I have an 05' 6.0 F250 4x4. Bought it with 48,700 miles. At 50,000 miles the EGR cooler had to be replaced. I was getting 14 city 19 highway with 35" tires. I just got through towing 12,000# 5th wheel 210 miles. 26 gallons of diesel to refuel. I'm guessing about 8mpg. Unhooked, drove back 210 and averaged about 16 mpg on the return. Do these #'s seem to be normal? Do I always leave the tow/haul switch on for towing? I had a 96' with a 7.3 that I drove for one year and sold. Haven't towed or owned a powerstroke until recently, and was shocked at the difference. The 96' was twice the truck my 05' is. Thanks for help.

 

The EGR cooler is an achilles heel, so not too suprising.

I get about 11 mpg towing only 5,200#. Some guys certainly get better, but some get worse. At 8mpg for 12,000# doesn't sound too bad to me. In fact your non-towing mileage sounds too good.

Also, the fuel tanks on these trucks make it very difficult to get an accurate fuel fill. You need to check more than just one trip. Better yet, do the harpoon mod to get more fuel and a more accurate fill.
Click here>>Powerstroke Fuel Tank Modification

For towing 12k#, I would. I think it's more useful going downhill than up, but I think you'll like the shiftpoints better if you use it. Probably better mileage too, but don't be afraid to turn it off on nice flat highway, and turn it back on for hills.

You must be stoned. I just don't know what else to say about that. Bah.

Bill

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by OK RANCHER
The 96' was twice the truck my 05' is.

You must be stoned. I just don't know what else to say about that. Bah.

Bill


I was thinking the same thing....................... My 05 is ALOT better than any 96 truck.

 

Not stoned, stupid maybe. Don't get me wrong, I love both of these trucks. The 05' is a King Ranch and it's so fun to drive. The 7.3 just ran so strong, the same, loaded or unloaded, I was just a little surprised at the 6.0.

 

I'm sure you know I'm joshing you, and I hope my other comments were helpful. But really, a stock 6.0 ought to run circles around a stock '96 7.3, and if yours doesn't it makes me wonder about what might be wrong. The old motor might very well have gotten better mileage though. Thank the EPA for that!!!

Bill

 

One thing that will affect towing MPG is the size tires. The more you are larger in tire size from the original size the more HP is required to get things moving and keep it moving. More HP means less MPG.

 

14/19 sound really good for 35" tires. I get 15/19 with stock 33s. 8mpg towing 12k with 35" sound about right. I got 10.48mpg towing 11k stock.

 

@ 12k# I'm almost at 12 on flat ground. Unloaded I'm 17.5 all around (mostly highway @ 65 mph)

325/65-18 Terra's.

350 cc lwb srw Lariat. 3.55's

I only use tow haul when I'm putting the truck in a bind up a hill or winding roads where I am on an off the foot feed. I also don't push the truck harder than needed - the 6.0 has a sweet spot when working it and pushing past that is just wasting fuel. You'll learn the engine tones and learn it.

As far as the 96' being a better truck than the 05'. About the only thing I can think that would make it better is the fact that the 96' is probably paid off.

 

In ways I agree w/ you, the older non-air charged 7.3L was reliable and would run on basically waste oil. No real problems to report,way better lower end off the line than my 6.0L for sure and no emission equipment to give me issues.Also the steel in the older trucks since the '96 was basically a re-nosed 1980 body was much more solid, especially the bed. My old '96 7.3L w/ banks goodies was way more predictable on fuel and was very consistant where as my 6.0l varies from tank to tank and very slight bit of difference in roads or habits. I got better consistant mileage of 18MPG no matter on HWY or back roads where my superduty varies 3-5MPG.
I dissagee for the comforts and room in the newer superduty style trucks..My new truck is set up better as far as options and much more room in the cab.the frame does not twist as much as the older ones but they wear out ball joints faster than the twin OBS truck if we thought that was even possible. The older trucks were no where near as fast as the 6.0L unless you had tons of money,but the heads never lifted,the EGR and VGT never coked because they did not have them!! More emission equipment equals more driveability concerns.I like both body styles for different reasons..lets hope the superduties do not rot like the OBS!!

 

I'm canning my egr as soon as I can, truck was in the dealer this last week getting the icp replaced, I was talking to the tech doing the work and told him of my plans to cut everything out, all he kept telling me was that I would experience driveability issues, and he also tried telling me I'm going to have the same issues since I had my egr unplugged, even though I've had it unplugged for over a year except for the five minutes after he plugged it back in until I was out of the yard and unplugged it again. The tech I usually talk to and tells me all the dirty tricks hurt his back so he wasn't there to do my work, didn't like the newer guy to much.

 

Those numbers are pretty much on-line with my 05 PSD in terms of fuel economy. I do have to disagree with the impression that the older 7.3L PSD is better. We still have our 97 PSD and it never even compared to my 05 PSD in terms of fuel economy, towing power, or reliability! The only thing that the 7.3L has over the 6L is the low-end torque, but after that the 6L owns it. Even with both motors being tuned (chipped), then the 6L walks away from the 7.3L PSD. But hey, those are just my own personal impressions since I own both trucks. Don't get me wrong, I loved my 7.3L PSD. But then I got the 05 6L PSD and I can't even stand to drive the old truck anymore.

 

With the bigger 35" tires the odometer will be off if you dont have the speed sensor fixed. My speed is off 5 MPH on the hightway. I use my road Garmin GPS and it shows that I go much further then the odometer. So you might be getting better gas millage then you think.