2001 ST gas mileage question

[davidtown23]

I bought my 01 ST in June and with the first fill-up, I got around 370 miles on that tank. Since then the mileage has reduced to about 305 miles on the last tank. I haven't done anything different and I drive the same route daily. I very rarely use the A/C and I have recently checked the air filter which looked good.

Any ideas on why I am losing miles?

Thanks

 

[LONO100]

does your truck sit at stock height? did you change the wheels or add a roof rack, grill guard, bully bar or anythign like that? even when im not hypermiling it up on the freeway, i can still get at least 20.5 mpg on the freeway. when was your last tune up? more info please.

 

[OffTrac]

Fuel filter or MAF maybe?

The AC isn't going to change your MPG a noticeable amount. You can stop torturing yourself in this heatwave.

 

[SportTracRollin]

haha
are there any little elfs hiding under the hood weighing it down??

 

[interscope8]

My first post was about MPG with my 2001! haha,

From what Ive learned keep ur foot outta the throttle, under 60 seems to be the best for me. I live in the country and have a lot of stops, twists, turns, hills, and bumps. I get about 18 MPG with a clean air filter and slower speeds.

Oh, also use the cruise control as much as possible, that limits RPM spikes.

Thats all I got haha

 

[LONO100]

scope hits it on the head. a change in driving habits is the best mod you can make to get better MPGs. try to go between 55-60 on the freeway, and make it a game keeping the tach needle from jumping 2500 RPMs. this is also the safest mod you can make. i keep my PSI in my tires at recommended pressure, but ive read tons of posts about guys overinflating them to get better MPG. not worth it! stay safe, when trying to get better MPG. search the forum for this write up i did. just input "hypermiling" and it should come up. during my 100 mile commutes into oakland ca, i made it an obbsession trying to get the most miles out of a tank of gas. the best ive done using hypermiling techniques was 27.5 MPG equally over 500 miles out of one tank of gas. i pissed off a lot of people with my grandma like speed and slow lane hogging, but damn i save a ton of money on my commutes.

 

[davidtown23]

My truck sits at stock height with no modifications to wheels or added racks. From what I notice, I drive the same way as I did when I got it. Tune-up could be needed because I don't know when it was done before. I use the cruise quite frequently also. Well I guess I need to check the fuel filter and possible tune-up. Thanks

 

[LONO100]

check your spark plug wires with a meter if you have one. you might want to just change the plugs and wires if you dont know the last time they were changed. that can also make a world of difference.

 

[2TimingTom]

That first fill up- was it really the first time you put gas in it or the second?

What I'm getting at is: did you reset the trip odometer prior to driving that initial 370 miles or was that the mileage on the trip odometer when you filled it up (as in some of those miles were put on before you bought it)?

 

[davidtown23]

It was the first full fill up after I got it. I made sure to reset the trip, since I didn't know what kind of mileage I would get. Prior I was driving a Fusion which got 400+ miles per tank. When I got the 370 miles I was relieved that it was close to what I got in my previous vehicle.

 

[bwhite2]

I am having the same problem w/ my 2003 ST. I had a Tune up done in May, but still the same results. I have been thinking about switching to a K&N filter. Is it worth it?

 

[interscope8]

I wish i could get close to 370 my best is 280 on a full tank, Im also driving on country roads or on campus so there's a lot of stops and turns

 

[Clusterpup]

I wish i could get close to 370 my best is 280 on a full tank, Im also driving on country roads or on campus so there's a lot of stops and turns

Yeah seriously. I get an average of about 14MPG. I have a slight lead foot. I generally get my light coming on when I have about 300 miles on a tank. I have 32" tires and a cargo basket on my roof. I would think your trac would be getting better mileage then you are getting, I know mines a stick shift and all but you should be getting better gas milage. I'm in stop and go traffic most of the time I'm driving also.

 

[bwhite2]

Does anyone have thoughts on the K & N filter increasing mileage

 

[OffTrac]

Does anyone have thoughts on the K & N filter increasing mileage

Yeah, they don't increase gas mileage. I have one and put them on all my vehicles just because they are better at their intended purpose: filtering the air going into your engine. That's why I buy them. I don't think you'll see any appreciable savings in fuel to make up for the cost even in a few years. I would still recommend them at the next air filter change, though.

 

[2TimingTom]

Does anyone have thoughts on the K & N filter increasing mileage

I have my doubts.

Read this:
http://fueleconomy.gov/feg/pdfs/Air_Filter_Effects_02_26_2009.pdf

I would equate the dirty air filter in the test to a typical clean paper filter and the clean paper filter in the test to a K&N (or other whizz bang high flow filter).

Basically, in the summary (I believe), it talks about how an OBDII car monitors everything while in closed loop ECU operation. So no matter what you've done to make your engine more efficient (breathing wise), the ECU will always keep it as stochiometric as possible.

I have the Amsoil filter on my X, a K&N on my VUE and a paper on my SL2. I bought the reusable filters just because they last longer and I believe are cheaper in the long run.

 

[LONO100]

i have the KN 55 filter and i noticed a slight increase in my MPG, but not signifigant. i noticed i can get about an extra 0.5 - 10.0 MPG with my KN when im driving on the freeway. the biggest difference i noticed with the performance of the KN is the extra power i get when my tach is climbing past 3200 RPM, i havent had it dynotested or anything like that, but i can def. feel the extra power i get when i jump on the pedal above 3200. most of my daily driving is done on the freeway anyway, so i can easily get 20.0 - 20.5 MPG as long as i have a feather foot and keep it close to 2000 RPM while cruising.

cluster - i would say that 14-15 MPG if most of your driving is in the city and stop and go so thats not too bad. especially someone with a leadfoot like yourself.

david - your tank readings might be inaccurate as well. because the gas tanks are long and narrow, the fuel readings can be thrown off very easily especially if you drive up and down hills. you should maybe invest in one of those scangauges for like 60 bucks to get a more accurate reading on your fuel.

 

[davidtown23]

Ok so I have been testing out my gas mileage this week. I have done what LONO100 said with keeping the speed down and watching the RPMs. I kept my RPMs below 2500 as much as possible while accelerating and cruising. So far it seems to really add miles because I am now at 325 miles on this tank and have just below 1/4 tank left. I could easily hit 380 for this tank compared to the 305 that I got the last tank. I think I will still check the plugs and wires though.

 

[OffTrac]

That's what I started doing to save gas. After learning some patience while doing that for a few months, I now aim to stay under 2,000 RPMs. Of course, there are times when I have to go up to 2,500 on hills and such without losing all momentum but it is possible.

The highest speed limit between home and work is 45 and less than 5 miles, so staying under 2k is easy. On highways, I can stay around 2k by going 55 and avoiding the nagging in the back of my head that says I need to do 65 (or 80) when the speed limit is 65. Adds 10 minutes to my commute to school, but saves a lot of gas. It's a 50 mile drive one way and I sometimes get passed by as many as 2 or 3 people the whole drive. Once I got over that, and play some good jam music or country, all seems right in the world. lol

So, my advice is to master staying under 2,500 RPMs. In a few months, challenge yourself to stay under 2k. I still open it up from time to time and it helps. Or if I want more power or to kill some gas I get in my wife's Z71 Tahoe. Soon to have the '69 Cougar back on the road.

 

[LONO100]

glad to see you are saving $ on gas. i hypermile it during my routine, mundane commutes and drives around town and to work, i figure that it saves me more money to spend on modding my rig and gettin dirty off road and doin it big on the weekends. not to mention you save wear and tear on your motor during all those long and boring work drives and you help the environment a little bit too.

another tip that i find great is lowering the weight of your truck by taking off any roof racks, tow hooks, tools and junk you keep inside of it that you dont normally use during the week when driving to and from school/work. that helps a ton as well and adds up over time. i was spending over 500 bucks on gas a month, and since i started hypermiling, i have been saving between 50 and 80 bucks a month. so when you think about it, this summer, by keeping my foot off the gas my savings paid for my roof rack and aussie lockers!