Terrible Gas Mileage after rolling over something hard

[A4Gasm]

I was forced to park in a terrible dirt lot at work and as I backed up, I heard scraping. I was pretty positive it was just my muffler (pretty new 3" magnaflow) cause there was a 3" line in the ground.


Next thing I know, I'm not getting my usual 300-315 mi per tank. It was down around 255. I did a small test: filled the tank, drove like 30 miles, did the math and .....

17MPG HIGHWAY

I always do the simple division at the pump and I am CERTAIN I was getting 23overall before last week


the mechanic that fabricated my exhaust said those things are real thick and hard to dent. he was pointing to my breaks and lines that seem to need replacing. Said that the tires weren't spinning freely on the lift and there may be dragging.....

so was rolling over a slightly frozen dirt mound just a coincidence or what? I need to figure this out cause I'm already on the verge of throwing a stick of dynamite in the thing and collecting the insurance. My friggen ABS engages between 20-10mph only and it makes me want to punt a small child.

angry. please help. thanks in advance.

[Poopie]

bad wheel bearing probably

[A4Gasm]

I dunno...I can't hear that token wheel bearing sound. I replaced one last winter and the noise was pretty clear.

[Poopie]

maybe axle then since your abs is malfunctioning.

[A4Gasm]

Sorry for being confusing. The ABS was acting up before the incident. I put a new module in then bam...activation during low speeds.

[anmagro]

Hmm, i dont see how a dent in your exhaust could hurt your mpg that badly, im sure you would feel a large loss of power before you noticed the bad mpg if the 'dent' or 'scrape' in the exhaust was that bad.

Your tires being held up could be a big reason why, considering you rolled over that mound, maby there could possibly be something hung up in your wheel bearing?..or other chassis component?

I know that sometimes the stock B5 wheels and wheel wells have been known to fling debris up into the chassis and keep them stuck where ever they so happen to land. Just something to note.

other than that i would have reason to believe your problem is strictly mechanical because i cant think of any other 'outside' elements that could cause this problem from what you describe.

Hope this helped you out man.

[A4Gasm]

bad wheel bearing probably

+1


DING DING DING!!! Although the noise didn't start until like 3 months later, I replaced a right front wheel bearing and I'm back up to 23mpg overall!