I have a 2003 Ranger FX4 with the 4.0 Everything is stock no bigger tires or intake or anything like that. I bought it a few months ago from the original owner, who never drove it. When I bought it it only had 17186. Now just over 18K. My problem is that I have been getting 15mpg or less pretty consistantly as low as 13.2mpg. I changed the air filter which was dirty, and did the fuel filter about an hour ago, the fuel filter looked just fine and gas came out good not dirty or cloudy. So any ideas would be great. I know I should be able to get closer to the 18-19 highway like I did with my other 03.

 

Probably the nut that connects the gas pedal to the steering wheel!

 

rofl niceee...

 

Check and make sure that your thermostat is not stuck open..I just found out mine was..this is prob. not the prob. but worth checking. Just try to notice if your truck comes up to temp pretty quick when you start it. Mine used to take 30-45 min at least
Just a thought

 

Thermostat is fine I assume it comes to temp just fine. And I haven't been on the throttle hard at all I have been driving pretty conservatively.

 

Well dern man I really have no idea.. it could be so many things

 

could be a dirty maf sensor. if the air filter was dirty, the maf could be as well.

 

Any suggestions on ways to clean? Q-Tip or Brake Clean or something? I dont know what to use I have never had to clean one

 

NAPA 4800 brake cleaner works well, just dont over do it. CRC actually makes a MAF cleaner, but for the price, if you arent doing several of them and charging people for it, dont buy that stuff. spray the 4800 directly onto the "wires" in the maf sampling tube.

 

Jack it up and see if you have a dragging brake.

If that checks out.. then I'd look at the 02 sensor swings with a quality scanner/data logger. If they are swinging slowly they may be bad. (unlikely though considering the milage you have)

Rich

 

I would change the diff and transfer case fluids, since its been sitting so long who knows what condition that is in.

Check the brakes too like Rich said.

Also do you drive short trips? If its so cold and short trips that 13-15 is not uncommon.

 

dont touch the wires or use brake clean, you'll end up where you started with residue. stated below, the crc maf cleaner works great, or contact cleaner, both don't leave residue. may need a t20 torx bit to take it off then clean as directed on the spray bottle, works great!

 

argh.........search....winter fuel blend for the loss! During warmer months I range from 17-23 mpg on the highway and average 17-19 mpg city. Once the cooler months hit highway is usually around 15-16, city about the same. That's before I went to larger tires, after I went to larger tires, and now even lifted. You can do all the maintenance you want, which is good, but it's this time of year. Stop and go traffic this time of year has been killing me too. I'm waiting to see what my mileage this next tank. I just pulled 100 miles for a half tank (OUCH!) and will probably be the worst mileage I've ever gotten. I did get a little boost in mileage last month when I put some fuel injector cleaner in. My trip home from Los Alamos, NM to Las Cruces, NM resulted in my highest winter fuel blend mileage this year at 18.7 mpg at a constant 75 mph on highway.

 

Dude...i spray the CRC MAF Cleaner at every oil change. I love it. Also do it to my parents cars when i change their oil. It's like $5-6 a can. WORKS GREAT!!

 

Got a can from Oreillys today. Just got done spraying. Hopefully I see some improvement

 

i have the same problem but i send my truck to ford cause i went from getting 250 miles to the tank to around 200 in the last week so i think somethings a little messes up there

 

So you get bad mileage? After driving like a thousand miles? What is your comparison after 1k? PUT some miles on it. I got 15k on mine in a year. Put some miles on it and then decide what you think is bad.

****

 

Well, as I can aaume that you read the entire post, I compared it to my other 03 that I bought brand new, which I put on 32k miles/yr I knew what kind of mileage I should be getting since it is the exact same truck as I have before except it only has a 4th of the miles as my old one now has 126k when I sold it.

 

i still think it's winter fuel blend.

 

Cleaning the MAF seemed to help a little so far in the first half of this tank of gas, but I do agree winter blend SUCKS. Still have to check my diff and transfer fluids though as well.

 

MY 02 gets just as bad mileage. No mods, just a stock ranger. I do drive like a grandma, and it doesnt help. Heck, it gets the same bad mileage even during the summer. 175 miles on a tank, this sucks. Its both highway and city driving. Mostly highway. The best ranger I ever had for mileage was a 99. But since Ford had the bright idea to always have the front axles turning, this is what you get. Progress my ***.

 

Gas mileage??? My 93 3.0L Ranger with 220,000 miles got 22-25mpg at 75mph.

My 2003 3.0L Ranger Edge with 62,000 miles gets 18-19mpg at 75mph. Now thats regression as I see it. Fords better idea went South to me.

I can, for about $400 get a reprogrammer to get maybe 22-25mpg. Why can't Ford do it if an aftermarket company can?

 

I was getting around 16-17 mpg on an hour and ten minute trip. I figured winter fuel and the coldness. Checked my tire pressure and found it to be 25 psi at all corners. I jacked it up to 45 (tires max psi = 55) and got my mileage back, I forgot all about check the Pressure when it got cold out.

 

What tire size does it have? Are they larger? Did you get your speedo compensated?

If not, you're calculating mileage based on the odometer and bigger tires make it read lower for any given distance. Taking 28" tires to 31" makes your mileage read at lease 10% lower for instance.

Add that to winter fuel loss and so forth and you could have what looks like quite a loss.

Just another thought.

 

As stated above, change all the fluids. Oil especially. Also, again, it was stated above, but tire pressure and size can play a difference, especially if your pressure is low, and your speedometer is inaccurate.

And not to sound like a *****, but I am pretty sure there is no such thing as winter blend vs. summer blend. You have to remember that when it's colder, your engine is working harder to warm up, which can cause a loss in gas mileage. Also, if you let your truck sit idling for longer periods of time to allow it to warm up, you are also losing gas mileage. And if you are using 4WD a lot, too, you gas mileage will drop as well. Just my .02.