and shops with like 5 minute trips (within Mawson Lakes) and drops to 8/100 on a decent length drive from Mawson Lakes to Rosewater. So definitely avoid lots of short trips. In fact, a workmates AU XR8 had the entire exhaust pipes replaced due to rust as it was never driven long enough to get rid of moisture.

Just as a comparison, my wife's ZG Outlander XLS 2.4 I4 with CVT gets low 20/100 when just driven from home to local school and shops with like 5 minute trips (within Mawson Lakes) and drops to 8/100 on a decent length drive from Mawson Lakes to Rosewater. So definitely avoid lots of short trips. In fact, a workmates AU XR8 had the entire exhaust pipes replaced due to rust as it was never driven long enough to get rid of moisture.

Ouch! Dads ZH V6 outlander is heaps better than that. I think around town its 12/100km

Ouch! Dads ZH V6 outlander is heaps better than that. I think around town its 12/100km

Problem is within mawson lakes the car never exceeds 30km/hr for the 5 minutes or so of driving.

Problem is within mawson lakes the car never exceeds 30km/hr for the 5 minutes or so of driving.

That beats the 15kmh trying to get onto the M2 north west of Sydney LOL

Just noticed this thread and wanted to show my figures.

I get 14.3L/100k in my 380 VRX and I do many 4km trips to the post office and 5-10km trips to the shops which I think isn't too bad for very short trips. (On country roads I get around 9.3L/100k)
In comparison, my wifes 2.4ltr camry gets 12.9L/100k on similar short trips so it basically shows you that short trips and when the car hasn't really fully warmed up, any car will burn much higher, not just the 380. (even the aurion burns only about half a litre less in these short trips)

Anyhow, the good thing with the 380 is that when it is a little cool, it has tons more power than most other cars which is what counts at the end of the day, Power on tap!

highway @110kph over 1000km's trip meter was showing 8.2L

around town its between 13 and 13.8L

highway @110kph over 1000km's trip meter was showing 8.2L

around town its between 13 and 13.8L

Yup! Pretty much mirrors mine.

I get similar results too, around town between 13 and 13.5L/100k in winter but in summer I get between 12.7 and 13.2L/100k. (but for very short trips, 14.3L/100k still aint too bad in winter conditions)

In comparison, my BA 2002 Fairmont burn more, around town I got between 13.5 and 14.0L/100k in winter even though it was slower off the mark.

This is not very helpful, I know, but I reset my trip meter, started the TJ and drove off. The first number that popped up was 77.4L/100 km. Some sort of record, I'd say! lol

FWIW Yesterday i drove from loganholme into bris city on the freeway...about 30 kms i think, i managed to get a reading of 7.5l/100 kms! Stoked. Tho the engine was already warm and the ambient air temp was 20degs...

Needless to say after a bit of stop start city driving anv a return trip to the outskirts it was back up to 10.2l per 100km. But still i was happy that i averaged below 8l/100km on a sustained 30 km drive

When cold and doing short stints averages about 13 to 15.

This is not very helpful, I know, but I reset my trip meter, started the TJ and drove off. The first number that popped up was 77.4L/100 km. Some sort of record, I'd say! lol
You ever seen the instantaneous usage during heavy takeoff or when slowing down, just before it goes ---, it reaches in excess of 100L/100km.

I think mine is in the 11's or 12's, which isn't bad. Canberra isn't too bad for driving thank goodness.

I have actually been driving a friends FG2 Turbo for the past few weeks. Fuel consumption on that hasn't been great, but my driving style in it has not exactly been condusive to good mileage. Lol....

I've driven standard FG's with the ZF and the fuel consumption on those has been outstanding for a large and powerful car. The build quality has been great too.

You may know I have a BA XR8, manual, I've had since new and it's also been a good car, I only replaced the diff bush once!!

I do prefer the interior features and space of the Falcons, but the price I got a a year old VRX, with more standard features and no diff bush issues I couldn't resist.

Things like the sun visors too are nicer, as are the factory mats. Ford dropped a lot of the nicer touches they still had in the AU as it didn't help it sell any better, which was the styling inside and out that was the problem.

I would like to put the 380 visors in my Falcon, ha ha.

Yeah you're right, the interior in the up spec falcons and XR6's is nicer than the 380's.
Even my previous car, 2002 BA Fairmont Ghia had a nicer console with larger colour screen than my 380 VRX.

Having said all that, after you've driven the 380 VRX, you wouldn't go back to a standard falcon or xr6 as the driving experience is no where near the same, that is, the balance of sound (exhaust & engine) and driveline.
As I've written before, when the 380 is a little cool, off the line it feels and sounds like a drag car, hard to explain unless you experience it which you'd never in a basic falcon unless you spend 2k on an exhaust system and still the driveline or fuel economy won't be the same.

I drove a 2010 FG XRG a couple of weeks ago and the power was good but again, there wasn't any sound to make you feel like you're driving a tough car.

This is not very helpful, I know, but I reset my trip meter, started the TJ and drove off. The first number that popped up was 77.4L/100 km. Some sort of record, I'd say! lol

Average fuel consumption is just a simple calculation of fuel used divided by distance driven. So if you reset it, drive 100 m and then idle for an hour it will go thru the roof!

So if you reset it, drive 100 m and then idle for an hour it will go thru the roof!

I noticed this first hand!
Reset mine, drove up the road and back, then my average fuel was sitting around 94L/100km