4.2 L V6 Gas Milage
 

Hello, i have just recently purchased a 2002 ford F150 4x4 sport w/ a 4 speed + overdrive manual transmission. it was used, and had 2600 miles on it. I was wondering what the average listed gas milage is for these trucks. i drive to work and back every day, a 60 mile round trip. i drive 70 mph the entire way. i average 10 mpg on the highway and in the city. i have the bed cover on correctly and am not too heavy on the accelerator. i purchased the 4.2 L because i thought that i would get fairly good milage, and from what i have read most people do. as far as i know, everything is stock. at 70Mph, i turn about 2300 Rpms. why is the gas milage so poor and what can i do to fix this problem.

Well, I'd say mine averages around 14 - 16 everywhere. I have a 2WD though. A 4x4 is going to get a little worse mileage I'd think, but 10 seems a bit low. As far as fixing it, you got me.

Wow ! 10 mpg is not right. I have a 4.2 / 5 speed / 2wd - all stock and get 22 mpg out on the highway and 19 around town.

I'd definitly get it checked over from the dealer since it is still under warranty.

10 is pretty bad, even my 347 stroker gets better gas mileage than that =). My 01 4.2 manual and 3.55 gears gets 20 consistantly. Try cleaning your MAF sensor wires, should pick up about 5 mpg at least if that's the problem. I once had a '96 Cougar that got 14 mpg, replaced the MAF sensor(before I knew you could clean the wires) and it got 24 mpg all the time, lol, sometimes it's just a simple little problem.

mine gets crappy mileage too dont feel bad, my boy has the 4.6L 8cyl and gets better mileage than me with the 5-speed v-sicks...grrrr im pissed that i got this pile now

gas milage
 

well,
I have a 1998 f-150 2wd. I get about 14 miles to the gal. I am very heavy on the gas, and do alot of highway miles. I was hoping for better gas milage when I bought mine; if I had it to do over I would have gone with an 8cyl.
Rick

amen Rick. hindsight is 20/20

I know how to fix your problem. I have a 99 xl 4x4 4.2, mine was hard on fuel first when I got it, the problem was a bad mass air flow sensor, the one in your air intake, looks like a needle, positioned vertically in the tube. These sometimes malfunction and you will know it, your mileage goes down considerably. ford taurus, also has this as a common problem.

97 4.2 2wd 5sp bad milage
 

Now there's a good tip. "check the MAF" I have also been dis'ed by my poor Milage. Bought this truck with 30,000 mi on it and extected 17 plus with stock tires and 3:55 rear. Best yet is 15.5 with hwy/fwy 30 miles ea way. Put in new Platium 2 plugs and an AirRaid air filter better power but milage unchanged. ok a little heavy footed.

97 4.2 2wd 5sp bad milage
 

Now there's a good tip. "check the MAF" I have also been dis'ed by my poor Milage. Bought this truck with 30,000 mi on it and extected 17 plus with stock tires and 3:55 rear. Best yet is 15.5 with hwy/fwy 30 miles ea way. Put in new Platium 2 plugs and an AirRaid air filter better power but milage unchanged. ok a little heavy footed.

I just got a 2001 2wd and on my first tank I got about 12mpg. I admit I got on the gas a few times to test the power and I live in some hills. But 12 seemed a bit low to me since I we expecting 18city/20hwy.

mpg 4.2
 

like many others I too opted for the 4.2 thinking the mpg would be better than the V8.. not soo. I cant get any better than 14 to 15.5 new plugs,new wires and a k&n filter did not help make a difference either. I plan to try new cats and muffler next. sucks spending all this money just to try and save a few bucks a month on mileage.. oh well its only money...

Thats super crazy...you can tell from my mods I have spent a little bit, but im right at 18 street, 20-21 highway

i get crap for milage because mine foot is always into pretty hard!!!

I usually get 18-19 around town and 20-21 on the highway.

20 mpg last tank. I tried to take it easy to see how good i could do. Did not go over 65 on the highway. Tank was 60% highway, 40% in town. Not bad.

Wow...There were only like 4 or 5 posts when I posted....Whats the deal with all the "new" ones that werent there before?

THE PROBLEM MOST OF US HAVE WITH GAS MILEAGE RELATES TO BREAK -IN OF THE ENGINE. THE BEST WAY TO DO IT IS TO RUN IT HARD WHEN U BUY IT NEW, GET THE OIL CHANGED AFTER THE FIRST 100 MILES OR SO AND PRESTO YOU HAVE A GUTSIER ENGINE AND NOT A THIRSTY ONE.:-X01

4.2 guzzler
 

I had a 2000 F150 2wd with 3.55 gears and a 5spd. I had crap for milage. 95% of my driving was on highway. I was lucky if I got about 16mpg on the stupid thing. My 79 4x4 with a 400 does better than that (18.5mpg). I kept driving it had it checked out three times and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. It had lots of power, I beat some punk in a Cavalier with it. After Ford wouldn't do anything about it I got rid of it. Yes i have heard of guys getting better milage with V8's, if you talk to the dealers they'll tell you that the supercrews get the best milage. Personally I think the motor is to small for the size of truck that its pushing.
TMK

How do you know what type of mileage you are getting? Before i got my truck i had a 1989 Lincoln Towncar with a 5 liter V-8... it had a digital readout that told me i was getting about 17.8 mpg. There is definitly no digital readout for my truck.

Beau

Easy math Beau. Fill up your tank until the first time it stops filling. Set trip-o-meter to read 0. Drive for a while. Take note of mileage, and then refill tank.

Divide miles by gallons pumped back in to be full.

IE 250 miles traveled, divided by 5 gallons gas to fill back up = 50 mi per gallon. No, you will NEVER see that from an f-150.

Garrett

miles driven
_______________ = MPG
Gal of gas used


Fill your tank up, reset your odometer. Drive 250 to 300 miles and fill up. Divide the miles you drove by the number of gallons of fuel you used,( number of gal. on 2nd fill up). The answer is your MPG.
Do this a few times for accuracy.
fishon49er

awesome... easier than i thought it would be. I just filled up and i have already driven some, but i didnt reset the trip meter... so i guess i will wait until next tank.

Hey, 4.2 truck drivers can do math?! HOLY CREEAP! I'm impressed.

Beau: Thou art not a fool anymore I assume... true4.2 (inspired by Yoda)

college math dont scare me none.... its the english that gets me!:)

haha... j/k guys... I'm literate even though im a product of public schooling.

don't forget to subtract any milage driven in reverse, ie: backing out of your driveway.
fishon49er

now your're bringing back memories from that commercial. you know the one were the guy picks up his date and the drives backwards the whole time to reduce the mileage on his car!!!!!
lmao

I don't know how much a difference it makes, but my 2wd supercab gets 18.7 and I drive it 70-75 mph on the interstate 60 miles round trip per day. It recently fell to about 14 mpg, but I since then tuned it up adding a k&n filter, replaced plugs, wires, and coil pack for the surge problem I had. Now it is back up. What rear end to you have and have you changed to bigger tires?

14500k miles, 2002, manual tranny.
Bought used and I am on 3rd gas tank
17.52miles/gallon average of first 2 tanks.
The second tank was a little higher I think because I changed the oil, oil filter, air filter, tranny oil, diff. oil, and checked the tire pressure everyday(now I check it every week).

5 speed w/ 3.55 rear end. XL Crew Cab. Consistently get 17.5 combined. I avg 75 mph on the Interstate.

Im getting crap milage at the moment, time to change oil and etc. Hoping to get back to 18 city, 21 hwy

Oh yeah, I mostly do city driving. Traffic here in Austin, Tx is a ...well you know.

I use the same size tires, and have done nothing to the rear end. But I did change the plugs and wires. I am back up to about 14.5 mpg.

Driving habits have a lot ot do with it. It doesn't matter if you drive 60 mph on the interstate, if you floor it every time you accelerate it will be crap. When I first got my exhaust, I got on it alot to hear the rumble, oooops. My mileage sucked, I know there may be other factors, but how quickly you try to get to cruising speed will affect your mileage more than your cruising speed. At least to a point. Just my .02:D

I agree big time with travlnman. The 4.2 seems real sensitive to the degree of lead in the right foot, both during acceleration and cruising. I have gotten over 20 mpg driving around 60 mph on the Interstate. My time is worth more than 3 mpg to me.

Im not sure how my mpg is but i can go from Odessa to Other side of San Antonio which is about 350 miles and still got a quarter tank in my 97 4.2

Hey Chingao,
I am from Odessa and I now live in Austin. The last time I measured I think it was 325 miles from Odessa to Austin going through the Brady area.

Brady; is that like that "bunch" on TV?
:-X04

I'm like that guy on that commercial; my right foot is bigger then my left,thus,causing a heavy gas pedal! :-X05
Highway,16-18
City, 14-15

JUST A NOTE: WHEN I BOUGHT MY 4.2 THE V8 WAS LISTED AT 1MORE MPG THAN THE 4.2. NOW HAVE A AIRRAID INTAKE, POWERAID THROTTLE BODY SPACER, AND GIBSON STAINLESS CAT BACK. I CAN'T SEEM TO GET LESS THAN 16.5 ANYWHERE, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. I GOT ABOUT 12 WHEN I FIRST BOUGHT IT.
BOUGHT A BUG SHIELD, AND DROPPED HIGHWAY MILAGE BY 2MPG. THINK IT RUINS THE AERODYNAMICS, BUT I LIKE THE LOOKS. HEADERS WILL BE NEXT.

I get about the same as BlueOvalFitter. Only once have I gotten less than 15 or so mpg and that was pulling a 8x10 Uhaul trailer at about 70 mph going from Jacksonville Fl to Austin Tx. The first tank of gas, I didn't even get 200 miles and I was at a 1/4 of a tank. After that, it was somewhat better but around 14 mpg the rest of the way. But normally it is around 16-18 mpg.

I'll sure find out what my gas mileage is with my new job that I am starting next week where I will probably put anywhere from 500 to a 1000 miles on it a week. I'll probably be wishing I had a 4 cyl or something after a few weeks.