Fuel Mileage!!!!

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Justin Spafford

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Canal Winchester, OH
This truck is horrible! I just filled up from 1/4 a tank and only went 120 miles. Seriously 3/4 of a tank used for a lowsy 120 miles! I did the math, I got 10.1 mpg!!



What the hell is wrong with this thing? I got 20mpg once on a all highway trip. Then the next tank (city) it went down to 17, then to 12, now to 10! The truck will be driven most in the city so I cannot afford to let the wife drive it this way.



If it does not get better I am going to sell it. Sad because I love it otherwise and so does she. What should I check? No CEL's, I have no idea where to start!:(
 
Not much you can do except watch your driving habits. Quick take offs or really any time the RPM's go above 3K you are burning gas at a quick rate. You will also get worse mileage with winter gas. Mine really goes in the tank during winter.;)
 
Is your wife driving with a heavy foot in the city? Winter gas formulation gives bad milage, especially with jack rabbit starts. If you buying your gas at one place. Try filling up elsewhere, see what happens.



Might want to try some techron injector cleaner. Also get some MAF cleaner and wash off the MAF sensor. I see that you have 65K. Time for plugs and wires also. They claim 100K for the plugs. But they start going down hill at that mileage. The O2 sensors can also start messing with mpg around that mileage and not throw a code. I would have them checked after you do the other things first.
 
I just don't get the fact my first all highway trip (200 miles) I did on half a tank. When I filled up I calculated miles driven/gallons to fillup and got a hair over 20mpg...which is GREAT, I was even happy with 17... If it CAN get that high, I don't see why it would need all the things mentioned above. Afterall, this is only the 3rd tank since it got 20 MPG.



 
Our tracs can have a extreme difference in city vs highway. In the city my mpg will drop like a rock if I dont keep the rpms down. If I drive nice I get 15 to 16 city. If I dont I get 10. I tested it myself.



Most of the gearheads on this site will tell you. At 65K, do the plugs and wires.
 
Dont calculate your miles by the tank. Calculate by the fuel put in at the next fiil up and miles driven. Our fuel gauges are not accurate.
 
My best suggestion is to do the tune work or live with it. Our tracs definitly get worse mpg starting at that milage. Your mpg is not that far out of line with alot of us. Especialy for city.



Not garanteeing a major increase but it is time milage wise for a tune up. Get the codes read at autozone. There might be some hard codes in memory that never triped the CEL.
 
Does the wife let it "Warm Up" before she drives it? Does she drive alot of city driving with many stops?



If so, that is your problem. My Trac drops to 14 MPG in the winter driving the same roads I do in the summer getting 21 MPG.





Tom
 
Dont calculate your miles by the tank. Calculate by the fuel put in at the next fiil up and miles driven. Our fuel gauges are not accurate
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This is true. On my 04's gauge, the first quarter tank will get about 120 miles on the odo, by the halfway mark the odo is at about 210 miles, at the 3/4 mark the odo reads about 290 miles, then the "low fuel" indicator trips at around 320 miles.
 
You might want to try a can of SEA FOAM MOTOR TREATMENT ?



Heres the Website Link. http://www.seafoamsales.com/motorTuneUpTechGas.htm
 
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The highway MPG vs town in both my ST's ranges a lot..



My 03 gets around 19 City and 24-27 highway



My 04 Gets around 16-18 city and 19-21 highway....



Todd Z
 
By 30 miles I am down to 3/4 a tank, by 80-90 miles it's down to 1/2 tank, by 120 miles it's down to 1/4 tank.



Yes, she drives in the city. I was under the assumption most vehicles were supposed to get around 3mpg difference between city and highway, not 10!
 
Justin,

Lots of reasons why you may be getting poor mileage.



1. Don't use your gas gauge to estimate fuel used. It is notoriously inaccurate. Take an accurate reading of the amount of gas you pumped into the tank and an accuate mileage off you odometer.



2. If you changed tire size (like snow tires) you are getting an inaccurate reading on your speedometer and odometer.



3. It's winter and you are running a state mandated winter blend of gas that has a bit more alcohol in it as and you will never get very good mileage with winter gas.



4. The weather. It's winter, the enigine is cold and uses more fuel until it warms up, which takes much longer. Also, the weather effect the road conditions which means more rain and snow causing more wheel spin and more gas used.



5. Traffic conditions. If you live or drive in any kind of city traffic, it will have a big effect on mileage. Also, if you go by schools zones in your daily commute, there is usually a lot more traffice and you will catch more traffic lights when the school is open than when it's closed. I noticed that where I live. I only live a couple of miles from work in suburban traffic, but when school is in session the traffic is so heavy that it takes me twice as long to get to work and my mileage takes a real nose dive.



Also, the Sport Trac is not noted for it's city mileage. It's a heavy vehicle that takes a lot of energy to get rolling. Anytime you have to make a lot of stops, or even slow down and speed up, you are eating a lot more gas...but that's what city driving is like and the Sport Trac is not designed to be an economical city vehicle.



...Rich
 
10 mpg isn't acceptable, you have a problem. How long have you had the vehicle? Where did you buy it from? Does it ping when you accelerate heavily?
 
Just to add.... What kind of maintenance has been done ?? Filters, Fluids ??



Todd Z
 
I let mine warm up 5min before driving it in the morning. I jump in and go without warmup for lunch and at the end of the work day.



I live .5 miles from my job. I drive the long way home as often as I can so the engine can at least warm up a little. I just have an phobia about starting and stopping the vehicle in less than 3min. It doesn't even get warm. I literally drive less than 3 miles per day so the economy is horrible.



During this time of year I get about 9-10mpg city and 16 highway. However, that includes mpg lost for warm up time. During the summer I get 14-16 mpg avg city and at least 21-24mpg highway.



I don't baby it anymore. Every time I drive like an old woman I get issues with transmission shift flares.



I have a AWD V8. I don't consider the above bad economy for what it is.
 
If you attempt to sell or trade your 02 ST you're going to take a beating on it. You're going to end up taking out a loan for thousands of dollars for something else just to get a cheaper fuel bill? That doesn't make financial sense at all. I'll bet that 02 is nearly paid off or paid off?
 
By 30 miles I am down to 3/4 a tank, by 80-90 miles it's down to 1/2 tank, by 120 miles it's down to 1/4 tank.
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You must have a fuel leak...With a high pressure system, you wont see it. It will evaporate quik.
 

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