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Performance Upgrades - Maintenance - Modifications - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street Trucks. Covering the Explorer, ST, Sport, Lincoln Aviator, Sport Trac, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Aerostar. Featuring H.I. - Human Intelligence.
did replacing the filters help out your gas mileage?? just wondering because in the last 2 weeks here in ny my mileage has dropped as well...i usually get a little above 200 miles to the tank on my 96 v6 explorer and now im getting in the 170's and 180's... i dont really work on cars but if its easy enough maybe i can change these filters as well..anyone know of a place that has pictures and instructions on how to do it??
IF the filters are dirty, replacing them will help. They're pretty easy to change out (fuel filter can be crabby though). Go out and buy a Haynes repair manual ($15-20). It's written for the shade tree mechanic and has all the pix/details you will need. New plugs and wires will also help if they're old and worn.
BTW...do you have a McLaren Mustang? I've always wanted one of those...saw 'em when I was in college but couldn't afford one at the time.
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did replacing the filters help out your gas mileage?? just wondering because in the last 2 weeks here in ny my mileage has dropped as well...i usually get a little above 200 miles to the tank on my 96 v6 explorer and now im getting in the 170's and 180's... i dont really work on cars but if its easy enough maybe i can change these filters as well..anyone know of a place that has pictures and instructions on how to do it??
dang i get any where from 250 - 270 miles per tank with a v8 but i put some lucas tune up in a bottle in last week and got 17.7 miles per/gal im still alittle skeptic but it might help ya last tank was 300 plus miles
Alright I'm a little confused right now. After replacing the fuel filter and air filter last week I didn't want to wait until the weekend to see how my mileage was so I did a bunch of driving. By now I pretty much now by looking at my mileage and gas gauge whether or not I'm getting good mileage. I added some injector cleaner for large vehicles (treats 35gal and I only have a 20) and drove. To my amazement I went 168 miles and wasn't even at 1/2 tank yet!! This was Friday and I was pumped, I couldn't wait to see what kind of mileage I would get on the interstate. Well I added some more injector cleaner (same kind) and took off for St. Louis. It was windier than crap but I drove 73mph and the tach was at 2500rpm. Got down to St. Louis and filled up and I had gotten 14mpg!!! What happened?!?! I thought it was because of the wind and when I drove back the wind wasn't nearly as bad but I still only got 16mpg. This is pathetic. I have no clue how I could go from over 18 (18.6 to be exact) and then drop that bad when on the interstate. Doesn't make sense to me? The guy that had the lift I used to change the filter said to use Chevron Techron Fuel System Cleaner but its 6 bucks for only 12 gal. Maybe I should have used that instead and I'll put some in it next time, or maybe try some Lucas Tune up in a bottle. I'm just wondering how the heck I can go from over 18 down to 14 or 16?
that chevron cleaner is some good stuff. i have had about 3 ppl recommend it to me. i ran it through right after i got mine so im not sure if it helped my mpg or not.
Speed kills gas mileage in these things, I once figured up, that every mph I went above the speed limit costed me $10/month....due to the amount of driving I did, mpg, and gas prices.... and yes, I was bored at work
Alright so here's where I'm at now. I was getting just over 12mpg so I changed the plugs and wires. If this doesn't work a buddy of mine is a mechanic at a dealership and they have this fuel system cleaner. It comes in a bottle and you hook up an air compressor to it disconnect the fuel line and hook the bottle in place of it. It runs this cleaner straight into the injectors instead of mixing it into the fuel tank. So we'll see how my mileage is the rest of the week and I'm driving to the races this weekend (about 2 hours there and 2 back) so that will be a good test.
I have Goodyear Wrangler's (p235/75 r15) all at 35psi. That was one of the first things I checked. After driving to work and back today I noticed the motor does run quite a bit better, even though it wasn't terrible to begin with. The gaps on all the plugs were too big also. From looking at the gas gauge it seems my mileage is better but it will take more driving to find out for sure. I sure do wish I had one of those digital gas mileage things in my Explorer.....those are awesome.
haha, I just read a post a couple away from yours asking if it was o.k. to rip out his digital gas mileage thing because he hates it! Maybe you two should switch vehicles
I haven't heard anyone mention a few of the engine controls that can mess with mileage. I had a OHV motor a few years ago that had a fuel pressure regulator that was going bad and started to eat gas. It took a month or so before it go bad enough to throw a code (O2 sensor detected always rich state) the FPR was pumping about 20 psi too much into the fuel rail. As you can imagine the computer didn't know how to handle it. The FPR's are also know to blow diaphrams which will suck raw fuel through the vacume line into the engine. Either of these things should be coating your exhaust black due to the rich state.
Check for vacum leaks, one time the PCV line that connects behind the MASS on an OHV 4.0 fell out and gave for some horrid fuel mileage. But the truck ran fine and didn't throw a code.
I think this one was mentioned, but dirty injectors will have a major negative impact on mileage as well
Any exhaust changes, the OHV was infamous for this, it was really sensitive to exhaust changes. But clogged CAT's or even a cracked pipe can effect efficiency.
Temperature sensors can also effect milleage by reading colder than it really is. the computer will dump more fuel to compensate for the cold. Think of it like driving with you choke pulled on slightly (if you old enough to remember carburated cars<G>)
I guess my point is there are a lot of things that can effect gas mileage. Start with the easy stuff, and then test all you sensors. You'll figure it out
Just for reference I just picked up an 01 Mounty with a SOHC and for the short time I have been driving it I have been getting 21 hwy and 19 just hopping around.
