Gas mileage mods?

[ga_xlt]

I'm sure this has been covered before but my phone isn't letting me use the search feature right now. I filled up this morning and my mileage averaged out to 9.6 MPG. Granted I've been playing with the truck and put my foot in it a lot, but that's insane mileage. The CEL light is on for egr valve and camshaft position sensor. Will those pull my mileage down that bad? Other than that, is there any popular mods that have positive results in improving gas mileage? Intake and exhaust is the obvious places to start. Any suggestions?

 

[Snowboi]

You can keep it under 2k rpm, buy some Seafoam from the auto store, run it through your truck, it should clean some of the carbon/gunk in the engine.

Yes, those two can lower your mileage.

 

[BubbaFL]

Yes, problems that cause error codes to be thrown can hurt gas mileage. Get those fixed before you try any mileage mods (underdrive pulleys, etc).

 

[spacecadebt]

First of all turn you check engine light off, thats your main problem here. You cant get good gas mileage if you engine is not running properly. Second, quit romping on it obviously and like mentioned above try to stay under 60mph and under 2k rpms.

I have a 300,000 mile 96 limited 5.0 and i recently averaged 24.6 mpg with a 12ft kayak on the roof and the only mod i have done to it is slap on a k&n air filter lol.

The secret to getting good gas mileage is to use your brakes as little as possible (within reason)

 

[SoNic67]

I have a 300,000 mile 96 limited 5.0 and i recently averaged 24.6 mpg with a 12ft kayak on the roof and the only mod i have done to it is slap on a k&n air filter lol.

That's bull... put pics to proove!
Like mine below (5.0L too).

 

[spacecadebt]

Well i didnt get any pics of the 24.6 but here is what i got today after a 130 mile trip.


004 by Spacecadebt, on Flickr

 

[SoNic67]

On highway I get good mileage too, but even then, 24.6 mpg is not belivable. Especially at 300k miles on a '96 engine. Heck, even my other V6 cars with 2.5L and 3.0L don't get that... I think the gauge is wrong (you can double check that mileage yourself). The 2011 V6 FWD barley gets 25mpg on highway and 20mpg combined (4WD "inteligent" gets only 23mpg on highway) - and it has a 3.5L Twin independent Variable Camshaft Timing (TiVCT) V6 and a 6 speed transmission!

PS: The average should be measured on higher miles - mine is at 1770 miles driven. Half on highway, half on town, sometimes slow/stagnat traffic (daily comute to work in the Hampton Roads area).

 

[spacecadebt]

Dont believe me? I dont care.

Its not what you drive its how you drive it.

BTW i dont trust the computer either. Its not very accurrate. I always check my mileage when i fill up.

 

[ga_xlt]

I noticed something on the way home from work today. My trip miles and odo took a fit and stopped working. I had to smack the dash a couple of times to get it to start clicking again. So I'm thinking that's part of why my mileage calculation was showing so miserable this morning. I guess it stopped working on me and I didn't notice it, so my trip miles where showing lower than they should have, throwing off the math. Eh, damn Ford.

So I'm going to keep an eye on the trip and make sure that it stays on track this tank, and I got a K&N filter from a friend earlier and put it on the truck so I'll see if that helps. I know the intake sounds a hell of a lot deeper now. And I cleared my codes to get the CEL to go off. I guess I'll see in the morning on the way to work if it comes back on.

Still think the exhaust needs a little "work" done to it... *sawz-all anyone?*