Brake Actuator and MPG loss....

Just wanted to get this into the information base.

I purchased a 2008 over a year ago that had the dreaded brake actuator problem where it would cycle about every 7-10 seconds. The car was being sold due to it having linear valve offset unlearned DTC and it could not be relearned/reset due to the rapid cycling of the actuator. Being hardheaded, I used it as my "daily driver" anyway, for about a week per month, alternating with my normal daily driver. The brakes worked fine until below 5mph, where they tended to become a bit grabby and wonky.
Over the last couple months, it got worse and the passenger side wheel would lock up if the roads were even slightly wet and braking power would effectively be lost to the other 3 wheels. Scary indeed, so this car went from a week a month, to being used whenever the weather was nice, which actually resulted in it being used more often!! This car has never gotten better than 44mpg on a tank as indicated on the MFD, with typical being 41-42.

Cue the actuator replacement last weekend. A salvage yard actuator and a Saturday morning. Fingers crossed and hoping for good luck that the replacement actuator was good, the job ended up being completely successful, per techstream. Took it for a quick 5 mile test drive and then gassed it up about a mile from the house. Everything felt great. I had to go out of town Sunday and returned yesterday (Thursday) evening. Drove the car to work this morning, only 22 miles each way, BUT........

 

Return trip was a slightly different route today due to having a side errand (no highway miles). Even more confident the MPG increase isn't just a fluke, but directly related to the properly operating brake actuator. Big difference in how the dust shows up between morning light and evening light!!