suddent drop in gas mileage

[jonlax]

Well with in the last week i have noticed that the explorer was getting VERY bad gas mileage. I usually get around 20 or so MPG going to school/work. I travel the same route every week getting 275 miles to the tank (17.5 gallon) This week i did the usuall 250 miles and i went threw 19 gallons!!! The week before that i got 265 miles to a full tank. What gives???? It has been 3 weeks since the spring tune up. I barely take it above 2000 RPM and the average speed is 45-50 mph. The only thing i can think of is the mixture change of gas (the reason they say the prices are up). I really need to fix this because the prices of gas are 3.20 here for regular! On tuesday i can get a hold of my OBD2 scanner to check everything electrical which is the only thing i can think of it causing the problem. It sounds good and feels good. I hate to drive it when i get such bad gas mileage but i need it to carry tools for school on monday and friday which i can't carry with my street bike.

HELP!


thanks, Jon

 

[Papa]

Any chance you got some dirt or water in your air filter that will slam you fast and it soes not take much.

 

[exploded99]

You say three weeks since your spring tune up. What did you do when you tuned it?

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

Check your tire pressure. Could have been a bad tank of gas, could have been really windy conditions on your route.

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

give it a few more cycles to see if it stays like that but in the meen time clean your air filter.....

 

[Doubt Incarnate]

didnt notice any strange smells, like hot brakes? i left my parking brake on once...

 

[everythintech]

if its your filter, clean your maf too. there is a how to thread, just search maf.....

 

[jonlax]

here is a list of what i did for the tune up

Air filter (k&n)
wires and plugs (wires motorcraft ,plugs bostch)
Cleaned out the throttle body
sea foamed gas/crank/intake till it ran out of gas
changed oil
changed tranny fluid
changed rear diff fluid

all fluids were royal purple which i have had good luck with when i first got the explorer. It was not windy all week just monday on the drive home. parking brake was not left on (i am used to driving a stick so i always check). tires are at 35 PSI all around. There has been an excess of brake dust up front but that is because of the pads that i threw on there (not the best but got the job done) Like i said i am going to school so money is TIGHT! I can't be driving this beast all around with such bad gas mileage. For the mean time i have been driving my street bike around (GSXR 600) which is a sipper but all of these april showers make me cringe when riding. I will check out the MAF first but later today i will be able to use the good ole scanner to see what this things problems are.


Thanks, Jon

 

[StaTTiKK]

what's going on man. MAF is the answer for sure.. Well do you have a K and N filter? Well when you clean it, make sure you give it ample time to dry after applying oil. that crap gets on the MAF and totally screws up mileage. HAppened to me. get some electrical parts cleaner and clean that stuff out. U should be straight. Peace..