Miles Per Gallon?????

[Yamvip]

Ok here is never ending question??? What can i do to better my gas mileage.The best i have ever seen is 16 highway. I have a 2002 xlt FFV 4.0L 3.55 gears, Custom exhaust, and a K&N drop in filter, which i'm thinking of changing to AfE oil less filter.And i'm about to change the muffler to a flowmaster 70 series. I think there rated at 16-20mpg????? And the best on the highway i saw 16 With these gas prices i would just like to increase it as much as possible. I tried the e-85 but for the prices here its not worth it plus the drive to get it. Any help would be great, thanks guys........

 

[dford]

A fresh set of spark plugs helped for my 4.0

 

[dford]

A fresh set of spark plugs helped for my 4.0

 

[Thelt]

Mine has the 4.0 (non flex) and the tow package (3.73 diff?). I get close to 17 mpg in mixed driving and I have seen 23 on the highway (alone with no extra weight in the car). It averages about 21 on the highway with the family and luggage.

I have not done anything special to achieve this, it just does it.

 

[Curtis]

your numbers seem low.

My 04 4.6 will get 15 in the city and closer to 19 on the highway.

Maybe a tune up is in order.
As mentioned, new plugs, pcv valve, make sure tires have correct psi, and as someone else stated here on the board...

"Drive like there is an egg shell between your foot and the gas pedal"
Keep RPM's lower than 2500

 

[aldive]

What speed are you driving to get highway mileage? What is the RPMs at that speed ?

I have done a lot of things to get over 30 MPG ( highway ) in my 4.0 SOHC. Take a look at the following thread: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44372&highlight=quest .

 

[crash594]

1 stay out of the gas
2 still stay out of the gas
3 pluges
4 clean the air flow sensor
5 use correct oil grade
6 clean throttle body
7 tire pressure (I run mine at 40PSI nitrogen)

I average around 21 highway at 70

 

[Curtis]

1 stay out of the gas
2 still stay out of the gas
3 pluges
4 clean the air flow sensor
5 use correct oil grade
6 clean throttle body
7 tire pressure (I run mine at 40PSI nitrogen)

I average around 21 highway at 70

My tires too are at 40 psi nitrogen..
(although they are probably 97 % nitrogen now cause I recently topped them up with regular air, for the first time in 14 months)

 

[gspfunk]

Ok here is never ending question??? What can i do to better my gas mileage.The best i have ever seen is 16 highway. I have a 2002 xlt FFV 4.0L 3.55 gears, Custom exhaust, and a K&N drop in filter, which i'm thinking of changing to AfE oil less filter.And i'm about to change the muffler to a flowmaster 70 series. I think there rated at 16-20mpg????? And the best on the highway i saw 16 With these gas prices i would just like to increase it as much as possible. I tried the e-85 but for the prices here its not worth it plus the drive to get it. Any help would be great, thanks guys........

I have a similar setup: 2003, K&N panel filter, 3.55's, FFV....I also have the 3rd row seat and leather (extra weight). I was getting 15 or a hair less in mixed driving (65% hwy). I did plugs/wires and changed the fuel filter and I'm getting low to mid 17's now.

I posted this in a tune up thread a while back, but I found that several of the plugs were gapped between .065 and .08 (should be .052-.056) and they were in dire need of replacement. I went w/ the Motorcraft replacement wire set (don't EVEN try to go w/ the auto parts store knock-offs!!) and a Wix fuel filter. I also switched to Mobil 1 a while back and noticed improved performance there, as well.

This was all done ~60-63k miles.

 

[Kyle0614]

this is nothing against you aldive...but I find it hard to believe on god's green earth that you can get over 30mpg on a gen 2 sixxer...mine manages probably 21 or 22 highway and 18-19 city and it's in tip top shape only needs lifters for the motors...you know the tick, tick, tick, etc...thinking of new plugs, air filter, pcv valve, new wires, plus coil packs guess thats what its called or i'm thinking of cap and rotor maybe? i'm ohv..oh well anyway thats just the basis of what i plan to change this summer...oh yea and kkm intake with flowmaster kit, after i fix the lifters...then she go like a champ...

 

[yogi_pahl]

I got a 99 ohv and get about 400+ miles to almost full tank. i dont fill it till it stop and don't let it go down till the gas light is no. All i do is juts keep the rpm's under 2500. I still need to get plugs, wires, filter and oil change and maybe a lil sea foam.

 

[aldive]

this is nothing against you aldive...but I find it hard to believe on god's green earth that you can get over 30mpg on a gen 2 sixxer...

I am heartbroken.

i'm thinking of cap and rotor maybe?

I bet you will have to look long and far to find them to replace.

 

[yogi_pahl]

Not to thread jack or anything but i head than back in the 70 with the gas crises that ppl would cap off 2 of the 8 cylinders to get better MPG i dont think this will work on any new fuel injected engine but what about on a carp engine

 

[Fantasymon]

What about a special forum just for MPG? 10% of posts seem to be people asking this same question

 

[Shaggy]

All this moaning makes me fell a little better. The Commander that I'm driving now will get just over 20 crusing on the highway @ 65 or so. It's got the 5.7 Hemi with MDS.

 

[Kyle0614]

i've lived with the fact that it's just a big ford with "loaf of bread styling" for aerodynamics and suv's just suck at gas unless ya get a new flex fuel tahoe now that would be sweet v8 power with 4c economy...yes I said it chevy...oh the irony..

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

The new Tahoes and Silverados with the 5.3 are still gas hogs even with the cylinder deactivation. The EPA numbers are hardly ever attainable in "real world" driving. My buddy's parents just bought one, and they get about 14 MPG on gas, and about 11 MPG on E85 in mixed driving. They've been told that after the engine breaks in, it'll get better, but I won't hold my breath.

My MPG is all over the place...I typically run E85, and I've gotten anywhere from 11 to 18 MPG on it. On gasoline, it's not a whole lot better. Generally I gain 2-3 MPG on gasoline, and since that's a dollar a gallon more expensive here, I'm content to run cheaper fuel even if it costs me a little MPG. I'm still money ahead in dollars per mile.

 

[Thelt]

E85 is not all that available here. Even if mine were flex fuel I would have a hard time finding it.

 

[memhorn]

i believe Aldive can do it, but he also spent a lot of time and money being able to hit 30.

I can hit 25 mpg on the highway with a stock '98 4x4 3.73 gears simply by airing up the tires to 35 and driving slow -- around 60. This works well when so long as I am not in a hurry!

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

It seems like in the interest of emissions, the newer vehicles just do not get MPG like they should. Burning more fuel to produce less pollution, or so it would seem. I've rarely seen a Gen III Explorer get over 20 MPG...Usually it's more around the 17 MPG mark. The Gen II with the same 4.0 SOHC engine and even a little lower overdrive and/or final drive ratio will get better MPG. I had a Gen II for a demo for a while, a '99 Limited 4.0 and that thing would get no less than 16 MPG no matter how hard I flogged it. Out on the highway, I was seeing 22+ on the trip computer (which was located in the center console...How odd) keeping it at 60 MPH. What changed??!? The engine's output is similar...The Gen III got 3 HP more than the Gen II, and I can't see there being that much difference in weight or aerodynamics. Even one of our techs at work has a Gen I with the 4.0 OHV engine, and he gets decent MPG with it. Not as much power, but decent MPG. On a trip he averaged 18 MPG with 4 people and some stuff in the back.
You'd really think that technology would have us going forward instead of backwards in the fuel economy department, wouldn't you?

In all honesty, if my Explorer wasn't a FFV, I doubt I'd own it. I had a '01 Durango 4.7L previously, and it got the same if not slightly better MPG than my Explorer does on gasoline, had more room and weighed about 800# more. But, the Durango and Dakota also got "dumbed down" starting in late 2001-early 2002. Ask a '02+ Durango owner about their MPG, and get ready for some cussing. One friend of mine had an '03 and averaged 10 MPG, getting a personal best of 14 MPG on a trip. But...Her engine didn't ping under load on 87 octane! Mine did...So, I just ran 89 in it, and got half again as much fuel economy. They re-calibrated the PCMs on the later models (and offered it as a fix for pinging on the early ones...We called it the "death flash") to run richer with less advance, and the end product was horrible mileage and a bit less power.

The carmakers really need to get their heads out of their arses (and Big Oil out of their back pockets) and get some efficiency back in these engines. It can be done...Heck, it was being done before the emissions laws got tighter. There has to be a way to make an engine clean and efficient.