Bad gas mileage and no heat at an idle, HELP!!!!

[Crazysean12]

Hello there, I am looking for anyone that might be able to help me out a little bit. I have a 04 Explorer Limited with a 4.0 in it. I have only owned it for about 4 months and love the way it looks and rides. However I have some major issues. The vehicle has 155k on it. As far as I know everything appears to be original. I replaced plugs, wires, air filter, fuel filter, oil, oil filter, front and rear diff filter and trans filter and fluid in december before i took it on a 1000 mile road trip with my family. I am getting around 10 MPG driving back and forth to work right now and its mostly highway there, nothing crazy. Also I have noticed that the heat only blows hot when i am giving it gas. I can let the vehicle warm up at it will be at full operational temp but blows cool air inside the vehicle until I start to drive off. I drained all the coolent and flushed the radiator and heater core with a garden hose and put brand new fluid in it along with a new thermostat as well. If anyone can help me figure this issue out I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Number4]

Have you inspected the blower motor?
You may only be getting forced air while the vehicle is in motion.

As far as the MPG's, are you relying on the Message center? Or are you actually tracking your miles vs how many gallons used?

 

[intelisevil]

I didn't know the front and rear diffs had filters to change.

Are your tires the stock size and properly inflated?

Fuel leak?

Have you always (four months) gotten this mileage?

Did it drop after one of the maintenance steps you performed? Improperly gapped plugs? Crossed or disconnected spark plug cables?

I agree with not trusting the message center, mine shows about .5 mpg high. Do you FILL the tank at each refueling or just add $40? To be accurate with your mileage calculations you need to FILL your tank and reset your trip meter every time. Divide your miles driven since last fill by the gallons you just pumped.

My 99 V8 AWD Mounty with 240K miles gets 16+ mpg in combo driving. 10 mpg sounds painful!

Good Luck,
Dan