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Why Bother? The only time the front wheels actually drive in AWD is if the speed sensors on the transfer case sense rear wheel slipping.
This has been talked about in several other threads and the overall consensus was that there was no appreciable improvement in fuel efficiency (although a determined minority insisted they did get some improvement). I had a bad sensor and it defaulted to rear wheel drive....drove it from Virginia all the way to Utah and didn't see any improvement in mileage (although the darn blinking 4x4 light drove me batty for 4 days).
Wow, you guys are all pretty lucky with 12.3. I have a '98 Expy with the 5.4 and I only get about 10.5 mpg. Is that relatively normal for an engine with 132K miles on it? I don't drive it too hard - I pretty much keep it under 2.5K in first gear, and I try to keep it under 2K for the rest of the gears. It doesn't get much time in the high RPMs except on the weekends but not nearly enough to drop it 2 mpg.
Wow, you guys are all pretty lucky with 12.3. I have a '98 Expy with the 5.4 and I only get about 10.5 mpg. Is that relatively normal for an engine with 132K miles on it? I don't drive it too hard - I pretty much keep it under 2.5K in first gear, and I try to keep it under 2K for the rest of the gears. It doesn't get much time in the high RPMs except on the weekends but not nearly enough to drop it 2 mpg.
in my previous '97 4x4 i would typically run in the 10-12 mpg range. my '00 just seems to be a bit better.
it also depends on where you live, i've heard the ethenal they put in the gas out here kills your mileage.
Here in KC, I'm not sure if we run an ethanol blend. I have in the past used half a tank of the ethanol blend en route from Illinois and, in my opinion, I think that pure gasoline is far superior to ethanol.
I have a flex fuel B3000 and that thing absolutely LOVES ethanol. IT runs so much better with E85 (85% ethanol) with only a 10-15% decrease in fuel economy, but then again it was designed for exactly that.