Hey all,
Im sure this has been discussed before, but Im new to this forum so bare with me.
I have a 07 ranger, 4cyl, 5 spd. I bought it back in July as a work truck and for its great MPG as I do about 140 miles a day, mostly hwy. Its a great little truck.
Well, I was getting close to 30 hwy. back in July-Aug. Right around October, the throttle body needed cleaning as it was sticking. So I opened it up and sparayed it down with carb cleaner. I didnt go too excessive and I just wiped away the build up with a clean rag. It wasnt really too bad at all, just enough to make it slightly stick on accel.
Anyway, shortly afterwards was when it started getting cold and the gas prices started to drop. Well now Im down to about 27.5 mpg. I know thats still good, but I try to squeeze out every drop.
Im wondering if I might have done something to the TPS or if I can just blame it on the winter blend of gas they use. Ive heard that the winter blend has chemicals in it that keep it from freezing, but the chemicals make it burn faster. About a 10% decrease in mpg is typical.
What do you guys think?
BTW, I keep the tires, fluids, filters all good.

 

Just normal "winter" mileage, I'm sure. I went from 28 in August to 23-25mpg now.

 

All the gas I can find is E10, 10% Ethanol, 90% gas. Mileage drop sounds about right for the winter blend. Keep your tire pressure up. I run 36 psi.

I do better on the pure 87 and I have flexfuel (never burnt it tho').

You can backprobe the TPS signal wire (key in Run, engine not running). The wire you want will have .9v? (ideal) at rest and goes up toward 5v as you open the throttle.

There's a "procedure" for testing it which you should search for and follow. It'll have better detail, perhaps telling you which wire. I'm just giving you the "gist" of it, since you asked. I don't think you need to bother.

 

Yeah thanks. I dont think I will get into any "adjustment" on the TPS. I just really wanted to find out if you guys were having the 10% drop in the winter too. Thanks.

 

I experience a drop in mileage of 10 - 15 % in the winter (and I keep track of every drop of gas that the truck burns).

A lot of it is the little stuff adding up - starting up the truck a little early and letting it warm up; a lot of idling; driving through snow/slush, using 4wd all burn more fuel; vehicles move sluggishly until they warm up -you can feel the "resistance" in your truck when you first drive off when it's cold - the parts need some time to warm up to operating temperature.

Keep an eye on it and keep us posted.