New to the forum. New to cars. My first post here.


I recently bought a 2007 Ranger 3L v6 extended cab 2wd automatic with 177,000 km (110k miles) on it.


Last three fill ups

19.5 L/100. Or 12.07 MPG

19.7L/100. or. 11.93MPG

21L/100. Or. 11.16MPG


Work i have done:

-change parking brake cable and rear drum brakes

-changed Engine air filter (Super dirty probably never changed)

- Clean MAF

-Seafoam throttle bottle, in oil and gas tank.


Truck seems to run and sound great.


Obd2 throwing no codes.


Previous own stated he changed plugs and wires. I do see new wires but have not checked the plugs myself.


99% city driving.


Any thought? How can i improve my MPG.


Thanks

 

Interesting. If you have OBD2 they have computers that can read all the sensor values and fuel trims etc.. that might be the easiest way to get a picture of what's going on. Those readers are expensive though. Maybe a shop can run it? I'd think some emissions sensor or evap system issue? Like if it was reading lean so adding more fuel kinda thing? Or running hot it adds fuel to cool engine. Maybe a vacuum leak?
I know new spark plugs give a performance boost. Maybe help economy? Idk.

 

Or it could just be that your city commute has lots of traffic and stops? If your not really getting going to 35mph + much that could explain it.
maybe try a highway test? Fill up near a highway ramp till it clicks then drive 100 miles round trip. Or just 10 miles for a quicker less accurate test. 5 miles down and 5 back. Go back to the gas station and fill up till it clicks again and record the exact amount of gas that was used. If your highway test has decent mileage it could just be that your not getting up to normal speeds in the city.

 

Any of the above reasons (99% city driving is damn near all of it)...and
1) Could be Heavy Foot Syndrome caused by outside stresses. Anger and driving don't mix.
2) I've heard of 100,000 miles being the time to change the O2 sensors. They wear out and, fortunately, are cheaper than average.
3) Have you checked the condition / presence of differential fluid?
4) Failed open thermostat causing a run cool condition?

The "pure highway" test is a good idea.

 

Change both upstream O2 sensors, at 177k miles I am sure they are original, they wear out at 100-125k miles and then start to go "lean" but its a false lean so computer runs the engine Richer than it needs to be, and MPG starts to go down and down, and down

Always change Upstream O2s around 100k miles and they will pay for themselves over the next 100k miles in MPG savings

They also only last 10-12 years or so, so if miles are low but years are high, change them

The downstream O2(s) will usually set a code when its time is up, it sees "cleaner exhaust" so tends to last much longer than upstream, but up to you

 

I will try the pure highway test. I was also thinking it might be the o2 sensors. Thanks guys.

 

As Ron Said O2 sensors will make a difference, search the forum for my post of O2 sensors and where to get the correct information for your truck. It made a difference for me.

 

Just as a heads up

The 3.0l Vulcan engine makes best torque/power at 3,500RPMs
Most engines do that at 2,500RPMs
So you need to run RPMs a bit higher than you might think to get best MPG

It the way the engine was designed and the way its suppose to work, people often call it the 3.slow but thats because they were driving like other engines, it would be like driving a Ferrari at 2,000rpms and complaining about lack of power, lol.

 

++1 on what you said Ron as when I make a drive of 2 hours or more on California freeways out of town and the speed limit is 70 (of course that means I am driving on an open freeway about 85+) and on some hills I make sure I have it above 3K RPMs I end up with 21 MPG. This is with 255K miles on my 2003 with automatic trans.

 

Update. Small sample
just did 20miles all highway.

Got 20.8 MPG. Yay!

 

That's way to small of a sample, you need to do at least 100 miles, preferably over 200 miles.

 

This is true, But it is enough to settle my mind for the moment or until i can do a can do more of a test.

 

That's pretty decent