Hi there! I'm a new guy, have an '01 Econoline with 167,000 miles. We bought it off the Ford B-lot when it was six months old with 12,000 miles, so we've driven it quite a bit. It's actually my father's van, he bought it when he used to be a traveling furniture rep years ago, and now his commute to and from work is about a mile each way, so he jus gets dropped off and picked up, and leaves the van for me to drive (my personal cars are a '68 Town & Country and a '70 Chrysler 300- the T&C is in pieces, the 300 isn't exactly reliable, plus the rust in the wheelhousings don't make it fun to drive in the rain).

I've been driving it pretty heavily for a few years now, and I do regular maintenance to it, but what absolutely kills me about this thing, far more than it being slow, is the gas milage. It gets maybe 3 MPG better than my 35 year old 440 powered 4,500 lb Chrysler does. Which, unlike the van, manages to move out of it's own way with relative ease (when it runs right).


Is there a way to get better gas milage out of this motor? I've seen a few chips available, and an underdrive pulley, but are any of these things worthwhile? What works, what doesn't?

Thanks for any advice!

 

Not sure what MPG you are getting, but the 4.2 in a van, driven hard, is not going to return good MPG numbers.

Too many laws of physics working against you

 

I get around 16-17. I don't drive it "hard", I just drive it a lot. I try to accelerate slowly, stay at the same RPM when travelling down the freeway, etc. And I realize it has the aerodynamics of a schoolhouse. But I figured I'd just ask if there was anything that might help. I see that there's tuning chips, cold air intakes, and underdrive pulleys available for the 4.2 in F-150s, which I imagine would work in the van, but I don't know what really does any good and what doesn't.

 

Sorry, for reasons I do not understand, I thought I read in your post where you drove it hard.
My brain sometimes hiccups

The MPG you are getting is not all that bad. The rear end you have (well the truck, not you) can be a factor in how the 4.2 "feels".

It's a decent engine, but certainly not overpowered when it comes to moving a van around.

I had a complete air intake system on my 2000 and now a K&N filter on my current '05. Neither saw any noticeable MPG improvement as a result.

Underdrive pulley might help a little.

If you have larger tires, than can hurt.

Most chips, to get one burned that will do much to help you, will require switching to premium fuel. Consider that in the overall equation.

Oh well, I guess you might just have to grin and bear it.


OBTW - nice to have you here at FTE. Hope you enjoy it.

 

Tuners can improve gas milage. This one would work with your van: http://motorhaven.autoanything.com/performance-chips/60A1718A0A0.aspx

 

for reference a 99 150 5 spd manual supercab shortbox gets about 16 mpg (imperial) city or highway

 

06 auto gets 15-17mpg (mostly 15-16mpg) city and 20-22 highway.......in a F 150 highway means freeway, no stops....otherwise 15.

I put a K and N filter in, no gains, use synthetic oil, I prefer it because the engine seems hard on the oil. But the truck runs well, I do not beat it. Ohhhhh......here in January (our coldest month) the mph will go down to 11-12....and I do not idle the truck, just start it up, let the rpms fall a little and drive.

 

of course your gonna get betterMPG from a V6 than a V8.

 

I've heard that the V-8s get pretty much the same mpg. the 4.2 has fewer valves, pushrods. The 5.4 is rated the same to 1mpg less. Who knows with a load.

 

there really is not a big difference between the V6 and V8 except about 70 hp. but theres no reason to own a V8 if your not using it for towing ton weights. Im just sayin that you should just use the truck that is right for you.