What kind of mileage is your 3rd gen getting?

[Geologist]

Just wondering what others are getting for fuel economy with your 3rd gens.

Here are what mine look like.

'02 Eddie Bauer 4x4 163,000 miles 4.0 L V6 3.73 gears (non Flex fuel) 18 City 24 Fwy
'03 Eddie Bauer 4x4 103,000 miles 4.0 L V6 3.55 gears (Flex fuel) 13 City 17 Fwy (Lemon?)

NOTE: (Flex fuel) indicates that the truck has the package, however I always run premium in all of my vehichles, never the flex fuel (I don't even know where you could buy it anyways).

UPDATE: Changed the oil in the '03 EB to Valvoline full synthetic, put new tires on it and did a road trip (Colorado to the west coast and back, mostly on I-80). Using premium fuel all the way, the mileage read 20.3 mpg when I got back, which includes freeway miles to and from plus any city driving I did during the trip. It now also seems to be getting around 16.3 mpg in town (reset and averaged over 1 month strictly town driving). Maybe I will keep it after all.

 

[imp]

'04 V-6, 5R55S, gear ratio not known, seems to get never less than 18, nor more than 22, best at no hills cruise about 55 mph. imp

 

[colintrax]

Flex fuel is 85% ethanol. Ethanol dosen't have the same energy as gasoline, ie worse fuel economy.

 

[Kazer]

02 XLT 4.0 3.55 gears non flex 15 city, 18 highway. 3.5" lift on stock rims and 235/70r16's

 

[Geologist]

Flex fuel is 85% ethanol. Ethanol dosen't have the same energy as gasoline, ie worse fuel economy.

Flex Fuel is an option the vehichle has which indicates that is will run more efficiently on the ethanol fuel. This does not mean the vehichles were fueled at different pumps, as they have been run on the exact same fuel...

 

[Fordexplorerguy1]

stock 02 explorer v6 109xxx miles 16 city 22 hwy

 

[Exproblems]

Just wondering what others are getting for fuel economy with your 3rd gens.

QUOTE]>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Have a stock 2005 4.0L V-6 auto 4x4 and I get a lousy 11 MPG city and around 16 MPG Thruway and I've put a ton of work (tune up parts, professional fuel injection cleaning, diagnostics and my money) into trying to get better fuel economy out of this "pig" and no luck. I tend to think this V-6 engine is a little undersized for the 4300 lb weight of this vehicle.

 

[esclamada]

Mountaineer 4.6l V8, 14-15mpg mixed highway and city driving, last time I did a long trip on the highway was 18 (could be the load).



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[matt0248]

02 4.6 auto 4x4. generally 10-14 city and 18-20 highway.

 

[matt0248]

Just wondering what others are getting for fuel economy with your 3rd gens.

Here are what mine look like.

'02 Eddie Bauer 4.0 L V6 3.73 gears (non Flex fuel) 18 City 24 Fwy
'03 Eddie Bauer 4.0 L V6 3.55 gears (Flex fuel) 13 City 17 Fwy (Lemon?)

Are they both 2wd, 4x4 or AWD? Maybe different transmissions 5r55e or 5r55s?

 

[tower]

02 XLT, 4.0, 3.55, 4X4, Flex (but run reg unleaded), 14-15 hwy, 15-16 city. Note I drive a lot up on the hwy and drive slightly over the speed limit (well maybe a little more then slightly :shifty_ey) but on surface roads I almost never go over the limit. If I drive 55-65 on the hwy I get 17-18.

I check my mileage for almost every tank (3-4 times a week)

 

[Ronin8002]

04 Eddie Bauer 4.0 Flex.

With the 5.5" of lift, 32" tires, and 4.10 gears (aftermarket) I see about 20 MPG on the highway and about 16-17 in mixed driving. All-city driving around 14-15 but I usually don't do much of that.

 

[jrford]

04 4.6 auto AWD, 3.55's generally 12-14 city and 17-18 highway. About 15mpg mixed 50/50

 

[Geologist]

Are they both 2wd, 4x4 or AWD? Maybe different transmissions 5r55e or 5r55s?

According to the specs page listed on the sticky, '02 and '03 had only 5r55w5 or manual transmissioins. This means they both have the 5r55w5, unless you have another way to tell.

 

[matt0248]

According to the specs page listed on the sticky, '02 and '03 had only 5r55w5 or manual transmissioins. This means they both have the 5r55w5, unless you have another way to tell.

there is a trans code on door sticker. Somewhere on here someone posted which code was which transmission. The 03 is most likely the 5r55s. The 02, depending on it's date of manufacture could be different. The early models did not have the 5r55s.

Are both X's 2wd or 4wd?

 

[Geologist]

Ok, thanks to an early day I did some extensive research based on your questions matt0248. Here is what I came up with:

Both vehichles are 4x4
The '02 has the 5R55W and the '03 has the 5R55S
The only differences between these two transmisions are as follows:

5R55W Gear Ratios _______5R55S Gear Ratios

1st Gear = 3.22__________1st Gear = 3.22
2nd Gear =2.41__________2nd Gear =2.29
3rd Gear = 1.54__________3rd Gear = 1.54
4th Gear = 1.00__________4th Gear = 1.00
5th Gear = 0.75__________5th Gear = 0.71
Reverse = 3.07__________Reverse = 3.07

The service manual even has these two trannies lumped together in one manual, unlike the E and N models of the 5R55. Apparently there are some differences in the solenoid packs, but I was unable to determine what those differences might be (although I would speculate that the difference in solenoids may have something to do with slightly different shift points/pressures for the differences in 2nd and 5th gears).

As to the difference in MPG, I discovered that an old friend of mine has an '03 like mine, his also has the 5R55S, but he gets 17.5 City and 22 FWY. The only difference seems to be that his gears are 3.73 and mine are 3.55

I also asked another associate his mpg (03 with a V6) and he said 12 City and 15 FWY. His Door code for the differential is 45 (3.55 Gears). From the posts I have seen on this thread I am also seeing the same pattern.

It is starting to look like I want to put 3.73 gears in my '03, or just sell it and get another '02 with factory 3.73's.

 

[Ronin8002]

I also asked another associate his mpg (03 with a V6) and he said 12 City and 15 FWY. His Door code for the differential is 45 (3.55 Gears). From the posts I have seen on this thread I am also seeing the same pattern.

It is starting to look like I want to put 3.73 gears in my '03, or just sell it and get another '02 with factory 3.73's.

Yes, the 4.0 SOHC are definitely under-geared. 3.73 should have been the base package. 4.10 would be an even better choice I think, but that does involve a re-gear and it is expensive.

A cheaper option would be to swap in used 3.73 diffs. That would have been my original plan but with the bigger tires I have it would have effectively been no better than 3.55 on stock tires.

Anyway it's a bit of work to swap them in but could be done in a weekend in the driveway with the right tools. I would highly recommend an impact wrench, air ratchet, and air chisel to make it easier. You don't need any special tools for removing the CV axle shafts, just a mini sledge and a 12" piece of 1"x1" wood. You can see what all is involved in the Aussie Locker Install thread stickied at the top of the modified 2002-2005 forum. It only covers the rear diff removal but if you can do that, the front is not that hard. It's actually easier to swap out than the rear.

 

[Geologist]

The same thought crossed my mind about diff. swapping, Ronin. The only drawback in my mind is this: my '03 has bad bearings in the rearend already, and you never know what condition a used diff. might be in. I figured I would just order the Yukon kits and a set of 3.73's for front and rear, and do the work myself come Christmas break. (My buddies and I are all gearheads, and yes I understand the technical nature of a Ring and Pinion, with tolerances needing to be shimmed within .001")

To be honest, neither option looks very interesting to me, as I am almost 40 now. In my 20's it would have been no biggie, but now I have extra mouths to feed (and make smile). Wish I would have known all of this before buying another Explorer blindly.

 

[Ronin8002]

The same thought crossed my mind about diff. swapping, Ronin. The only drawback in my mind is this: my '03 has bad bearings in the rearend already, and you never know what condition a used diff. might be in. I figured I would just order the Yukon kits and a set of 3.73's for front and rear, and do the work myself come Christmas break. (My buddies and I are all gearheads, and yes I understand the technical nature of a Ring and Pinion, with tolerances needing to be shimmed within .001")

To be honest, neither option looks very interesting to me, as I am almost 40 now. In my 20's it would have been no biggie, but now I have extra mouths to feed (and make smile). Wish I would have known all of this before buying another Explorer blindly.

I hear you. If you're going to go through the work, at least the big plus with regearing is you can replace all the seals and bearings so you're basically getting brand new diffs.

 

[Bdaniel]

my 04 4x4 4.6L V8 gets an overall average of 15-16