anybody with advice on ways to get a little better gas milage on my 89 f350 4x4 crew cab it has a three speed auto c6 trans with a 460 in it and 86,000 miles on original engine. i currently get 9 miles to the gallon. i dont expect to much but 2 or 3 miles more would be great
thanx again,
Hans

 

I've got an '89 F250, 460, C6 automatic, 4wd, 4:10 gears and a recently rebuilt motor. (basically the same as you have)

The good news is both of our truck are TANKS! They're big, heavy duty, will pull a freight train, and haul anything you can load in it.

Bad news is you ain't gettin' any better mileage. Learn to live with it. I'm getting 9 mpg on a GOOD day!! I've put $800 in a custom exhaust (headers, 2.5" duals out the back) and I picked up NOTHING! This is why my commuter vehicle is a GEO Metro!!


The only thing you can do, is change the rear gears to something lower (3:73 maybe?) but you'll loose some of your low end towing torque. You could put in an automatic overdrive tranny or bolt on an auxillary overdrive unit (Gear Venders), but your wallet will suffer GREATLY!! and you'll only pick up a couple mpg.

Don't feel too bad... a buddy of mine has a new 1 ton duelly Chevy with a 5 speed manual and he only get 11 MPG on a good day! (and he's making huge payments on the thing)

 

Check out FOUR WHEELER magazine! They have a multi-issue article call "Project MPG". Test vehicle is a crew duallie with 460. Very good info for as much or as little as you want to spend. Cool tape and a K&N filter is the cheapes hop up for mpg and horses so far.

August 1999 is part two of the series with the air filter testing. September is already out also (i don't have it, but scanned it at the store), dealing with variuos exhaust systems.

send a mail if you need more info, not my normal bulletin board.

 

I have a 89 F250 similar to yours with approx. milage except mine is a 2WD. My milage was terrible 4.5 towing, 7.0 empty. My tailpipes were black and sooty and the plugs were the same. I change three sensors: O-2 (near converter), water temp (right of distributer) and air temp sensor (behind water temp sensor a few inches). If you do the work you have less than $100. in parts. This cured my problem. I then added headers and dual exhaust for more towing power along with a K & N filter. I now get 7.0 towing 9,000 lbs. over 5,000' elevation and 12 MPG. empty. One other thing that a Ford service adviser told me was the "fuel pressure regulator" can go bad or the vacuum line running to it will develope a leak. This will give excessive fuel pressure and make the truck run rich causing poor fuel milage. NAPA sells new regulators for about $50. or they sell a pressure gauge kit that hooks directly up to your Ford to check pressure for the same price. At idle your fuel pressure should be about 33 psi a bad regulator can run it up over 40 (check with your Ford dealer to double check these pressures...I'm getting them out of an after-market book). I haven't checked mine yet but this test is next on my list.

 

Hey, Go to www.performanceunlimited.com projectmpg you will be impressed! I put on a Jacobs omni magnum ignition and got 2 mpg now i will try some of the improvements in that web page . They get these improvements on a 1988 f350. CLICK on the specs. part of the site and see each gain per item added! Good Luck.

 

I've heard that babying the gas helps to. Try avoiding stoplights and traffic tyups. in otherwords keep it rolling at a fair speed. i have a friend who has a 93 3/4 with a 460/e4od and he claims that it got 9mpg loaded or unloaded. He claims that by lowering or removing the tailgate gave him about 1mpg better.