Poor Gas Mileage and Rough Sounding

[Bigfoot348]

I have a 07 explorer (V6) with 68,000 miles on it. Lately its been running very rough and the gas mileage is crap. I'd say the gas mileage has always been ****, but 14.4mpg on highway driving is annoying. I've read about some timing chain issues, could this be it? I've had it since and change the oil every 3k miles as well as the air filter here and there but nothing else.
any help is appreciated.

 

[Bigfoot348]

by rough running i mean louder than normal, it sounds noisier in general. i've already had the radiator replaced but the fluid was low so I added more. Not sure how this could be related.

 

[Explorer_PL]

Any codes ? Rough running and low mpg would indicate need for new sparkplugs, maybe oxygen sensors, and so on. If no codes, maybe fuel filter, injectors ?

 

[TowingExplorer]

Even though there are no codes, I'd question a coil possibly being intermittently faulty.

 

[j.lvance]

Any details on this? did you get this fixed? I have the same issue, I have changed the plugs and wires, fuel filter and have tried every kind of injector cleaner there is, but have lost mileage from 19 - 20 to 14 -15.

 

[azpima67]

On my '02 I experienced declining MPG without showing any check engine codes. The mass air flow sensor was dirty. Cleaning it restored the MPG.

 

[thamusic54]

Any details on this? did you get this fixed? I have the same issue, I have changed the plugs and wires, fuel filter and have tried every kind of injector cleaner there is, but have lost mileage from 19 - 20 to 14 -15.

The most I'm getting from my 06 ex is 15.7 on the highway, and it runs really smooth.

 

[j.lvance]

Changed the mass air flow but MPG didn't changed. But my RPM 's is fluttering up and down.

 

[Alan Lloys]

If RPM is fluctuating while you drive it points to a transmission or torque converter issue.
If the converter is not locking up properly of any of the transmission bands are slipping the MPG will go down in a hurry.

I had this happen on my 02 Mountaineer and eventually it killed 3 and 5th gear due to the band cylinder breaking.