Hi, I do a lot of driving (I'm a courier) and want to improve my gas mileage, i average about 16-17 mpg, mostly city driving but i drive very conservatively. I have an 02 ranger, 3.0L auto. Any ideas how I can improve my MPG without spending too much money? Someone said their MPG went up from 23 to 28 using premium gas, is this really possible?

thanks

 

do a complete tune up. how many miles does it have?

as for the mpg increase with prem. gas. all lies. premium gas is no better than regular other then it helps prevent ping. its pretty much a waste of money. they are twisting your arm.

 

41,000, i bought it recently and had it inspected. the mechanic told me i should get a tune up in a few months so i guess i shouldn't hold that off

 

Well, If that is that is the true mileage on the truck, you should not need a tuneup. About twice that mileage and I would say ok. But if you really don't know for sure go ahead with the tuneup.
Dave

 

i agree, you dont need a tune up yet. since you are courier, i assume you do a lot of stop and go driving, right? besides 16-17 mpg is somewhat normal for the 3.0, especially city driving.

 

shoot, i'm averaging 15.5 mostly highway. seems i should be doing a touch better, but alot of people i've talked to with 3.0 4x4's say they are pretty close to what i'm gettin. i'm gonna tune mine up also, maybe gain a couple more mpg's with any luck. only 58,000 miles on mine.

 

A couple things you can do that will help gas milage are get a new aftermarket air filter or a complete cold air kit, getting a better more free flowing exhaust will help. These wont do alot, but are free and might help: Clean the spark plugs and if needed regap them, clean the spark plug wire contact points, and the distributor points, clean coil point, and if you really want to help your milage in the summer, drive with the windows down instead of the a/c. Saw a thing on mythbusters that you can get way better milage that way. If all else fails try not to accelerate as quickly. Hope some of those helped.

 

Isn't there any better way, I have a 03 4.0 liter 4x4 and the mileage for a 6 cylinder is pretty pitiful actually. I'm positive I get better mileage in my 82 camaro than I do in that truck. It doesn't seem to matter how I drive either it is pretty consistent at 13 mpg or so. City or highway I don't usually get any better than 400km or 250 miles on a to the brim full tank. It's gettin hard on my wallet at this rate. My truck only has 38000 km or around 24000 miles. My cousin who owns a 1500 extended cab Chev with a 5.3 which has less miles on it than mine gets over 20 mpg. What the deuce is wrong with this picture??

 

there is a better way, get a ranger with a 4 banger. my dad has an 03 that gets 31-32 mpg in the summer (nearly all highway). i get 23-24 mpg in my 91.
cars will get better mileage than a truck.

 

I have a 2004 FX4 Level II with a 5 spd. manual. At 75-80MPH I get about 15-16 mpg on the interstate. At 60-65 mph on the highway I get about 17-19 mpg. I did get a small improvement adding the dual exhaust but I didn't notice an increase on the K&N drop in panel filter.

 

to get better milage with my truck i usually just drive the wife's taurus. but seriosly, keep a clean air filter in, and your tires fully aired up and go easy on the go pedal and you'll probly get as best as your gona get. the 4cly i had in my '88 got 22-29 my current '93 4.0 gets a consistant 17 back and forth to work with about 20 on a trip. remember differential gear ratios play a big part in fuel milage, are you running real big tires? that could cause your motor to be under more of a load and use more fuel. just my 2c. Dave.

 

Well to be honest, I know WHY my mileage may be crappy, but I still think it should be better. I have the fx4 level 2 with the bf goodrich a/t tires that are 30.5", or something like that, tall. Also note, I have 4.10 gears in the rear which were what came with the truck I picked from the lot. It has the automatic transmission as well. See, thing is I USED to get better mileage but it seems to be getting worse. SO, I was thinking of changing some stuff, the filter is clean I usually check it, the tires have been rotated..not that that changes much, the fuel filter I will change etc. I guess it is winter and I do use 4x4 more but I'm usually fairly light with the throttle. The thing just guzzles gas for its size. I weighed the truck, it is 4200 lbs with me, lotsa gas and some minor junk. I was just wondering if there was something I was overlooking. The dealer plate states that this truck should be from 18-24 mpg in city and highway respectively and that takes into account the rear gears, transmission etc. Essentially the truck is stock, and I have been contemplating dropping some cats (it has 4!!) and using some lower restriction pipes to aid in some minor power, mileage and perhaps some sound quality. At 36000km I don't think the cats are plugged, the filter is clean, I don't drive like a maniac and it still hovers around 13-15 mpg. Even if I do baby it (highway less than 100km, slow stops and starts, or use cruise) it maybe gets 400km - 410km on 60-65 liters of gas. Which still comes out to less than 15 mpg...are you guys sure there isn't anything else? OR I can just accept that my Ranger gets pitiful mileage despite the window sticker...it LIED TO ME! Thing is it USED to get better mileage, which is the reason I keep thinking it is something else.

EDIT: Now that I have figured it out, this truck sees similar mileage to my 470 hp SBC car, even though the car takes premium it still gets the same mileage (more cash though) ...and that car is NOT very light either. Yes the car should get better mileage, but with that engine in there, carburetor too, I wouldn't expect it.

Again EDIT: Could the filter and/or injectors make that much of a difference if I was using dirty gas...hmm maybe it/they would?

 

I have an 02 FX4, basically the same as yours. I think the dealer lied to you, or they made some major changes since 02. Before I bought my truck I did the research for the 4.0 4x4 rangers, they where rated on FoMoCo's website as getting 17/18 mpg, about 1 mpg better than the F150's.


Do you have AC? I checked the schematics some time ago and found the climate controls are wired to run the AC compressor in all but two of the blower positions, not just AC and defrost. That got me about 2 to 2.5 mpg increase since I live in Wisconsin and the controls stay on defrost from september thru april...

HTH
Brian

 

Well, I would like to think that they lied but that was the official Ford window sticker. I do have AC but its wintery right now so I use the heat. Right now I am on route to 10mpg on this tank and the only driving I have done with it is mostly freeway to work and back. I know its cold and all but I have underground parking, so it's not like I have it warm up for 10 minutes and it doesn't have to start cold. I rarely if ever go over half throttle on the way to and from work, and I never make it shift down to speed up. I am trying, but the truck isn't helping me out (my wallet I mean). It's just odd, it gets pitiful mileage and I'm being nice to it!

 

I have an 02 4x4 4.0 with 45,000 when i got it from the dealer the window sticker said 16-23 i believe, but that is also in "ideal" conditions. When i filled up today I was at 13 mpg, in Sept. when i got it I was getting 16 mpg tops. If you use 4x4 i figured you lose about 40 miles per tank, which if you used 4x4 for a whole tank would get about 10mpg. I ususally try to aviod 4x4 at all cost, and nights like tonight in Minnesota when its raining and snowing, its kinda fun, granted i got off at 2am and i saw all of about 10 cars on the way home.