5whiskey
Active Member
- Joined
- August 29, 2014
- Messages
- 73
- Reaction score
- 3
- City, State
- North Carolina
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2002 Ford Explorer
Probably the biggest semi-inexpensive fuel mileage improvement you could get would be from an electric fan and U/D pulley. I don't know what the pulley's go for, probably a couple hundred bucks. You could probably rob an e-fan from a thunderbird or mustang that ran the 4.6 and had them. There's a right up on it here, I think the guy was in it for 800 bucks. You WILL get noticeable mileage improvements. It may be from 14.5 to 16mpg... in which case you'll have to do a lot of driving to pay for your improvement.
This is so simple it's stupid, but have you checked your tire pressure? It really can make a huge difference. I went from 16.5 to 17.5 just bumping my tire pressure up from 34 to 40. This especially helps if you are hitting highway/country road speeds. It helps less in city driving.
In the end... you're honestly not going to get much better than 18mpg. Some folks claim they get 20-21mpg highway... I bet those posts are from the mid-2000's when most gas wasn't 10% ethanol. The old mileage sticker on these trucks showed 19mpg highway I believe for the 4.6. They would get it (sometimes a little better) too, but not on today's fuel blends.
Another thing to consider is the fact that it's winter. Some vehicles don't matter as much, but I've noticed my Ex likes summer driving WAY better for fuel economy. One particular tank (almost all highway miles with cruise set) got close to 19mpg in the summer. My winter best is 17.7.
This is so simple it's stupid, but have you checked your tire pressure? It really can make a huge difference. I went from 16.5 to 17.5 just bumping my tire pressure up from 34 to 40. This especially helps if you are hitting highway/country road speeds. It helps less in city driving.
In the end... you're honestly not going to get much better than 18mpg. Some folks claim they get 20-21mpg highway... I bet those posts are from the mid-2000's when most gas wasn't 10% ethanol. The old mileage sticker on these trucks showed 19mpg highway I believe for the 4.6. They would get it (sometimes a little better) too, but not on today's fuel blends.
Another thing to consider is the fact that it's winter. Some vehicles don't matter as much, but I've noticed my Ex likes summer driving WAY better for fuel economy. One particular tank (almost all highway miles with cruise set) got close to 19mpg in the summer. My winter best is 17.7.
