Wanting to do a mileage increase project...

[bse068]

Hello all. I am interested in doing a mpg increase project like what Aldive and others have done. I have a 1996 Ex Eddie Bauer Ed 4LV6. I have read and read and then...I read some more. The bad news for me is that I don't have the funds to do most of what has been done by others.(Best Hwy mpg was 22 on my stock setup) I am not so much interested in power, but mileage improvement is my goal. I am researching tuners, but I can't afford $400 for an sct tuner. Does anyone have any alternative suggestions for another tuner?
I am also considering installing a Dual EFIE for use when driving on the highway.

Any and all suggestions will be appreciate.

Thank you.

 

[FIND]

I suggest saving your money for gas or for a smaller car. It is REALLY difficult to get your money back that your invested into fuel savings and it usually takes quite a long time, think years. Unless you are 100% certain you are going to be keeping your truck for several years, it is not worth it to invest into things to increase the fuel economy of your truck. Given your limited finances, what you really should be doing is saving your money for something cheaper to drive or for gas to get around.

 

[bse068]

Eco-mobiles are not my thing. I need it for highway driving and carrying materials. You can't carry plywood and such in a Prius. Al and others proved that it can be done. Are there any other useful suggestion?

 

[Joe Dirt]

Well, I wouldn't call Find's suggestion useless, it is a valid answer. You never said that a smaller vehicle wasn't an option in your original post.

I'd honestly put it this way- if you can't afford $400 for a tuner, I don't really know what you're going to do short of removing your roof rack and inflating your tires. You can't have all pieces of your puzzle for next to no cash, it just won't happen.

I'm not a fan of Eco-mobiles either, so I keep two vehicles. My Camry just pulled 38+ mpg on a trip up north and back. If I need to haul some stuff, then I drive my Ex. I think you're really stuck between a rock and an Explorer...

 

[rickybobby]

Read AlDives thread again, there is a ton of useful information in there. He lists a few mods and his gains with them as being the best bang for the buck. Most of the things on that list have been proven to work many times over on this forum and many others.

 

[rickybobby]

I'm not a fan of Eco-mobiles either, so I keep two vehicles. My Camry just pulled 38+ mpg on a trip up north and back. If I need to haul some stuff, then I drive my Ex. I think you're really stuck between a rock and an Explorer...

Agreed Joe, while my other ride doesnt come close to 38mpg's it still doubles the MPG's of the explorer

 

[Joe Dirt]

What about a 4 cylinder Ranger?

 

[rickybobby]

It depends on the setup of the ranger Joe, my 04 Splash 4x4 5spd with 4.10's didnt do any better on gas than my explorer. But my sister's 97 auto 2wd got 26-27

 

[Joe Dirt]

I just remember pulling 28-33 depending on the day with my 2WD 5-speed '93... I'd take another one today if I could find one that I like with an extended cab and ditch the Ex in a heartbeat...

 

[colintrax]

Driving habits make the biggest difference. Any free mods are good, and keep the maintenance up to date.
What I've done; Cotten filter, (feel free to pm about my set up for a RAMish style intake) minor intake porting, removed the casting lines off the MAF housing, cheap muffler, tps sensor set to .96 volts, umm theres more. I'll post when I remember. I've seen 26~27 but average closer to 20. Slightly larger tires, small lift (I mean small), 3:73 gears, auto tranny with an attitude problem, and an anger problem myself doesn't help my gas mileage

 

[FIND]

My dad used to have a mitsubishi mighty max pickup that got around 30mpg on the highway. You can also get a ford taurus wagon. Just as much cargo room as an Explorer, 27 mpg. Need something taller? Get a Windstar. Much more cargo room than an Explorer, 25mpg. You can't really carry plywood and drywall in an Explorer either, so... Perhaps you should be looking at getting a different vehicle.

Sorry my answer wasn't what you wanted to hear. If you cannot afford gas in an Explorer, you can't afford to make it better on gas either. If you can afford to make it better on gas, don't expect to see any of that money come back to you in gas savings.

 

[colintrax]

You can carry plywood in an explorer? I donno about drywall, haven't tried but I would guess it fits. It might tow a trailer to....
Anyways, I think you guys are missing the point. It's kinda fun to do something "impossible" his title does say project

 

[FIND]

I'm talking about full sheets. Also, it is not impossible to get better mileage out of an Explorer, it just costs money. More money than you will get back in a short time period. I had my first gen getting better than 24mpg in some trips. My 5.0 has been averaging 20, and my best is 22 on one trip. I'm sure I can make it do better, but it is going to cost me a lot more than the OP can afford and I am not going to get the money back any time soon.

 

[colintrax]

That's not true, driving habits is free. Have a smart phone, get one of those obd II things and the app to monitor gas mileage to improve driving habits even more. Porting is free other than gaskets depending how far down you go. Cotten filter pays for itself over replacing paper filters. Full syn (group 4 or 5 is best) oil will improve gas mileage and while it costs more upfront it can also increase oil change intervals. I'm switching to amsoil group 4, gonna change oil every 13,000 miles. Airing tires to 35~40 psi is free. Keeping the truck mud free is mostly free. Removing the back seats is free.
Now obviously some things aren't free and will take awhile to recop the cash. Cat back exhaust will take a minute, lowering will not pay for itself right away. But those can be options later on down the road.

Oh, pretty sure I've put full sheets in the back of the explorer. No promises, but I think I have. I usually buy 12' boards and steel, not plywood

 

[FIND]

Changing filters will never do crap for your fuel mileage. The OEM paper filter flows more air than the stock airtube can flow. Your stock airbox flows just as much air if you put a paper filter in as it does with a cotton filter in, or even as it does with no filter whatsoever. There is a reason the air filter is SO big compared to the inlet on your throttle body. Sellers like K&N trick you by showing those demonstration boxes where they have a couple little filters about the same area of the pipe with the ball in it and show how much more their filter flows, but that is irrelevant, because in real life, the area of the filters are more like 10 times the size of the area of the air tubes.

When I have some time, I'll build a simple flowbench and demonstrate this for everyone.

Porting costs gaskets, so yes, it is cheap (unless you don't have an air compressor and die grinder). But, the very small improvement will still take FOREVER to pay for the cost of it. Driving habits are free, I never disputed that, and that is where I get much of my mileage improvements. Cat backs don't give much improvement for their cost. Lowering your truck is a good investment if you do not need it to be as high as stock ride height. Lowering blocks aren't THAT expensive, a torsion twist is free. It still takes quite a bit of time to pay itself off, especially if you spend a lot of your driving on city streets.

 

[colintrax]

Well lets wait for the OP to describe where he drives and what he uses the truck for. Paper filters don't flow well, not saying its the only restriction in the intake but removing one is a good idea. Not sure if it's accurate, but I've heard the big diffrence in flow is when dirty. The cotten filter flows almost as well dirty as it does clean. I don't mind taking my intake into school to see how well it flows, but it doesn't matter. Pretty well known that a "k&n" will up gas mileage a little. Even if it's .1 mpg, it'll add up.

 

[FIND]

Actually, it is pretty well known that that is a placebo effect. EVEN IF a K&N filter flows more air through the air filter, there is an EVEN BIGGER restriction in your intake than ANYTHING else. That is the butterfly valve in your throttle body. Most of the time, it is only partially open, and it being partially open does not decrease the amount your paper filter can flow. Unless you are driving around at WOT all the time, or at a throttle position where you have less air flow than your engine can suck in all the time, you will never experience an increase in efficiency with any changes to your intake system before your throttle body.

Science. Not just that class you hated in highschool anymore.

Edit: As far as dirty air filters go... Well, change your filter every 15-20k or so miles depending on the conditions where you do your driving, and you never have to worry about that.

Also, I should add. Do you know how long a .5 mpg increase would take to pay off assuming driving 12000 miles a year (the national average) in a vehicle that gets 20mpg, even if you only spend 50 bucks? A whole year. Do you really want to advocate spending 50 bucks for a .1 mpg increase, even if it were true? How about spending much more money for that .5 mpg increase

 

[colintrax]

I'm done.

 

[bse068]

Thank you for the information. I have read thousand of post in this forum regarding the subject of mileage improvements. As an engineer, I realize there are also several different methods that can be used to improve any process. If there is the possibility of improving, it is worth trying. I am not satisfied with the status quo, and believe as others do that can do better than 20-22mpg. I was reading al's posts before he passed, and I still enjoy them to this day. I wish I had gotten to speak with him. It would have been great to share some ideas with him.

I will do what I can do, and just see how much I can improve my mpg.

Thanks for keeping this forum up and running.

 

[colintrax]

You're an engineer who can't afford a 2nd car? Or are you an engineering student like me?