Hey guys, I've been driving a '94 302ci Clubwagon w/ wheelchair lift for a year and the recent warm weather has me looking for ways to improve the mileage. Ford's claim back then was 12 city & 17 hiway. Virtually all my driving is city and I get 10mpg on a 225 mile sample. I've had the snorkel removed for the past year and started to wonder if I should put it back on?

I know it's hard to see here but the snorkel divides into 3 pipes as it feeds the filter box. Does anyone know if Ford is trying to create some vortex like air movement? From what I've read, the huge intake manifold is "tuned" for a more efficient intake charge. Perhaps they need to work together.
I mentioned in another thread about mixing 2 cycle marine oil with the gasoline for a top cylinder lube and mileage booster. I've been running that for a couple weeks now and gas prices have dropped so I top'd off my tank and ran the numbers. 13mpg for a 230 mile sample but I had a 40 mile hiway trip included. Moving in the right direction but I realize you can't move all that weight on air.

 

Do they have ethanol (E10) fuel at the pumps as unleaded regular where you fuel up? That would explain some of the difference you're seeing. Gasoline has more BTU than alcohol, and they probably use straight gasoline for the mileage tests. Just WAG.

 

Aftermarket exhaust will help. The factory exhaust restricts backflow which makes the engine run hotter, costing fuel mileage. There are also aftermarket heat shields that can go under the hood to help it run cooler in there.

 

I've heard of people replacing their direct-drive fans with electric fans and improving MPG as well. Not sure if that would make a noticeable difference on these vans or not.

 

Same ethanol gas from the same store. Good point though.

 

You are splitting hairs bro. 10mpg compared to 12 or 13 mpg is not valuable. Realistically the only way that matters is if you drive a lot of miles. A whole lot.

300miles with 10mpg at $2.20/gallon will cost you $66.
The same trip with 12mpg will cost you $55.

If I saw $11 on the ground I would pick it up. But I wouldn't drive across town for it.

On top of all that: you aren't likely to gain 2mpg. By all means; seek and correct problems- tune up, tire pressures, maintenance, etc.
But you aren't going to find a magic bean that Ford couldn't find when they made your van.

how many miles do you put on your van each week?

 

My van is about the same on fuel mileage. The Gov. rated mine (E150 302 4spd auto) at 12/16 but right now I am getting around 10 with combination driving. I tuned mine up 5k miles ago. At that time I had bought a motorcraft O2 sensor, TPS, and EGR valve but didn't replace them. Hopefully I will be replacing them and cleaning the upper intake in the near future as well as checking out back pressure at the cat.

I don't know how much difference there is in the 88 and your 94 but if any of the work I do improves mileage, I will let you know. It seems to me if the TPS is not set or working properly, but not enough to throw a code, it could affect mileage. Same with the o2 and other parts.

Can you get real time readout with a scanner or program on the 94? IF so, maybe that would help you fine tune something..

Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada
Will tell you where the stations are near you that sell non-ethanol fuel. It there is more then one place near you, their prices might differ. A new QT near me was selling it at just a few cents higher then regular E-10 but went up on the price by 40 cents..

 

Mine gets measurably better MPG when I run ethanol free fuel. But I've done the math and the Miles Per Dollar isn't favorable.

 

10% ethanol = 10% worse mileage

 

I don't think it's THAT bad, but it's definitely noticeable.

 

My fuel economy increase is about 10% with ethanol-free. I usually get 11-12, and with ethanol-free I get high 13's.

 

sadly it is.

 

So people running e85 only get 15% as far on a tank of fuel as they would with gasoline?

 

I would think so but I haven't seen a real test on that yet.

 

i think he is giving you a hard time. Indicating an 85% reduction in fuel economy based on running fuel that is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.

Its not a good point though because comparing E85 to gasoline with "up to 10% ethanol" is like comparing apples and tennis shoes. E85 vehicles are specifically made to run on e85. Whereas any gasoline engine can run on 100% gasoline or gasoline mixed with ethanol.