My truck is down 100 miles per tank and I have no idea why! Its a '07 extended cab 2wd 4 banger with auto tranny. I was getting over 500miles per tank, and now I'm just hardly getting over 400. I am in need of somethings to check to see if that is the problem. Its still under warranty and just under 16,000miles total.

I went to the dealer, and he told me that it should only be getting that amount, and that nothing was wrong. I already knew that the winter fuels would take mileage down a bit, but 100miles off of a full tank???? So as expected he sent me away, and I had no other ideas to check at all. I changed the air filter, but the old one wasn't bad at all, and hardly had any dirt on it at all (I drive all freeways, no dirt/back roads, not even much city driving). I've tried both driving like a grandpa, and getting on it a bit more to see if the mileage would flex a bit. It did go down some when I was harder on the gas, but it didn't go up at all when I was easy on it (I already kinda drive like a grandpa, gas it too expensive!)


SO! Any ideas? Someone help me out! Even my window sticker said I should be around 27mpg, WTF is up with this 23mpg crap?!?!

Any ideas for me to check will be of help!

 

Tire pressure? Bad gas? Many things factor into bad mpg. I've got the same engine in a regular cab and am lucky to see 22mpg highway.. ofcourse the 31" tires dont help..

 

Are you letting it warm up in the mornings now that its cold? when I did that, my mpg went from about 23 to 19. I always get 22-23mpg with 150k miles on my truck.

 

23 mpg sounds normal for a 4banger with auto tranny.

 

Tire pressure is good gets a new tank of gas every week...

So you guys are thinking my days of better MPG are gone? the first 10k were up in the 26mpg range... I just can't believe that it dropped so much.

And I have a block heater and so I don't let it heat up. But even with out the block heater, I don't let it warm up, I just drive it easy.

 

its an auto tho i get 26-28MPG in my 99 2.5L but its a 5 speed and i dont even get that cause im always on it but 23MPG aint that bad its way better than my dads 8MPG

 

Winter Blend Fuel

 

yep this is the main cause for decreased mpg. i'm noticing it too here on the east coast. stuff is thinner than cheap vodka..

 

did someone siphon gas out of your tank? a 5 gallon container x ~20-23mpg = ~100-115miles .... sounds like a possibility

 

Yeah I thought about Winter Blend Fuel being the cause, but I didn't think it would hurt it this much.

No one is siphoning out of my tank, unless they are just doing a small amount daily, and they have been doing it for a long while now...


But thanks for the good ideas guys!!!

 

500 miles a tank? no way anyone every gets that on average in a ranger. unless they converted to a hybrid or put a 40 gal tank in. 400 per tank is still amazing if thats what u really get.

 

^ when i first got my truck i got around 400 to a tank, now im lucky to get close to 300....

 

i notice that my fx4 off road is getting worse gas mileage as it gets colder out. sucks. i can see somewhere between 25 and 50 miles less on a full tank in the winter months.

 

I just came back to add that I have not put sand bags in the bed of the truck yet. I'm sure that will kill my miles a bit more as well...

And no lie, I was getting OVER 500 miles per tank of gas. And this wasn't a fluke, or a one time thing, this was happening fill after fill after fill. It was super kick ***, I was able to drive to work every day of the week, and have gas left over for the weekend! Now I have to fill before the weekend... :(

I honestly drive really easy on it. I've gotten honked at a few times for going too slow up an on ramp, but screw other people, I'm paying these high gas prices, they can pay for extra heavy foot if they want. lol! Oh and I never break 70mph.


The window sticker said I should be getting 27mpg, and that the manual tranny should get 29mpg. I honestly would have gone with the manual, but when ever I drive in traffic I hate having to clutch in/clutch out/clutch in/clutch out every 2 seconds...




I've got my fingers crossed that it is just the winter fuels, because I really want my MPG back... And I guess the timing was right because all summer I was over 500miles per tank.

 

im lucky to get 180, this is REALLY making me consider a 4 banger haha

 

i get around 300, thats with my speedo being off..

 

I guess I should also add that this truck is 100% stock, other than a sticker in the back window, sirius unit, and a class 3 reciver hitch (I don't plan on towing anything that heavy, but all the other trucks we have are class 3 so its easier this way). Oh and now a new air filter from fram (yey )


I also never get on it to pass someone, but I'm always on freeways so I never have to speed to get around someone, I make sure to not drive like a woman (IE gas on/gas off/brake on/brake off), and ease into the gas, try my best to carry my speed though corners and never kick it back down to pick up lost speed. I also use an engine block heater rather than letting it warm up, and just go even easier on it when its cold.


This tank I'm on now is coming up to 400miles, and I still have 1/8th left, so I should be able to get home tomorrow with out the gas light coming on... I'll let you guys know.






Oh on a side note, is it a myth or not that running your heat can take power away from your motor? or was that only back in the day? or just a flat out myth?

 

from a florida view. once we got our first cold front a couple weeks ago, i haven't run my a/c OR heater, and i went from about 250 a tank to over 300. i know for a FACT that it makes a difference in my 02 3.0L auto.

i'm thinking it could be your heater. its obviously cold enough right?

 

Well, I'm running just my heater, not my defrost. It is cold enough now, for heat everywhere I go, and I know that the deforst uses the AC pump so I try to stay away from that. But I'm talking about JUST the heater, if running it though the heater core does anything... My thinking is that no it doesn't but I've been wrong before..

But you are right that the defrost heater does kill the gas like the AC unit.

 

if mine loses 100 miles on a tank i'm gonna go take it out a field and blow it up!

 

hrm, at this point im getting 40miles to a 1/4 tank of gas, i don't think sucking up water helps much.

go go super lima!

 

I'd say its just the winter fuel and the cooler denser air. In the summer I get around 20-22 MPG consistently but every winter it drops to 16-18. This has been consistent for the past few years. Is this your first winter with the truck? If so I'd say just go with it and see if it goes back up next spring.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head.

One mod people used to do was put a resistor in place of the intake air temp sensor to trick the pcm into thinking the intake air was colder than it actually was.This would make the engine run richer thus gaining power.
Now with Winter upon us ,the engine is going to use more fuel due to lower ambient air temperature.
Thus, Ive been toying with the idea (this 'll draw a coment I'm sure ) of installing a pipe horizontily from the airbox to a point behind the fan (I'm running an e-fan) with a long slot cut into the front to draw warmed air from the radiator into the intake.
Theory: warm intake air= leaner mixture = better mileage.

 

Yes, this is my first winter with the truck. I picked it up late spring of this year. I honestly don't know if I'm going to be keeping it for another winter though to test my results. I've already started to dislike the fact that I don't have 4wd on the thing. I'm thinking maybe I should get myself a bike for next year, and a 4x4 ranger.

I think you guys are right, just the poor fuel blends, and cold weather....

 

ahh... the perks of living in fl.

hope everything works out for ya!