i have a 96' 3.0 v6 ext cab.
recently i have been trying to figure out my gas mileage with the trip odometer and guessing how much gallons i used.

from what i have heard, ext cabs have 20 gallon fuel tanks. well, after using about from 1/8th a tank away from fuel down to 1/4tank now, i see about 155-160 miles on my odometer wtf?!?!

my tire pressure should be good, although i will check it again, but about 2 weeks ago, i filled all tires up to about 32-33 psi.

its is winter temps here in cleveland so that may be a factor, but people say that i should be getting around 20 or 15-16 at least.

all my driving is city, to and from school about 5-10 mi each way. and the only mod i have done is mess around with my intake.
i have a conical filter (fram i think) on stock plastic piping. awhile ago, i took off the cover of the filter, and put a plastic waterguard over it to protect from water but give me more air and a better sound.

is there a chance that when taking off the intake and undoing the connections, i messed up a sensor? would that decrese my milage this bad? i messed with my intake before i knew then dangers about damageing the sensors on it or getting the maf sensor dirty.

but what should i do ?

thanks in advance, gas is killing my wallet.

 

alriight so the trip odometer isnt accurate? because i filled it up to full, then drive maybe 20 miles or so then set the trip and now im down to 1/4 a tank with 160 on the trip.

ill try what you said, i just dont like spending 40 bux to fill it up at once :(

 

No no no. Forget the gauge. Its useless. Fill up. Reset the trip odometer. Drive to maybe an 1/8 of a tank and FILL UP again. Divide the miles you drove by the gallons you pumped. That is your tank average MPG.

 

No offense, but don't be ridiculous. I have this argument with my father all the time. Just because you don't spend that 40 bucks all at once, doesn't mean you wont spend it. Quit fooling yourself and fill the damn thing up and calculate your miles the way Matt said... :)

 

Greygooseranger, what happened to your pickup?? Why did you get rid of it??

DBXFX you're going to spend the money anyway. Whether it is $20 twice a week or $40 once a week. The less you get gas the better and more accurate the reading. If you really want to get serious about milage -- I laugh when I read the owners manual. Go to the same place -- Shell, BP, etc. -- use the same pump, facing the same direction, at the same time of the day. Not sure exactly what small variation difference it makes, but that's what they say. Yes, don't use the trip odometer.

 

alright, sorry for being such a noob.

ima wait a week or so and fill up at giant eagle.
they give discounts per gallon of gas of llike 10 cents off a gallon every 100 bux or so you spend at their store fyi for anyone who didnt know that, :)

 

Test your odometer, make sure it is accurate.
Do NOT use "miles per tank" - it means nothing since the Ranger has like 6 different tanks.
Put tires over what the door sticker says, but not more than the "max sidewall pressure". All my vehicles have 44 PSIG MAX and I run them at 40PSIG.
Fill up, run it to 1/4 or below, fill up, do the math.

Speed, tire pressure, O2 sensors, clogged air filters, tunes ups and stuff on the roof account for most MPG losses.

 

If I went by my gas gauge I would get about 400 miles to the tank. At 100 miles im at 1/4 tank, it all goes down hill from there.

Dont fell too bad. Im thinking Im gonna get about 8 miles to the gallon on this tank, but then again I have been off road for quite a few miles.

 

Im only getting around 200 miles to my 16.5 gallon tank. and the trip seems to be accurate to the odometer. so i have no clue how some are getting 20 to the gallon.

 

Thats like what I am getting, about 240 if its freeway

 

this brings up my own question: what is the mileage on an 04 XLT ranger, and what is it's tank capacity? I can't seem to find it.

 

I get 24-25 mpg on the highway; and not doing much over the speed limit.

 

how do i know whic tank i have?
i had bout an 1/8th or a 1/9th a tank when i filled up and it said i put in 15-16 gallons.

 

bump bump ttt

well i just fillled up my tank all the way after being sick and not driving too much for a week or 2...:(

anyways, bad news.


about 2-3 weeks ago, i filled my tank up completely. i put in 15.03 gallons on top of what i already had. as i filled up, i wrote down the miles on the clock... 31,874.

i literally just went to the gas station, being pretty damn close to empty.
this time, i put in 17.496 gallons. and once again, i checked my miles on the odo.
i now have 32,091 miles.

if im doing that right, that means on the 17.496 gallons. i only drove 217 miles.
some quick math and that comes out to 12.40mpg... !!!!!!!!!!!OMWTF!!!!

now it is winter here in ohio (cleveland area), and i suppose that could do a little, but this seems to be what it has always been like...mpg wise that is, even during warmer times.

the only mod i have done is remove the conical airbox covering, which could have damaged the map sensor, but im pretty sure my mpgs were this bad b4 the mod anyways.

COULD SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!! 12 mpg is bad. and i even baby the damn thing. i launch like a grandpa and have very little weight in the bed. (a cardboard box with some bungies, small blocks of wood, etc,etc)

i dont understand why it is this bad! i have a ***in 3.0 v6 with a puny 170or so hp...the exact same vulcan thats in my mom's sable, yet mine blows the big one , hehe

seriously though i need need some help. and hopefully on the cheap.

thanks all

 

Its because of the cold temperatures. It takes more fuel to warm up your truck. Gas mileage during the winter is always crappy. I get about 18 mpg during the summer, but during winter I get a consistent 13 mpg.

 

wow. thats disappointing.
thats about all year for ohio

well only a month or 2 till i get my s2000 hopefully.

 

Try ~150hp

 

its not just letting the truck get warm, that is one reason but another part would be the difference between the summer blend and winter blend

during winter the gas has more additives that are suited for cold weather but isnt so great for mileage,
now during summer you have better additive free fuel which is ALOT better for gas mileage because it doesnt require cold weather "maintenance"

 

Some members were just talking about this in the 4cyl. forum. Whats your gear ratio? 4wd? Reg. cab? How are your sparkplugs? Some people bump their tire pressure up to about 42 lbs. to gain better MPG's.

Anyways, here is a link about "hypermiling": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermiler

Here is one used for tracking your gas mileage: www.trackyourgasmileage.com

Check them out, pretty informative. The Wikipedia link said something about defective O2 sensor dropping MPG's.

 

Do you still have stock tires or did you go bigger? That would throw your odometer off a lot.

 

nope, im all stock inflated to 33 psi

 

10?! Damn! That's bad! And I thought I should be mad about 15. I was told before I bought it that it should be about 24. I have a 00' V6 4.0. And my 15 was during the summer. I blame the aftermarket tires that were on it when I bought it.

Maybe you should try a higher psi. I heard that sometimes a higher psi might improve your fuel economy.