We purchased a 95 f-350 about two years ago and since then have read many stories about other trucks getting 18 mpg empty and 13 fully loaded. Our truck gets 13 empty and about 9 full. The local garage says there is nothing wrong. Does anybody know if there is anything with the 95 that would cause this or is it the normal.

 

It sounds to me like you are on the low side of normal -- that is, low enough to make YOU concerned but high enough that nobody wants to look in to it. It would be helpful to know a little more about your truck. Is it a dually, 4 wheel drive, crew cab, automatic or standard trans, and most importantly, what is the axle ratio? These trucks seem to be all over the map on fuel mileage. I've seen situations where 2 identicle trucks will have one getting 20 MPG and the other getting 13 MPG for no apparent reason.

 

I agree with Joe in that more info is required. I'm getting 18.3mpg as of the last fill up in mixed city/freeway driving with a 99 F250 PSD supercab shortbed 4x4 3.73 ratio with 6 speed and 265/75/16 tires.

Les

 

The truck is a 1995 F-350 2X4 crew cab, psd, 5spd man, 4.11 gears. I thought about a gear change but I wanted to learn more before just jumping into things. If a gear change is the answer is the only thing that has to be done is change the gears or will it effect the computer.

 

Ive got a 95CC with a E4OD 4X2. Simular to what you have. I now get 16mpg up from 14mpg. Im running basicly stock, I use synthetic oil( mobile 1 15w40 ) I tryed the 10k resistor trick and it worked great and cleaned out the fuel screen in the fuel regulator. That combined was worth 1mpg. This weekend gonna declaw the kitty. BTW my driving habits havent changed.

 

Yes, your mileage is quite low for that truck. My truck is a 1996 F-250 Supercab 4x4 shortbox with a 5 speed manual and 4.10 gears. The tires are stock 235 85R16 Firestones. I get approximately 19-20 mpg solo highway driving (approximately 70 mph average), 16-17 mpg city driving, and 13-14 mpg highway towing my 9,500 lb 28 ft fifth wheel trailer. Some possible suggestions that I have:
1. Be sure the truck has clean, high quality air, fuel, and oil filters installed. I run a re-useable K&N air filter in mine and it gave it more power and better mileage. Also be sure you are running a high quality 15W-40 motor oil with the SAE ratings that are in the owner's manual. Oils that do not have their specs tend to foam a lot which causes the truck to run rough (the fuel injection system is hydraulically activated by the engine oil).
2. If your truck idles rough, is hard starting, or is excessively noisy (almost like metal on metal) then there is a good chance that you have one or more bad injectors. These trucks are notorious for blowing injectors. They are also extremely expensive to replace.
3. I run Howes Lubricator (original) fuel additive in my truck at all times. It did not make any mileage difference for me, but I did notice that the truck runs smoother and is not nearly affected as much by poor quality fuel as it used to be.

Hope this helps. If you can think of any other symptoms just post them and I will try to help.

 

I have a 99 cc swb auto with 3.73 4" exhaust and a k&n and I only get about 13mpg mixed city and highway. I get on it every once and a while but mostly drive like a grandma. Havn't changed fuel filter since I bought it 9k miles ago and am hoping that helps.

Ben

 

Have a 99 F-250 Ext. Cab long box with auto and 3.73. I get 15-16 arund town and 20-21 highway @ 65. The individual engines tend to vary in mpg with no real explanation.

 

does seem kinda low my uncle has a 96 4x4 reg cab auto 4.11 and is getting 14-16 at least and he lives on top of a big hill that he pulls every day . with his boat 10000# he said he get 10-12
I have a 00 SC 4x4 3.73 auto with a K&N, and a straight piped exhaust. I was averaging 13 mpg before the filter an ex I am waitinto see if those help definaly did help in performance. I also think that how full you fill the tank is a big factor due to the foaming of the fuel I can fit almost 2 gal in after the pump kicks out. I have had tanks get 10 mpg but then the next one get 16 that is why I average them out
My buddy also has a 99 SC 4x4 auto 3.73 gears it has a banks chip, banks exhaust and muffler, a trans command, and now a banks quick turbo and big head actuator, last month on a road trip 65 mph 19 mpg

 

I don't know what I would do to get 16 mpg..... The last time I cheked I was getting 13.6mpg, I got a '94 7.3L IDIT with a manual, and I'm assuming a 4.10 or some other big differentials.

logan

 

You'd be better off with a higher (lower numerical) axel ratio. Also, the pre 1999 engines used an injector (the first 3 digits of the part number 187) that had a tendency for the barrel and sleeve to gall (although I'm not sure if that would give you bad fuel mileage or just low power). The newer engines have a teflon coated barrel and sleeve (first 3 digits 551) and the galling problem seems to be gone.

 

I have a '97 1 ton crew-cab with 3.55 gears and an e4od automatic. Around town driving I get about 16 mpg, with the wife driving she gets around 18 (i think i keep the turbo spinning a little bit more than she does), on highway trips with cruise control set at 70 it gets around 21. These numbers are very good compared to my previous truck (dodge dakota w/318 v8) but would like to try different performance modifications to try to get a little bit better mileage.I do agree with everyone else that these trucks seem to get very different gas mileage results, i guess the type of truck and driving style. Has anyone had experience with performance mods that increase mpg?What are they and how much did they increase mpg?

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 13-May-01 AT 06:13 PM (EST)[/font][p]Miket53

What is the 10K Resistor trick?

I would realy like to know

Thanks
Andy

 

Driving style makes a big difference with a diesel. If you blow black smoke anytime, you are wasting fuel, so your mpg will drop. Most none big time diesel drivers assume that you just push the pedal harder to get up a hill. NOT RIGHT. That just puts more fuel in the mix and makes black smoke. When the engine is doing that, you have less power going to the wheels. A diesel HAS to be shifted down on a hill, to keep the fuel from wasting. The down side of that is that speed goes down, but mpg goes up. I solved some of these problems by getting an aftemarket splitter on the tranny, and can shift half a ratio, to keep the engine in the power band. So to recap: black smoke = low mpg.

Wm

 

Yes andy I would also like to know what the 10k resistor trick is, Can anyone let us in on this little trick? What does it do? Where does it go? Has anyone else had any experience with this little trick?