One of the best things you can do for mileage is to stay on top of your brakes. Brakes WASTE ENERGY - they are designed to. They convert forward motion into heat through friction. SOMETIMES when they are not intended to....

A dragging brake can be caused by a lot of things - but ONE OFFENDER I ran into on my Ranger is nothing more than a "Collapsed Line" to the calipers.

Believe it or not, this can cause a pressure release issue in the caliper piston that robs a lot of mileage, wears out pads AND ROTORS, and you can usually spot the dragging wheel by touching your rims around the lug nuts to find which one is getting unusually HOT. (Just nod your head, I know this seems too simple to be true).

In "Unequal Braking Force" conditions you may find air in a line, THIS, or rusted caliper slides. Worst case is a dually rear end that has been incorrectly adjusted. I've seen smoke come from brake drums in that condition...

If everything is old at all four corners, they may all brake equally. Yet STILL be dragging.

Want mileage? Keep the brakes off when you don't want them to be on.

~Wolfie

 

Good thread men. I have an 02 f250 7.3 4x4 6 speed. Its been a good truck. Its milage is usually in the 18.3 range. I can just get 20+ on long hiway trips with light load and driving 65. For around town it drops to 15 or so.
I was wondering your thoughts on mpg and speed? Is there much savings if you slow down to 55 60 range? And what about towing? I have a 17 ft Whaler, nice boat but not that heavy. It gives me a milage drop for sure.
My truck is stock. In the past i have considerd changing the air cleaner assembly. It seemed to have a bad rap as being small for the engine size? Do you think that is worth the expense. Thanks men for the advice.

 

Wow- I was thinking about 4 inch exhaust and a diablo tuner in my 2000 f250 diesle. After reading your post it seems like a waste if my primary goal was to save on fuel. You sound like you know what your talking about, so what would you suggest.

 

Hi I was reading your rant on fuel mileage, I too hear the other brand stories, one Dodgem guy claimes he gets 18 MPG, empty, loaded or pulling a trailer! What a goof. Just like you can tell how good a driver is when you watch them back up you can tell just how well I person understands what it takes to move an object by how he talks says volumes. You must be a engine builder or a old guy like me thats be around engines awhile. Since your knowledge is what I am after here, I have a problem with my 02 7.3, very intermittly when I start it I only get 1600 rpm, lasts about five minutes and mostly during -32 or less weather but lately warmer. Driving 2 miles to a fire call at 15 mph really is a drag. The cam postition sensor corrected the stalling problem but not this. I to will not trade my 7.3 it pulls like a champ and we have some pretty good hills around here and most I can pull without shifting out of drive or even over drive. I like pulling my car hauler at 60/65 mph and some bow tie duramax freak kept nuging me on the flats so when it came to Sidling Mountain on Md interstate 68 we danced, I topped off and he was no were in site. Don't know what weight he had but he did'nt come up on me on the flats again. Any help on my low rpm would be greatly appreaciated.

 

I did that run today myself with my 8K trailer, with the cruise contol set at about 68. od all the way. I responded becasue this morning when I was hooking up it was 35 deg outside. I was letting the truck idle as I was hooking up and talking with someone and the truck increased the idle because it was cold. Was reading the manual and it also says there is a cold weather stragey that will not allow much throttle for a couple of minutes until the oil gets a little warmth.

Could that be your issue?

 

Cody,
Excellent post, glad to see someone put down great information rather than alot of the tripe you see where people post just to see there own words. If you educate just one person it is worth it. Great job!

I'm trying how to remember to give reps, when I do you get some.

 

I know about the step up idle and my dealer told me about low temp limiting rpm but my problem showed up the other day at 45 deg. It is in this area and probably some sensor that I do not know about.

 

The only mistake I can find is your defining NOX as inert. They were originally called "toxic oxides of nitrogen", because many of them are indeed toxic. Do you really think that car manufacturers just added NOX reduction systems to dirty up your engine and increase fuel consumption?

If you want to increase your mileage by ten or more percent, just drive ten or more percent less. Take the thousand dollars you were going to spend on a chip and buy a bicycle. Not only will you save on fuel, you'll probably lose a few pounds and extend your live by a decade or so.

 

It IS inert....it doesn't burn. No, it is NOT added to "dirty up the engine and increase fuel consumption". It is there to cool the combustion event....be it on a gasoline OR diesel-equipped vehicle. The cooler combustion event deters detonation which is the MAJOR producer of NOX. High combustion temps cause chemical reactions which produce a higher % of NOX vs. having lower combustion chamber temps.

That's fine and all for cities or demographics with mass transit or people with the ability to only have to ride their bicycle a reasonable distance. For some folks (namely in rural areas), a 40-mile interstate commute to work is the norm, be it one way or round trip. I am NOT riding a bicycle down the interstate 20 miles to get to work. First off, because I HATE bicyclists on the highway (but that's not a topic for discussion here). Secondly, we all die sometime....what state of health you're in when you die is up to you. If people don't want to exercise, then they won't.

I'm not trying to tell people how to increase mileage. If a "chip" does it for someone, more power to them. I'm not going to tell anyone what to do because if they want to do something, they will find a way to do it.

 

NOX is not inert. It is produced in the combustion cycle and released into the atmosphere where it combines with water to form nitric acid. This nitric acid finds it's way back to earth in the form of rain. It is corrosive and poisonous, and I don't oppose efforts to reduce it.

As for riding a bicycle, the health you enjoy while you live is much more important than the health you enjoy when you die. As a former soldier and police officer, I'm well aware that people can die at any time.

 

Ok. I see now where I got messed up and caused all of this confusion.

The gasses reintroduced into the combustion chamber are inert. The NOX produced by high combustion temperatures isn't what I was getting at being "inert" since these oxides of nitrogen aren't USED in an EGR system.

 

This redneck is trying to understand the science of all this but doesn't driving habits and routine maintenance increase mileage??? Some of us have a lead foot which is obvious when you drag from the stoplight or race up the hill to beat the guy ahead of you (Trust me i know this all too well). Tend to think this is more of the driver of the vehicle rather than the vehicle itself. But i am enjoying this topic just the same so continue to enlighten us, i need all the help i can get only have half a brain cell to work with.

 

GOS
Ha! That must mean my 7.3 L is getting .260 lbs of fuel/hp. How efficient is that you ask. 14 mpg ety and 10 loaded. Now you're smarter than a College grad with a masters in engineering and a mano powered slide rule.

 

I meant GOSH! Recalculated my SFC and it came out closer to .30lb/bhp