Hey everyone I'm new to ranger forums. I have a 2002 Ford Ranger XLT 3.0 L V6 automatic 4 x 2 162,000 miles. 31 inch tires, 3 inch lift, CAI, and more. I'm done a basic tune up, plugs & wires, fuel filter, clean MAF, trottle body and IAC valve, all new fluids. I run mobile 1 and premium. I'm only getting 15-16 MPG HWY. My truck runs great. No rough idle or anything, no check engine light. Is there anything I can do to up the gas mileage??? Please leave your thoughts

 

lift? what type ? body or suspension. these trucks are not known for great gas mileage. go back to stock or get a lil car for gas mileage. i have a '95 4x4 3.0 and on good days i can get 20 mpg high way. when i get the front lift done and 35"tires on all four corners ill be looking at 12 to 15 mpg depending on how i drive and the weather

 

I mean, it's a 14 year old lifted pickup... Lol. That seems about on par for for 3.0. Depending on what gears you have now, you can look into regearing, but it really isn't worth it. Especially only turning 31s. If the truck is running properly, the tires are properly inflated, and everything is functioning properly, that's about the best you can do.

 

Welcome to the forum


Stock 2002 3.0l 2WD automatic shows 15mpg city, 20mpg highway, 17mpg average, but "grain of salt", those are Fords calculated numbers not real life numbers

Larger wider tires will pull that down from weight and friction, point of wider tires is better traction, but better traction means better friction and friction slows you down.
And weight is weight, simply takes more energy(mpg) to pull/push more weight.
Higher tire air pressure will reduce friction and give slightly better MPG.

Aerodynamics, pick up trucks are not aerodynamic but when lifted you get a double whammy from air resistance.
Stock height can help reduce air resistance on the under side when you get up to above 50mph.
When you lift body/truck higher you lose that and the cavities trapping air on the under side slow you down so more power is needed to maintain speed, MPG goes down.
You can cover the under side with plates, but really more work than the improvement you would get because of added weight

At 162k miles the upstream O2 sensors should be changed, they tend to cause lower MPG when they get above 100k miles.
O2 sensors use a chemical reaction, like car batteries do, so they do wear out.

 

It has a stock 7.5 inch rear end with 373's. I'm going to change the up stream O2 sensor and put a speed demon coil pack on it. In the near future I would like to do a dual exhaust and and a fan set up

 

I get 18-ish with a 2.9 lifted 4" but 22 with a bone stock 97 4.0

 

My last tank got 21.1 on 87 octane. Bear in mind I am 60 years old, driving mostly highway @55mph. Yeah, I'm that old fart going too slow! LOL

 

Apple.....obd2 fusion
Elm327 wifi

Android ......torque pro
Elm blue tooth

Look at fuel trims.....understand them and you will see if your truck is truly running badly. Check engine light is a last resort with vehicles and the computer is a great compensator. Your truck can seem fine and be running very poor.

My truck was running +3 on bank 1 and +10 on bank 2
This means bank 2 ruins 7% lean
The computer adds fuel and gives you bad mileage.
Fuel trims are all you have to diagnose

While your at it. Your o2 sensor upstream bounces between .1 and .8
If they are not......your o2 could be bad.

Learn fuel trims and o2 data and you will be way better off.

 

You must understand that the vehicle was not designed with all your modifications. Largest recommended tire size is 225, maybe 235, and your choices are what is killing your gas mileage. My 1992 is completely stock with 225/70r14 tires and it gets 24 mpg on the interstate. If I cruise at the red mark "55" I can get 26, but that is harder to do these days as speed limits have increased. The extra load you have put on your engine with your modifications has resulted in reduced mpg......you can't get it back and keep your current setup.

 

Another thing to consider is that your larger tires mean that your speedometer is showing slower then you are going. That also means that your odometer is also reading low. With just my 235/75/15 tires, my speedo is off 5 mph at 70. That should mean that when my odometer shows 280, I have actually gone 300. Recalculate using that info, other a more aggressive number because your tires are bigger and it won't be as bad as you think it is.

 

I have a 3.0 2000 extended cab xlt and I get about the same gas mileage with the stock tires and no lift. It all depends on how you drive. One thing you can do is program it to boost the fuel economy but if you don't wanna do that then I'd keep the as a back up road vehicle and an off reading truck

 

I have a 1992 long bed 3.0 V6. I have an automatic transmission with P225/70 -14. Ranger has approximately 110,000 miles on it and I recently replaced the mass airflow sensor. I have only had the truck for about 3000 miles, and it was getting 17/24 on regular gas. I have run two bottles of Textron fuel injector and system cleaner through it. My gas mileage is now up to 20/26 on regular gas.

 

I'm only getting 13 mpg on 87

 

I got 10 MPG on my last fill up. 3L V6 156K miles on it. The big factor here. I was breaking up ice by spinning my back tires. So I was really working the throttle. Only now I'm tracking my MPG. I think this little truck does just as good as the big V8 F-150. I came from a big SUV. So I know that MPG is hard to come by. On the highway I don't drive the double nickel. Some times I'm at the limiter. Can't help it. This Ranger on the highway is smooth as butter. Other roads. It bumps and jumps. Like the shocks. In amazing condition for there age. Not going to lift my truck. I need new tires for the hot weather. I have snow tires. That is what I bought it with. Looking at some firestone tires for spring. Right size. Just lots of tread. More friction. So darned if I do darned if I don't. You know.
Jim

 

You won't get much better than 15-16 with your setup. If you truly want better mileage, remove the 31's and lift and ditch the auto for a 5spd.

My 4wd ex-cab w/3.73's and 5spd rarely gets below 20 mixed and averages 21-24mpg hwy depending on how lead foot I am that day. Last time I got 15mpg was when I was towing a 3k lb trailer and had 500lbs in the bed of the truck. Granted I run 245/70-16's and my truck is lowered 2" front and 2.5" rear.

Edit: I am running an e-fan and underdrive pulley. Stock airbox and paper filter, stock exhaust and the 221k mile mod.

 

Froggmann

Love the name. I can't do stick. I know how. I just don't want to drive it all the time.
So with it lowered. Did you see improved MPG? 221K. Love to hear you have a great Ranger at that mileage.

Jim

 

Saw an improvement of about .5mpg on the hwy. No gains in city/rural (speeds below 45-50ish) driving.

 

Froggmann

Thank you. That is interesting. Not a huge gain. But that it did change. I have 15's on my Ranger. I wonder if you went to 15's if you would gain that other half.

Jim

 

221k mod? Is this still the same ranger you did the plastic intake manifold swap on? How's the no EGR did it need a computer reprogram?

 

221k mod means high mileage. Now has 234k and still averages 20mpg in 50/50 driving.

It is the same truck I did the composite intake swap on. No EGR is great, didn't reprogram the computer. I did an EGR bypass trick I saw on a different message board about a year ago to cure random idle issues. It was really odd, the truck ran fine for years with no DPFE, EGR, etc then suddenly developed a hanging idle issue that only the EGR bypass cured. Have yet to have a CEL with either setup.

 

My 04 Edge Ext cab 2WD with 3.0 and 4.10 rear has new plugs, wires, correct tire pressure and gets 14mpg city and maybe 17 hwy at 65-70 mph. No check engine lights and runs and idles good. This is over last 5K miles.
Could be driving a V8 for same mpg....

 

Well, I've been driving a stock 93 ranger splash 5-spd manual (2wd) with the 3.0 for years. Always got ~24mpg around town, and about 27 mpg highway, right up until gasohol became a thing around here that you couldn't avoid. Now get's about 21.5 around town. Haven't done a lot of highway lately, but I think that was down to 23mpg. I forget my exact tire size. I always get the cheapest thing that will fit. 235's I think are what's on it now. Granted, it also has 210K or so on it.

3 weeks ago, I bought a 2004 Ranger Edge. 3.0, with auto 5spd. (2wd) I think it's carrying bigger tires than stock issue, though I don't recall what size. Only put two tanks through it, but averaged 18.5mpg on the first, and 18.6mpg on the second around town. Expected, but disappointing that it get's the same MPG as my either my dad's V-8 Dodge full size pickup, or his Jeep Cherokee.

Only thing's I can say to improve mileage are the standards. Clean air filter. Good Plugs, properly inflated tires that aren't overly large. Coast to stops instead of braking, accelerate smoothly. Keep it 60 or below to reduce drag.
If you're approaching a stop light, and can coast slow enough to never actually stop before the light turns back green, that will save you gas right there. It's always ticked my dad off that I could get and extra 1-2 MPG out of anything we had both driven. That was the key.

I've always hated automatics, and here I am driving one now, so guess I'm stuck with the reduced mileage. (Knee injury has reduced my ability to drive stick for extended periods.)