I am also a HUGE fan of the ol 3.0L

I have owned my share of Taurus/Sable vehicles and I always loved the 3.0L. high miles, ran great, took all the abuse and gave me great mileage.

 

Bryan, I get about 350-370 a tank. Best was almost 430 lol

 

my 2003 almost has 40K on it....got it used, the teenage kid before me only drove it a year and put 10K on it. before him an older couple had it and they i guess only drove around town and put 26K on it. i love my 3.0 other then the gas mileage sucks. still workin on tryin to fix it.

 

I use to love the 3.0 for the longest time until I had engine problems. I'm on my 4th engine this year due to geico's mechanical breakdown depts stupidity. They sent me 2 polished terds and yes that is sugar coating it to say the least. The first lasted almost to the 1st oil change. Damn thing would pump out 2 quarts of oil just at idle. I reported 1 oil leak and the dealer found 3 more that were just as bad. The rear main seal was broken, both head gaskets were leaking and through the front timing chain cover as well. so they sent another engine after we determined that the builder didn't check the block for leaks. It was a bad block. The second lasted 2 weeks and had the same problems. It also busted my exhaust hangers and was smacking the driveshaft. here's a photo of my current exhaust:



You see that little place towards the back of the driveshaft? that's where my Flowmaster American Thunder 40 series was bouncing off the driveshaft. The 3.0 sounds really good with no muffler. And with the terminator muffler with a 3 in. single inlet and dual 2.5 inch outlets and just 6 inches behind the cab. It sounds like Paul JR's green and black web bike off american chopper. I had one old man swear it was a V8 and even when I popped the hood to show him he still couldn't believe that it's a V6. and also with that same exhaust I mentioned had a habit of setting off FACTORY INSTALLED car alarms. This motor changed the way I look at V6 motors. Ford should've kept it and improved apon it rather than phase it out. Right now it has a bit of a miss and needs new plugs and plug wires and possibly a new ignition coil. Any suggestions would be welcomed. I'm leaning towards either a screaming demon igniton coil or MSD.

 

Yeah this thread is old but just thought you guys might like to know where the truck stands right now. This is the last "picture document" of my mileage but it is about to roll over 244K now. This pic is about 3 weeks old lol

 

Niceee. i've got a 4.0 in my 97. i'm not even worried about it. Only 138.5k on it right now. My buddy had a 2000 3.0 with 139k on it. was still driving until last thursday when he swerved for a deer and went into a ditch and flipped over. waste of a good truck :(

lesson: dont swerve for those stupid F**king deer.

 

my truck is sitting at 1666616 right now !!
5 more miles and.... lol

anyways, Im truly hoping to get at least 300k out of it, and seeing your truck having 244k makes me feel like its doable.
Im guessing you take care of yours pretty much like I take care of mine.
and while it is true my truck also looks great in pics, up close n personal you can see the years taking its toll on the paint.
this is the most recent pic, taken just 2 days ago and my speedo

Ive heard that can cause quite a bit of damage in itself though.
I think the lesson should be swerve, but within reason

 

Paul that sux to hear :(

And Michael that is scary haha.

HERE IS THE BEST PART OF MY TRUCK!!!.......

I took the truck to Jefferson City, Mo last week to pickup a set of wheels for it and after 345 miles there and back I got 25mpg on the dot hahaha. Never heard of any 3.0 4wd's getting anything like that for mileage. At 345 miles I was still well above a quarter tank. About 3/8's. I drive my truck like a baby on the highway though to conserve gas lol. I am hoping in the future with an e-fan, underpully set, and screamin demon coil pack and wires and another road trip I am gonna try to push out 26mpg lmao. I don't think anyone has ever got that in a 3.0 supercab 4wd! :) But I usually average 22-23 with about 70% highway and 30% city. Actually my 244K mile 4wd gets better mileage than my 2000 3.0 2wd with only 94K on it :( Wth?

Oh and yes Michael I do take care of it but it was beat to hell when I got it with 229K on her :( Oil had not been changed in probably 20K miles....not joking either. Coolant looked like it had never been changed and the resivoir was dry with brown gunk in it. Blasted out the coolant tank and radiator and refilled it as well as changed the oil soon as it got home. New plugs and battery had to be done as well. Entire interior replaced too. Seats, carpet, and new steering wheel because the old stuff was stained like hell and smelled even worse! Was a construction truck for sure and had been used like one no doubt. No one would even ride in it till I redid the whole inside it was so bad lol. After 229K miles it was still running good surprisingly. 244K now and runnin just like when I got her.

 

when I got mine several years ago most of my cosmetics were external, along with having to rebuild the front suspension. the only interior problems were the center arm rest was trashed and and has been replaced with new. plus the radio bezel cover was messed up, (as is common) and still is, until I can figure out how to get it off without destroying the darn thing... whoever installed the radio locked it in somehow, the clips simply will not release.
but other than that the truck has run smooth as silk for me, minus a small hiccup a couple yrs ago with a frayed plug wire.

 

When I had a tonneau cover and stock rims and tires, my truck got 25MPG on the highway a few times. I too normally get 21-23MPG DDing my truck. But yours is also a supercab, while mines a reg cab.

Sean

 

Man that is impressive lol I think we are the only ones that get that kind of mileage! Cause everyone else with the 3.0 and 4wd says they are lucky to break 20mpg

 

That stinks. Too bad he didn't hit the deer. Truck season is always open and there is no bag limit!

 

No kidding. I get 20 on the highway driving like an old lady. Though I did do better with a full load a couple of times.

 

I just turned 239k and runs perfect still.

 

That's awesome man. I really hope this thing see's 300K before I gotta do anything major to it.

 

I pulled a 26 going up and down mountain passes at 75 with the a/c on in my little 3.0. I used to get 26-27 before I lifted it with the 32's cause the rpm was so low cruising. But now that its lifted it just gets 22-23. Still aint bad for the little engine that could. Oh, and I only got 115k on it.

 

Yea, its strange how people get such terrible mileage with their trucks. I'm guessing something to do with maintenance...

Sean

 

I maintain mine extremely well, but don't get that kind of mileage. Most people don't get that kind of mileage when new. Most get LESS than what the feds list for the EPA mileage except for some foreign cars. That is why they have recently adjusted their #'s down, since they were considered a joke, almost no one got that mileage. These #'s are all way better than the feds say these vehicles get.

If anything, other than a mechanical fluke, I'd have to say driving style. But that will not be true in all cases. Some also figure mileage by the tank, or estimate, which is useless. I am not saying the immediate participants in this conversation do.

We need to be sure we are not comparing an empty, stripped short bed, regular cab 3.0 2wd with stick to 3.0 4x4 with extended cab, automatic and every option, dressed up, with off road gear in the back though on here, they might be comparable in mpg, apparently. That is why the MPG threads are no good without detailed info. Again, not saying the participants in this conversation, but have noticed some people seem to have a pathological need to brag about good MPG. Kinda sick if you ask me but it is out there.

 

there is more to it than that
you will get much better mpg in cold weather than in hot.
flatter terrain vs rolling.
road degradation.
amount of traffic
wind direction

 

I get much worse MPG in the winter compared to the summer. Like 2-3 difference, same thing with both the Ranger and the 150...

 

strange, I get on avg 1 extra mpg in winter.
but being in FL, that means no snow, just cooler, dryer air.

 

I get worse too. Supposedly I was told that during winter they put additives in the fuel to keep water out of it etc and causes worse mileage. I know I do get worse in winter than summer when I thought I would get better from the cooler air coming in.

And just so everyone knows my truck is not a stripped down 2wd. It is a supercab 4wd 5 speed with 31's so 25mpg I think is more than I could ask for!

 

far more than you could ask :)
Ive heard the same thing, we get the same gas in FL year round, with the same additives we see in summer (at least, as far south as I am) which could be why I see an increase in mpg.

 

People farther north get additives put in the gas so it doesn't get water, gel up, anything like that. Its also more gas like in the winter, and more of a gas and Ethanol mix in the summer. Hence the lower power, but better mileage of the summer compared to winter.

 

All true. My point was that there are a lot of factors to take into account. Then there is treatment in cold weather, do you warm it up for long, etc. I get worse mileage in the winter and I don't warm the vehicle for long. And I am not talking about when using 4WD. I look forward to Summer for better gas mileage in addition to other benefits. I also get better mileage coming back from the mountains.

I still say most of it is the driver, in comparing roughly the same conditions.