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My '96 F350 Dually 2wd ....90,000 original miles.....5 speed 4:10 rear.........11' mechanics box with a service crane and a large welder mounted on top of the box ..........weighs just south of 13,000lbs all the time.........10-11 MPG on the highway.........still better than my '97 F-Superduty Quigley conversion....5 speed 460.......5:13 diffs...........weighs just over 7000 lbs empty.......flatbed.........7 MPG on the highway LOL
So interesting thing, the water pump went bad on the truck, dumping 3 gallons of coolant in the parking lot. I replaced that, and now my mileage has gone from just under 11 to an average of right about 14 on my cold, short jaunts to work and back. The digital readout is also fairly accurate to this change as well. (no, I don't use that for definite #'s...) So I guess another thing to add to your repertoire of knowledge is that a worn out bearing on the water pump could knock down your mileage pretty significantly!
No, there has been no changes in my driving.
No, there has been no changes in the weather.
No, I haven't replaced or swapped out any other parts at all since asking about it.
I don't know about the torque converter locking or not. What happens is from take-off, the shift from 1st to 2nd gears is very rough. Under load it slams hard. While towing it does the same thing into 3rd gear, though I don't feel anything in that shift when there's no trailer behind me.
I always have OD off while towing, to try to make my trans last a little longer.
In Michigan? I've been to your beautiful state (at least in the summer it's nice), and you have no significant hills there. As long as the torque converter is locking, I'd use OD. Dropping out of OD is for mountain climbing - steep grades much longer than that bridge to Canada. One other reason for dropping out of OD would be a profound headwind.
Alright good to know. That's what I gathered from all my reading, but just took the precaution just in case. Thanks Tugly. I've had a couple people look at the trans and all seem to think that with the way it's slipping, I'm down a lot of power. It's going to be $2500 to rebuild. I'm going to have Espers here in Fowlerville MI do the job.
I had a slow decline in mpg in my F250. About 2 mpg over a few years. I didn't drive the truck much and never really looked into it. I now have that engine in my F450. I recently replaced the fuel filter and noticed an increase in mpg sometime this winter. It had been ran a long time. Does not make sense but mpg came up during this time. A few weeks ago I also replaced the air filter that I had blown out several to clean with a new one.
Brandon, I just now saw your post, and I changed my fuel filter 2 days ago. My old one was as black as the plastic around the paper... Maybe that'll help too haha.
Just spoke with my mechanic yesterday and he thinks I'm missing 2nd gear and it's going straight to 2nd lock-up (lock-in? Idk...). Once I'm able to get that taken care of hopefully I'll be in even better shape.
I'm also going to build my boost leak detector, since I feel like I should be getting more than 17 psi when the pedal is on the floor, right? Or could the trans be contributing to that factor? Everything under the hood from what I understand is stock. Other than the banks 6-gun, which doesn't increase the boost significantly.
The truck runs incredibly well, but being owned by 2 diesel mechanics before my I'm sure that it's been properly taken care of. Starts with 1 gp cycle at -10 degrees without much white smoke, which I understand is a rarity.
Remember alot of people lie lie lie about MPG. You also have to consider winter vs summer fuel mix. Miles on the truck, terrain, stop and go traffic, and tires. My MPG start to decline when my oil is due for a change.
A slipping transmission can reduce MPG alot. I got 20 one time hyper milein in my old stock excursion and I have had over 30 7.3 powered vehicles.
I noticed that MPGs quickly declined with the new CPS design and low sulfur diesel
I have to protest the alleged winter fuel thing. Based on staring at numbers on the Superduty alleged planet killer and the Prius with the electronic guilty conscience on the dash, winter driving diminishes fuel economy about the same percent under both scenarios. I don't think they sell winter electrons.
I'm stone-cold convinced winter fuel economy is hampered by:
Reduced air temperature going into the engine, reducing its efficiency.
Increased air density of the cooler air offers more wind resistance on the road.
The computer fuels the vehicle differently when cold.
We frequently drive differently in the winter - many of us allowing more warmup time.
I've had good economy with winter fuel - but I had to have a jump in air temperature to get there.
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