Fuel Mileage!!!!
- Thread starter Justin Spafford
- Start date
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Justin Spafford
Member
I just bought the truck in December. I regret it everyday when the wife tells me how much gas she uses. It seems to run fine. I have no idea of the maintenance. The stuff I checked looked good, air filter, fluids, etc.
Tires are the OEM Wranger RT/S, she drives through a lot of traffic in the morning but as other people mention they get 12-16 in the city? It's been in the -0's in the morning, but she parks in the garage which is usually 30ish degrees.
Lastly, sometimes the truck smells like rotten eggs (catalytic converter), not all the time though.. What would cause it to run extremely rich sometimes and not others?
Tires are the OEM Wranger RT/S, she drives through a lot of traffic in the morning but as other people mention they get 12-16 in the city? It's been in the -0's in the morning, but she parks in the garage which is usually 30ish degrees.
Lastly, sometimes the truck smells like rotten eggs (catalytic converter), not all the time though.. What would cause it to run extremely rich sometimes and not others?
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2003
- Messages
- 22,366
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- Location
- Long Island, NY
- What engine do you have?
- V8 engine
- What year is your Sport Trac?
- 2010
- What Generation is your Sport Trac?
- 2n Gen Owner
That smell is from the additives in the gas reacting with the cats....
Also Winter Fuel mixes KILL MPG...
Todd Z
Also Winter Fuel mixes KILL MPG...
Todd Z
Bob Bendfeldt
Active Member
Justin sorry to hear you regret getting the ST. I got mine (07 w/4.6) about the same time you got yours. The first couple of tanks of gas I was getting 18 plus mpg, then I had my magnaflo exhaust installed, and since then I'm getting about 13 mpg and I"m SOOOO happy. I don't even play the radio anymore. Although I have an automatic I'm always shifting, and red lining the rpms at least a few times on every tank of gas. I love this truck. Too bad you can't enjoy yours for what it is.
Benny
Benny
Bob Bendfeldt
Active Member
Justin sorry to hear you regret getting the ST. I got mine (07 w/4.6) about the same time you got yours. The first couple of tanks of gas I was getting 18 plus mpg, then I had my magnaflo exhaust installed, and since then I'm getting about 13 mpg and I"m SOOOO happy. I don't even play the radio anymore. Although I have an automatic I'm always shifting, and red lining the rpms at least a few times on every tank of gas. I love this truck. Too bad you can't enjoy yours for what it is.
Benny
Benny
psycareyo,
it has been proven that warming up an engine before you start to drive is just a waste of gas. The engine will warm up faster under the load of driving than just idleing. That only helped carburated engines to get the choke to shut off because they did not very well untill the choke started to open up, and you alwasy had a fast idle.
New vuel injected engines with O2 sensor and fuel management systems can better manage fuel/air mixture much better than the old choke systems.
Also, Warmin up the engine does not do anything to save the life of the engine or reduce wear. When you start the engine and you have oil pressure, that's as good as it gets and the faster you get the engine and oil up to operating temperature, the better, and driving the vehicle does that faster than standing still and idleing. Remember, you are burning a lot of gas (rich mixture) and you are not moving so you MPG is ZERO (0). The 5 minutes you were ideling, I could probably be 4+ miles down the road.
It is not good to stress the enigne with high speed driving or heavy hauling until the engine is warmed completely, but that is not what we are talking about here. This is just normal everyday commuting.
...Rich
it has been proven that warming up an engine before you start to drive is just a waste of gas. The engine will warm up faster under the load of driving than just idleing. That only helped carburated engines to get the choke to shut off because they did not very well untill the choke started to open up, and you alwasy had a fast idle.
New vuel injected engines with O2 sensor and fuel management systems can better manage fuel/air mixture much better than the old choke systems.
Also, Warmin up the engine does not do anything to save the life of the engine or reduce wear. When you start the engine and you have oil pressure, that's as good as it gets and the faster you get the engine and oil up to operating temperature, the better, and driving the vehicle does that faster than standing still and idleing. Remember, you are burning a lot of gas (rich mixture) and you are not moving so you MPG is ZERO (0). The 5 minutes you were ideling, I could probably be 4+ miles down the road.
It is not good to stress the enigne with high speed driving or heavy hauling until the engine is warmed completely, but that is not what we are talking about here. This is just normal everyday commuting.
...Rich
Thomas Rogers
Well-Known Member
What Richard L said regarding "warming up" an engine!
Only reason to let a car run any real period of time before taking off is to bring up (or down) the cabin temperature. That's useful in cold climates this time of year; but mostly for comfort. There is no gas savings...just gas usage.
Only reason to let a car run any real period of time before taking off is to bring up (or down) the cabin temperature. That's useful in cold climates this time of year; but mostly for comfort. There is no gas savings...just gas usage.
Fudged Undies
Well-Known Member
Sell the trac, buy a car. City driving will never be in your favor with the trac.
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TJR makes a good point. If you have to scrape ice or snow off your vehicle, then it only makes sense to be able to get into a nice warm vehicle when you are ready to go. I do that myself, but if it's clear and cold, I just start it up and drive off.
My comments were for those who might think that warming up the engine before starting to drive is better for the engine, it's not and it only waste more gas. If you are doing it for comfort, then you are willing to buy a little extra gas for such comforts, and that's OK too. Afterall, didn't you buy you Sport Trac for the comfort features?
If you are just sitting in a cold vehicle waiting for the engine to warm up, then that is just dumb and wastes gas and you are not benefiting in anyway.
...Rich
My comments were for those who might think that warming up the engine before starting to drive is better for the engine, it's not and it only waste more gas. If you are doing it for comfort, then you are willing to buy a little extra gas for such comforts, and that's OK too. Afterall, didn't you buy you Sport Trac for the comfort features?
If you are just sitting in a cold vehicle waiting for the engine to warm up, then that is just dumb and wastes gas and you are not benefiting in anyway.
...Rich
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Tom S
Member
How far is her drive to work?
Short winter trips will affect fuel economy worse than if you put a lower-temp thermostat in your cooling system. Air-fuel ratios are affected by coolant temperatures, so until the engine is fully warmed up you'll be using considerably more gas than normal.
I bought my '03 ST in Ohio on Halloween, got 18.5 mpg on each fill-up on my way home with it. Switched to Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5W30 before a trip to Florida in December... range was 19-21 mpg on that trip. Then I changed my rear differential & transfer case fluids last month just before it got colder here... my economy hasn't improved, but it hasn't gotten worse either. I suspect when outside temps warm up again I'll see my daily mpg get better too.
The worst mpg I've gotten so far was 12, but I did probably 30-40 short start-stop cycles while moving firewood from one area to another in my yard (lot is 420' long). Going short distances, cold temps, and frequent starting kills the fuel economy of any vehicle.
Being that you don't know the history of maintenance, I'd recommend changing all of the fluids, the thermostat, spark plugs, and new air filter, possibly have someone check the performance of your oxygen sensors too.
Maybe you can persuade Mrs. Justin that since you're replacing them for "maintenance reasons" that you can upgrade to a CAI, less-restrictive exhaust (for better mpg), or whatever else if you're wanting to mod it.
TJ
Short winter trips will affect fuel economy worse than if you put a lower-temp thermostat in your cooling system. Air-fuel ratios are affected by coolant temperatures, so until the engine is fully warmed up you'll be using considerably more gas than normal.
I bought my '03 ST in Ohio on Halloween, got 18.5 mpg on each fill-up on my way home with it. Switched to Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5W30 before a trip to Florida in December... range was 19-21 mpg on that trip. Then I changed my rear differential & transfer case fluids last month just before it got colder here... my economy hasn't improved, but it hasn't gotten worse either. I suspect when outside temps warm up again I'll see my daily mpg get better too.
The worst mpg I've gotten so far was 12, but I did probably 30-40 short start-stop cycles while moving firewood from one area to another in my yard (lot is 420' long). Going short distances, cold temps, and frequent starting kills the fuel economy of any vehicle.
Being that you don't know the history of maintenance, I'd recommend changing all of the fluids, the thermostat, spark plugs, and new air filter, possibly have someone check the performance of your oxygen sensors too.
Maybe you can persuade Mrs. Justin that since you're replacing them for "maintenance reasons" that you can upgrade to a CAI, less-restrictive exhaust (for better mpg), or whatever else if you're wanting to mod it.
TJ
robert broere
Active Member
last fill up. i got 17 around town.pretty happy with that.
