Gas mileage on a '98

[oramac]

I have a '98 Explorer 4 door with a 4.0 SOHC.
What kind of mileage should I expect? I am currently getting 12mpg in town and 15mpg on the highway.

 

[CBoug76]

What Octane Fule are you using?



------------------
Chris
CBoug76@yahoo.com
1997 Explorer Sport (Stock)http://members.aol.com/CBOUG/explorer1.jpg

 

[oramac]

I have tried 87 and 92 with the same results for both.

 

[CBoug76]

i dunno what to tell you, other then Stay with the 87 Ocatne Fuel. Higer Ocatne cause's carbon to build up on the Piston's.(Which is not good!) so Do what you want, but becareful!!!!

 

[TPLYNCH]

My 99 OHV 4.0 has been getting around 17mpg with my wife doing 75 on the highway. 15 sounds low to me, unless you are really flying down the highway.

 

[DrewP]

I just drove 700 miles yesterday and averaged 20.8mpg on my 95 4-door 4x4. I usually get ~16mpg around town.

 

[briantf]

12 MPG city and 17 MPG hiway is about what my wife gets in her 98 XLT SOHC. She commutes about 45 miles/day on rural roads, so 17 MPG is a little more than what she gets weekly. 87 octane is what the vehicle is designed for - any higher test is wasted money.

Cost of doing business with a heavy 4X4 in stop and go traffic. Safe and powerful and useful is worth it.


Regards,
Brian in CA

 

[LWeston]

I just bought a 95 XLT 4.0L I have been wondering about mileage. I am currently getting 14 city and about 20 hiway. So your mileage seems low to me but since I am such a newbee with Explorers........

My 95 Taurus got 16/17 city and around 25 on the hiway, but gearing and all. I guess I will not complain. I am more disapointed with responsiveness. When I stepped on the gas in the Taurus, (3.8 FI V6), it moved. Not so with my Explorer.

 

[smittyswc]

I guess I am being greedy. I am getting 17 city and 19-20 hwy. Its the v8 too. average is 18 and I wanted to see if I could be getting more. I guess not.
Mike

 

[Kalifowneeah]

Hi all- I have been wondering what kind of mileage to expect in my 2000 XLT 4.0 SOHC. 114,300 moles on the clock. :exp: I have had it about 6 days now.
I appreciate others members input, and so far I'm lovin' this forum. Well, I'll share my initial numbers: My first tank of gas averaged 18.35 mpg. (14.541 gallons of 87 octane/ 266.3 miles on the trip odometer.) Only about 30 miles of that driving was freeway (bringing it home from the used car lot) the rest has all been city driving with lots of stoplights, crosswalks, & stop signs. I try to drive pretty conservatively.

 

[Kalifowneeah]

I guess I am being greedy. I am getting 17 city and 19-20 hwy. Its the v8 too. average is 18 and I wanted to see if I could be getting more. I guess not.
Mike

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44372&highlight=gas+mileage


Smitty, If you have some time to kill, check out this thread.... (it's like, 99 pages but very interesting re: EX milage.

 

[Texan01]

My OHV gets around 17 in town and 22 on the highway.

 

[mweiss]

I measured fuel consumption on a trip from CT to FL on my '98 back in '05. The first leg of the trip I ran regular gas and averaged 16-19mpg at speeds of 55mph. On the second leg, I added 3oz of acetone to the fuel and filled up the tank with regular gas. That leg of the trip averaged 24.5mpg. I should note that I was driving about 65mph as the speed limits were higher. On the next tank of fuel, I didn't add any acetone, and the mileage worked out to about 19mpg. Added another 3 oz and filled up for the trip home and was averaging about 23mpg on that leg, until I hit bad traffic around DC with some major storm-related accidents snagging traffic for hours. I should mention that the engine is the SOHV type.

My wife's '06 has the SOHC engine, much more powerful and gets the same mileage on regular gas without acetone as my 98 gets with acetone. Ford seems to have made great progress with engine design in recent years. I've gotten as high as 26mpg in her X while driving down state route 202 on a 40 minute trip at 45mph. Amazing, considering her truck seems to be heavier than mine.

 

[Kalifowneeah]

I measured fuel consumption on a trip from CT to FL on my '98 back in '05. The first leg of the trip I ran regular gas and averaged 16-19mpg at speeds of 55mph. On the second leg, I added 3oz of acetone to the fuel and filled up the tank with regular gas. That leg of the trip averaged 24.5mpg. I should note that I was driving about 65mph as the speed limits were higher. On the next tank of fuel, I didn't add any acetone, and the mileage worked out to about 19mpg. Added another 3 oz and filled up for the trip home and was averaging about 23mpg on that leg, until I hit bad traffic around DC with some major storm-related accidents snagging traffic for hours. I should mention that the engine is the SOHV type.

My wife's '06 has the SOHC engine, much more powerful and gets the same mileage on regular gas without acetone as my 98 gets with acetone. Ford seems to have made great progress with engine design in recent years. I've gotten as high as 26mpg in her X while driving down state route 202 on a 40 minute trip at 45mph. Amazing, considering her truck seems to be heavier than mine.

I am going to research the acetone thing... I have heard others mention that with good results.

In the interest of sharing statistical info: My second tank of gas in my 2000 XLT: 283.6 miles on 16.53 gallons of 87 octane, 17.16 mpg. Entirely city driving, no freeway driving at all.

 

[aldive]

I get over 30 MPG highway in my '99 SOHC.

Take a look at http://216.198.221.184/forums/showthread.php?t=44372&highlight=gas+mileage

 

[inh]

I get over 30 MPG highway in my '99 SOHC.

Take a look at http://216.198.221.184/forums/showthread.php?t=44372&highlight=gas+mileage

Showoff

 

[Kalifowneeah]

My average MPG to date:

More mileage numbers, for your reading and comparison enjoyment:
My third fillup since getting my 2000 XLT. 265.2 miles (80% city driving, 20% freeway) 14.40 gallons of 87 octane, 18.42 mpg. I am tracking my mileage to see how good I can get it.

So far, average for me is 17.98 MPG. Mostly city driving. I keep the tires at 44 psi, cold. (The max shown on the tires.) Driving on brand new 255 70R 15's, which does not help towards mileage numbers, (thinner tires= less rolling resistance) but fat tires look cool!

I am eagerly looking forward to a nice long freeway drive to see some highway milage. So far, I've been doing the city driving almost exclusively. I go easy on the gas pedal, I rarely exceed 2,500 RPM. I have just purchased full synthetic oil for my next planned oil change, probably in a month or so, the oil had just been changed with Dino prior to my buying the EX, so I'll use it a little longer. I'll keep track of mileage till then, then see how the synth does once it is in.

Soon, tranny gets the synthetic treatment as well, there are some great how to articles on this site, I'm going to do the tranny cooler lines with two buckets method.