Hello everyone and thanks in advance for any assistance you may be able to offer me.

I'm currently in the market for a used F250, preferrably an extanded cab with a full 8' bed.

Up in the air is either the 5.4 V8 gasoline engine or the 7.3 Turbo Diesel. I'd like to know what to expect mileage wise. I'd be driving this truck a whole heck of a lot for work, from Houston to Dallas and back once a week as well as around town for daily work and need something very reliable and something that gets reasonable gas mileage, something that can take a beating and keep on ticking as they say.

I've talked to a few guys selling their 7.3's, one said their's get's up to 21 highway with a controller and/or a fuel box, whatever that is. He said the fuel box is no longer made if that gives you any clue as to what that is.

Can I also do something about fuel mileage if I were to get the 5.4 gas motor? I'd like to believe that since the motor itself is smaller than the 7.3 than it would get better fuel ecomony. Is that correct?

Thanks guys.

 

my experience is that a 4 wheel drive F250 or F350 with 5.4 engine auto trans and 4.10 gears will get 12-14 mpg combination driving. 11-12 mpg in town, and 14-15 mpg on the highway.
the same truck with 7.3 engine will get 13-15 mpg in town and 15-17 mpg on the highway.
the only difference is that the 7.3 has more seat of the pants power and torque than the 5.4.

 

A 7.3 idi and a 5.4 v8 are kind of in 2 totally different eras of trucks....sure you don't mean a 5.8?

 

click pic for details.

my typical looking combination;

the turbo part your asking about is new though.just added.so FE has been primarily as n/a thus far.
hope this helps.with a standard bed,and srw,you should be able to blow my economy records of of the water of course.

 

i would RUN AS FAST AS I CAN from a 5.4L just b/c of the spark plugs.

Edit: were you talking to 7.3L IDI owners or 7.3L powerstroke owners?

 

the only time "spark plug issues" become an issue is when the idiot that puts the spark plug in does not know what he is doing.

i have never had one blow out, because i put them in torqued to the recommended 11 to 15 ft.lbs.
under 11 they loosen up and blow out. over 15 and you strip the threads and they blow out.

 

i was refering to when they seize into the head.

 

These are PowerStrokes if they have a controller on them.

 

So the fuel box must go right by the flux capacitor, right?

 

pretty sure that is the correct location.

 

for the 5.4s, they had a certain few years that were prone to blowing out spark plugs, and a different few years with the infamous 2-piece spark plugs that are prone to leaving their bottom half in the head when removed. both would be wise to avoid.

one important thing for the OP to consider is what he plans to be hauling in this truck. my diesel e350 weighs 8000 and gets a consistent 14-15MPG with plenty of room to improve that, as it currently has a c6 and no turbo.

at the end of the day, a diesel will beat a gas motor any day, assuming its set up with appropriate gear ratios. this is because diesel fuel contains so much more energy per gallon than gas does.

note that if you are getting a powerstroke, injectors and other maintenance items are EXPENSIVE compared to our older diesels

 

x2 with what everyone has said, i went 360 miles(found out on Google maps) from missoula to billings, doing 65 the whole way(with two passes in between) and only used ~15 gallons of fuel, i filled up with 15.5(still have the receipt from it for memory) and after calculations, i got 22 mpgs....