Hi,

What's everyone getting? I just bought the truck and I admit I have been only using it for daily driving so far, about 5 miles each way, maybe a mile of it is freeway and relatively free of traffic. My monitor on the dash shows 7.1 mpg. Full tank range is only about 280 miles on 35 gallon tank and as I drive about half a mile, it always drops a mile in the range. I tried to rev less than 2k rpm and really light on the pedal. I almost wonder if anything is wrong with the truck. I see people are getting almost 11-12 mpg empty and that's like dream mpg for me at this point.

I do have about 300 lbs of sand in the bed but that's about all the load there is.

Any input appreciated. I am willing to try anything to get to that 11-12mpg empty in the city.

Thank you

 

By the way I have f250 6.2 3.73 4x4 short bed cc

 

On our latest trip, I was towing a 23 ft trailer and three days worth of supplies (food, beer, etc) through the Fraser Canyon in BC. I was getting 26 L/100km which is equivalent to about 9.1 MPG (US gallon) while towing.
We left our trailer in Kamloops and returned via the Coquihalla highway (the Highway thru Hell) where I recorded a whopping 15L/100 km or 15.7 MPG.

Generally, on level ground with a trailer I get about 22 or 24L/100 which equals 9.5 or 10 MPG but without a load (mixed town/highway) averages between 12 and 14 MPG.

 

Wow, I wish I was getting that kind of mpg. When I bought the truck, it had 315/70R17 tires, would that make mpg on the meter deceiving? I am getting 18" lariat wheels with 295/70R18. 315 is just too wide honestly. I was thinking of running some seafoam or do intake cleaning if that helps

 

As an addition, we have finished towing a 2008 Honda Accord from west palm beach fla to New York, driving 78-80 mph, rpms were 2000-2200, and we averaged 12.5 mpg. Without using the tow/haul feature. Crossing over I64 from I95 to I81N, I had to get on it pretty good, as it was very mountainous. Still, mileage was above 12 mpg. So far, from New York to bham al, with no towing, we are at 12.9 mpg. So, I would say with yours, something doesn’t appear to be right. Our truck is totally stock- 2016 f 250, 6.2., fx4, crew cab.

 

That's odd....my 2012 is STOCK with 18" tires.
Maybe someone can jump in here because I can't do the math...would smaller tires give a higher or lower reading?

As for the Seafoam...some consider it to be snake oil, others sing its praises...I use it from time to time...your call.

 

2016 F450 with 19.5 wheels, 6.7L. Michelin XDS2 (Excellent all season, excellent on ice and snow, wearing faster than I hoped for).
12-13 MPG City (No load)
17-18 MPG Highway (No Load)

 

driving 5 miles each way... WHAT gas mileage... 7,000 pounds.. does NOT get any gas mileage..

engine warm up time... just kills gas mileage.. even in the summer.
even if you just drive off as soon as engine starts...
its still in cold/warmup mode. and sucks gas.

can you see my signature below..?

 

7.1 mpg unloaded?!? I get better MPG than that towing an 8,000 pound 5th wheel camper..... though only barely at 7.3 MPG. lol. Normal mixed driving in my '99 5.4 ECLB 2wd is 13.x. I know bigger motors and 4x4 don't help mpg, but to get about half of the mileage I do doesn't sound right at all. Gonna do a brain dump below, so stick with me on this one.

Starting with the easy stuff, you could check your air filter and fuel filter and replace them if they're dirty. Similarly, you might grab some MAF cleaner and squirt down your MAF sensor (or whatever sensor it uses to measure the intake air flow). Some good tips in the video below:

You could take a peek at the condition of all of your drive line fluids and change them if you haven't already. Same with checking your tire's air pressure. Unloaded, most of us run around 40-50 psi, but no less than that.

You could also drop a bottle or two of fuel system cleaner in the tank when you fill up. I do that with my vehicles 2-3 times a year and I notice a definite improvement when I do. It mostly just cleans out the fuel injector spray pattern mostly to get a more complete burn.

I wouldn't trust the dash readout. Many times it's a rough estimate at best, but there is a chance it's just wack and you're not actually burning that much gas. Do the math yourself at the gas station to see what you're actually getting.

I would check for binding, dragging brakes, etc. Get all 4 wheels off the ground at the same time and give each wheel a spin. Each of them should take a little bit to get spinning just due to the rotational mass of everything, but should ultimately spin fairly easily without noises or binding anywhere. Spin all 4 tires to check for dragging brakes. You could also check the heat of each rotor when you arrive somewhere by holding your hand close to each rotor. If one feels hotter than the others, it's probably dragging.

Lifts, big tires, body flares, etc absolutely kill MPG mostly due to rotational mass and aerodynamics.

 

Just returned from ND yesterday, 600 miles one way. 12, 6.2 2 WD extended long. 16.1 by the time I arrived. Cool weather so no AC, went speed limit and it was 80mph all the way across SD, 75 in ND. Return trip was disaster on mileage. 500 miles of pouring rain and cross winds so strong thought it was going to rip soft cover off the box, semi's and van's leaning over. Slowed to around 70 but mileage kept dropping till it was 12.6. Winds let up along with rain last 100 and mileage started creeping back up till I was home. Had about 8 or 9 hundred in box on way there. But everyday driver is Mercury Mariner that I drive like Grandma and I've got it up to 19 now. Three ton billboard with a 6.2 does that good for me is good any day.

 

I see. I took some freeway to get home today and it improved to 7.6 but still not up to par. Surprisingly, vs range and mpg on the meter. gas gauge only has dropped a quarter since tuesday so maybe it's really a lie o meter.

I will do front, rear diff and transfer case fluid drain & fill. tranny drain & fill and fuel filter this weekend see how that helps. I was also going to do intake cleaning to see if that helps if it cleans carbon out

 

Have you tried resetting the lie o meter? Maybe it's skewed badly by some crazy idle time orrrrr something? There is no way you should be getting that poor of mileage. I'm getting 11mpg combined city/Hwy with no towing and driving my truck like an animal with 295/60/20's. If I baby it I can get 12-12.5 and it's the truck in my sig. crew, longbox, lariat. Heavy as can be, biggish tires, heavy foot and 130,000+ miles to boot. If your gauge isn't off for some reason something is definetly wrong.

 

I was hauling 360# of sand all winter long until today. I get like 340 per full tank. The thing says 10.8 but i dont know the last time it was reset. Was 11.3 or so when I got it almost 3 years ag o. Some days are heavy foot, others Im easy. Depending on stupidity of traffic

 

I do a reset of my fuel meter... at every fill up...

you want a running record... Write it down in a book

I average 12.0 miles per gallon... in the city.... 15-16 freeway.. but I have 2 wheel drive..

towing with 9,000 pound trailer.. I get 8-10... at 167,000 miles on truck..
but that is freeway..

 

I only have put 4125 miles on my '16 since I got it but do hand calculate and keep a log of every tank.

Over 4125 miles:
Average: 10.73 MPG
Best tank: 13.22 MPG @ 368 miles of mostly highway at 65-70 MPH
Worst tank: 7.23 MPG @ 110 miles of towing a 7500 pound travel trailer from sea level over a 4000' mountain pass and back down to 1900'

Notes: I bought my truck in Sept. '18. Since then, the winter was bad where we actually saw quite a bit of snow for our area and the truck was in 4wd. The truck is not my daily driver so most of it's use is running around town/country roads. In the 4125 miles, 21% of those miles have been towing my 7,500 pound travel trailer. Also, western WA is very hilly and the times I have taken the truck for long runs, has been going from sea level, over a 3000' mountain pass and back again.

Overall, I'm happy with it. I'm sure if I were able to run from Seattle to Portland and back empty, I would see a much better return than 13.XX MPG.