Is there anything for chips or modules that will work on a 1992 f250 460 that will increase mileage? Performance is not a priority here. I've looked around and never found anything promising. Any help would be great.

 

Chips are wasted on these trucks since there is no boost, they do respond to good old fashoned hot rodding and milage increases will come with TQ increases. One thing you can do for free is advance the timing, this is the main thing the chips that are available for these trucks do, but you don't have to advance the timing so much you have to run premium. Otherwise make sure the motor is in top condition, no codes present, and drive appropriately. If your truck has low gearing(high numerically) this will restrict your top speed on the highway, with 4.10s and stock tires best milage is going to be achieved at under 65mph. That should produce numbers in the low teens, but city milage is still going to be single digits, this isn't an econobox after all.

 

I,ve got 3.55 gears with stock tires and i currently average 13.5-14.5 including city driving. My best mileage was almost 16 going around 80 mph with the a/c on.

 

WOW... consider yourself lucky, there are a lot of guys with 302 trucks that can't match those numbers. You have reasonable gearing so if you can restrain yourself to something like 70mph on the highway it should do even better.

 

i wouldnt mind getting a couple more out of it though. If there is anything that i can do to help it then it would be greatful. Being 17 i wouldn't mind putting some money out for a gain that will help save in the long run. I might have to be careful because it has 390,000 kms on it. I live in canada so 70 mph or less isn't a problem.

 

Oh...... so are you using that silly imperial gallon to calculate your milage numbers then?

 

yeah. I hate that supid stupid system. It is a pain in the *** to figure it out. So in american gallons it would be around 12-13 mpg if i am not mistaken.

 

Yeah.. though that might be the case, 12-13mpg sounds more like it. You can try advancing the timing, that's what the chips primarilly do on these trucks anyway only they advance it so much you have to run premium which effectively eliminates any money you would save with better milage. Stock base timing is 10deg, you can try going to 12 or 13 deg and then listen for pinging under load, if you hear any back it off a degree and try again. Opening up the exhaust will also increase TQ and milage, and keep the tires inflated to at least 40psi. If you can restrain yourself from accelerating hard off lights and cruise at a constant and conservative speed on the highway the truck can get into the 15-16mpg range, but that's about it. If you wanted 30mpg you should have bought a car.

 

I know ill never get that much but a goal for 20mpg might be realistic. I have done exhaust by getting rid of the cat so i bought a flange, 3" inlet dual 2.5" outlet thrush glasspack, bought some 27" pipes that point downward and called it quits. Doing that and a tonneau cover got me another 3.5-4 mpg in your system. More then 5 up here. What do i have to do to advance the timing?

 

You need a timing light, start the motor and let it idle, loosen the distributor bolt just enough so it'll turn, pull the spout plug on the TFI harness, aim the light at the crank balancer and rotate the distributor until you see the desired timing mark on the crank balancer. When you get it where you want snug the bolt down on the distributor and replace the spout plug. You may have to clean the balancer to make the marks easier to see, I also rub some chalk into them to make them more visible.

 

Wouldn't that have the same effect as getting sprockets for the timing chain set and changing the retard from 6 to 0 like on 72 and earlier blocks?

 

Thanks for you help. I set the timing to 12 or 13 not completely clear to see but the 0 is gone on ten which should be bang on. Man that torque is incredible compared to before. I hope i get some more mileage out of it now and thanks for your help

 

Yeah it's amazing the difference a little more timing makes, it should definitely help the milage some. Ignition timing isn't the same as cam timing, advancing or retarding the cam moves the whole engine powerband up or down a few hundred rpms, while ignition timing can change the shape and height of the powerband to a certain extent.

 

ok. Probably not related but every once in a while when i hammer it it the tranny has to shift in or out of 2nd it doesn't always do it now. I first noticed it the other day after i washed the front end of my truck including the frame underneath but shortly after i noticed that when it happens its like hitting neutral when i go to hit 2nd or to leave second. getting into overdrive isn't a problem. I think the tranny is starting to go downhill.