What is the typical mileage I should be seeing with this van? It's a 2000 E350 extended 244k miles with wheelchair lift. It's not a high-top though and it only has the rear row of seats in it not seating for 15. It has a 2" body lift and the floor section at the doors was cut-out and lowered. My first drive which was mostly highway I got 13.17mpg. My next fill-up was 11.72mpg and that was mostly city driving. I was expecting 16-18mpg range since that seems doable for the trucks. It was sitting for a few years so I did the fluids and batteries etc. Does it have to "learn" it's fuel curves again like a gas does? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

A few more details might help with responses.

Tires OE or taller / smaller?

Just checking, how was the mileage calculated? By the fill & odometer, or the computer display (presuming the van has one)?

What is the rear gear ratio?


Toward the computer learning driving behavior, do not recall where it had any behavioral learning to it. Am sure a better expert will correct me if this not the case.

 

The tires are 245s, so basically stock. I did the fuel mileage by calculating miles/gallons. First time was at 105 miles, second was 204.3 miles and topped off at each fill-up. Idk what the gear ratio is, I'll have to look into it. I will add this. When it's idling, the rpms will slowly climb until it's humming at a pretty good clip. There's no tach so I don't know where exactly it's at. When I step on the brake though it drops back down to what sounds like the normal idle, but will slowly climb right back up after a minute. That might point to what's causing it or could be something else totally different. I did read about the exhaust back pressure valve having issues so I'll try to check on that as well.

 

Best I’ve seen was 21. Normal is around 16/18 for mixed driving

 

Truck in sig gets 14-15 mixed, 8-11 towing, best ever 19.2 at 65mph on a flat interstate.

Good way to maximize MPG is to check for and seal any boost leaks (search for boost leak detector) replace leak-prone up pipe donuts with bellowed uppies, and wear a really light shoe on your right foot. For now I'd just keep collecting data and see if the MPGs changes to conditions. Only 2 data points is not much. Also keep in mind winter fuel is blended to prevent gelling and that drops 1-ish off my MPG. Cleaning the EBP sensor and tube is a good idea on a new-to-you vehicle. If it's clogged that will hurt MPGs. FWIW getting a tune or chip on it will not do much to help MPGs. More fun to drive, yessiree.

When cold the engine will turn up the idle RPM to help with warm up, that's normal. Also closes the EBPV and you'll hear a hiss from the exhaust. None of that should happen once it is at operating temp.

 

It's cold outside, that explains why it's going into high idle. Once it warms up outside it won't do that again during spring, summer and fall unless it's cold. That is completely normal, it's a high idle feature and is the vans way of keeping or getting itself warm. During the winter you're going to get worse mileage then during the summer because of winter blend fuels and idle time.

 

So it's normal? It does it even when it's warmed up and at operation temperature

 

I haven't pulled the doghouse and check on that yet but I will, thanks. It's currently 0°f here in the mitten so it might not happen today lol

 

Yes it's normal for it to idle up, even when it's up to operating temps once you leave it idle for a few. I drove from the south east corner of Michigan to Detroit hauling a car hauler this time of year to get another truck, I left mine idling and went and made a deal and a couple mins into talking to the guy my truck went to high idle and he asked what that noise was and it sounded like there was a jet taking off outside (mine was straight piped). You're from Michigan also I'm guessing

 

Yes, also from Michigan. It was -5f this morning so I didn't take the van. I put anti-gelling stuff in but I didn't want to risk getting stuck on the side of the road. I'm hoping the mileage comes up. I have a gas SD that gets 12mpg so it's cheaper to drive as of now :-(

 

Be careful cleaning the EBPS tube. Specifically removing it. Mine was seized on and when I removed it, it removed the threads from the fitting in the manifold too. Now I have to get a new tube, and a new fitting.

 

Don't know if vans have the same issues as the pick-ups with filling up the fuel tank, but to be sure that it is full you need to "burp" the tank until you see fuel in the filler neck.

 

Idk this is the first I heard of one. But mine does have a rear tank behind the axle with a long filler tube. I filled it the same way both times.

 

Thanks for the suggestion! Don’t want to do that

 

Ok so this is the latest number. 254.4miles at 13.24mpg with about 75% highway and 25% city driving. So that's 2 fill-ups with 13mpg and 1 at 11mpg. Not the upper teens I was expecting lol. Will mileage drop as the injectors get more miles on them? I believe they are the originals with 244k on them.