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Gas Mileage

rogue888

Member
Joined
December 10, 2010
Messages
12
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0
City, State
toronto, ON
Year, Model & Trim Level
'00 Explorer Sport
I have a 2000 Explorer, 2 door (sport, but not sport trac?), 4WD, 6 cylinder, SOHC, automatic. I've had it for 2 years. My truck is using more fuel than it used to and I'd like to know what factors can cause that before taking it into a shop for diagnosis.

I live in Toronto and only have access to street parking, so I'm limited on what I can do to the truck on my own, but I try to do as much as I can without needing a mechanic's lift.

p.s. about a year ago, I needed to replace the gas cap and the one the part store sold me doesn't click. Sometimes when I fill up, I don't have to twist it to get it off. Could I be losing fuel that way?
 



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What kind of mileage are you getting, i.e. miles/km traveled divided by gallons/litres refilled with...

Could be a bunch of stuff- do you have a CEL on, any codes?
 






I'll chime in after Joe here, first things are:

Tire pressure
MAF Cleaning
Possibly some SeaFoam (recommend: Crankcase, brake booster, and fuel tank buy the big tin)
Air-filter
Fuel Filter
Spark plugs
Plug wires

really.. with the 2-door sport your mileage should be in the 14-18 range. with 14 city and 18 hwy, maybe more depends on your foot.
 






Just a newbie adding her .02, I agree with the above, I have an 02 and my plugs are misfiring ...I also have a leak due to a oil filter adapter. Removing UN-necessary weight inside the vehicle can help too.
 






When I posted this I was just a smidge under a 1/4 of a tank. Usually I would fill up then, but being eager to know my mileage, I hit the odometer and ran it till the gas light came on. I clocked 60 KM (I'm in Canada). At best, we bump it up to 70km for a full 4th of a tank and x 4 = 280km. Divide 280 / 1.61 (to get the miles conversion) and that = 174 miles on a fill up.

This is all city driving (and it is chilly so some heater usage), but 14mpg x a 17.5 gallon tank = 245 miles I should be getting to a full tank. That's 71 miles I'm losing out on!

I don't have any dash lights on. When I do I always address them right away. I very recently changed my oil, oil filter, air filter. I had a massive transmission fluid leak, so I got a semi-tranny flush (ha). I also just put on new brakes and rotors all around. I have one back tire that keeps losing pressure and my mechanic told me it's probably the rim. He said explorer rims are notoriously bad. (?)

In the past year I've changed two oxygen sensors, that abs sensor (that's on the rear axle) and had a big job done... (can't remember what it was called but my truck had gotten really loud and it's been quiet ever since). At that time the shop told me I needed to replace my manifold gaskets too and that's one thing I haven't done yet b/c it's expensive.

A fuel filter sounds like a good idea, as does a MAF clean. Thanks for the suggestions!
 






You can't figure mileage like that. The gauge does not run uniformly. The only way to figure it out and the only way to even ask the question is if you fill up, drive, and refill. Divide the total number of miles driven by what you put back in. Any other way is speculation and a waste of time to base advice and results off of.

If I did it that way, the first 1/4 tank would be, like, 25mpg, and the last 1.4 would be 10 mpg. The gauges are crap, you have to go by actual numbers.
 






Hmm, I was wondering about that, but I figured this would be close.

What's the point of the refill in your equation? Why not just gauge the miles on a fill up?
 






The refill is the fill up. You have to start after a fillup, and zero your odometer. And make sure your distance isn't off- mine is off due to larger tires than normal, so I go by mileage on my GPS.

fillup. drive. fillup at same place clicking off at the same time (one click, two, whatever). Divide miles traveled by gallons filled with.
 






Why is it so hard for people to understand how to calculate mileage? 1) Go to the gas station. 2) Fill up tank till nozzle clicks off. 3) Zero "Trip Odometer". 4) Drive till whenever. 5) Refill tank. 6) Divide miles on "Trip Odometer" by Gallons used to refill tank!!! ( THIS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE )
 






If you really wanna be accurate, your second fillup should be at the same gas station at the same pump with your truck pointing in the same direction. Otherwise, if you fill up once going uphill and once going downhill, your capacity can vary slightly, at least thats what I have found.
 






Why is it so hard for people to understand how to calculate mileage? 1) Go to the gas station. 2) Fill up tank till nozzle clicks off. 3) Zero "Trip Odometer". 4) Drive till whenever. 5) Refill tank. 6) Divide miles on "Trip Odometer" by Gallons used to refill tank!!! ( THIS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE )

If I did that, I'd have inaccurate figures. Larger tires = not accurate odometer :D
 












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