Help Me! Horrible Gas Mileage!

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Ryan Martinez

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Feb 6, 2010
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Location
Plantation, FL
I just went 254 miles on my sport tracs tank (22gal):cry:

That means that I'm getting 11.54 MPG...That's horrible

I drive very defensively in order to use a little gas as possible.:driving:

I have no special exhaust or intake.

No power adders at all. Completely Stock, 2005 Black Sport Trac XLT V6

I've also only had it for a month now, and I've gone about 1000mi.

The dealer changed my oil, filter, coolant, and topped off my other levels.

I was thinking about changing my plugs, cause I think they're original.

76,259 miles, btw.

What are some good fuel mileage adders. I don't care if performance is robbed. I don't race, and i trailer a little Boston Whaler 13, and trailer n boat weigh like 1000.
 
changing the plugs will help if the originals are still in w/ 76K on the truck. The plugs are somewhat difficult/PITA to change out, but can be done if so inclined. Do a search for spark plugs and you'll find the right plug to use and check out the projects sections of the site. Good info there as well. Don't expect great mpg's with the ST, its' a heavy truck, & slightly underpowered, check the air filter, probably should clean the TB as well, and doing the seafoam treatment could help as well (projects section again).



You don't indicate what type of daily driving, hwy, or city, so that will affect your mpg's alot as well. Try to stay under 3K rpms when accelerating or lower if possible. I have found that turning off the OD in stop & go driving actually improves mpg's just a bit as the engine doesn't lug down and it stays in the power band, but still watch the rpms, and watch the mph as well. BTW, welcome to the site
 
I can get up to 350 miles on a tank of gas if mostly highway. Usually I fill up when I hit 300. I dont drive like a madman but I do floor the truck plenty. You need a good tune-up. Oh and my truck is stick shift so that saves a bit on gas right there and I also need to do a tuneup because I havent done it since getting the truck a year ago. (was taking care of other issues with the trac)
 
Totally knock out the plugs and the fuel filter...and get rid of the wires, since they're dead--mine were bonded to the plugs That MPG is heinous. Dat ain't rait.



Normally with my short in-traffic commute(13-15 mpg) and then my later day longer commute(20 mpg) I get at least 350 out of a tank. Now I'm getting closer to my normal 400 with the ST getting used to the new tires and mods, and the warmer weather.



Got 480 on a road trip, driving like a midwesterner through the Midwest and Appalachia.





Lowest MPG ever was 16.8, with a cracked spark plug. Average is 19.4 MPG. Been getting some lower MPGs (18s) lately, but the bulk of 20s from the summer is pulling the average up for me.



I'd be giving that dealer a suspicious glare...though only 1000 miles in a month? Man, I don't remember when I only had to drive that little amount, I feel like a modern centaur--human torso, ST legs.



Again, plugs & fuel filter. Plugs are "fun", fuel filter I was gonna do mahself, but i got it done for free. That did make a noticable improvement (0.5 mpg).
 
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With 305-40-22s tires they are pretty heavy I manage to get 300 miles then the check gauge light comes on. M-F highway back and forth to work. Weekend mixed.



01 Job 2 88k

Intake

Exhaust

Fairly New Plugs and Wires

TB cleaned

Tuner always set to 91 performance
 
One this I'd like to add (which I did not heed myself), stick with the OEM spark plugs. Don't try to get fancy by putting in Bosch Ir or NKG. They actually had the opposite effect & I lost mpg.

Stick with the OEM Motorcraft





(yeah yeah yeah, I know you ALL told me but did I listen......NOOOOO!):sad:
 
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But hey, you had the fun of going back under the ST and doing the job right...as did I, when I tried to use only the rubber-coated plug socket and cracked a plug :(



Taking the tires off + fender guards = fun. Just watch out for the magical vacuum ball that no one told me was in there, which rains down when you unhook it all on the passenger side.



(Seriously, the tire + wheel well combo is the easiest by far. When you can see what you're getting at, it is so much easier than trying to play Operation in the dark with a swivel socket)



 
I am going to change my plugs here shortly also, does anyone know of any good quality , low cost wires to accompany them?

 
I have repeated this numerous times in the past.



DO NOT USE THE GAS GAUGE TO CALCULATE YOUR GAS MILEAGE. It is highly inaccurate.



The only way you should check mileage is to fill the truck up until you can see gas at the filler pipe restrictor. Drive the vehicle for at least 100 miles where you normally drive every day.



Go back to the same pump and fill the tank until you see gas at the filler pipe restictor again. Now you have replaced exactly the gas you used. Get the number gallons off the pump including all the decimal positions (usually 100th's of a gallon). Then get the Odometer reading down to the 10th of a mile. Divide the miles driven by the gallons of gas used, and you have a resonably accurate MPG reading.



Most mileage is based on your driving habits. Assuming you are driving to conserve gas, properly inflated tires, clean air filter, etc, most of the other factors you will not have much control over. The biggest differnces come from stop and go traffice, how much traffic, temperature, weather conditions, terrain, etc all all factors that can effect mileage, but you can't do much about.



...Rich
 
RL, good advice, but who is saying that they're calculating gas mileage by the gauge? I read the OP as doing essentially what you're advocating, perhaps just using the vacuum based auto shutoff instead of the rather anal watching for the gas to get to the restricter in the tube.



I find it interesting that the 2002 ST's trip odometer shows 1/10th mileage, but the odometer only shows whole miles :(



For individual trips, I use the ScanGauge II, wonderful invention that it is.



 
I'm confused how you got 22 gallons in your tank, did you drive it until it was empty? You only had half a gallon left in it?



1. Fill your gas tank until it is full, don't top off, it stops when it's full.

2. Reset your trip odometer

3. Drive around until you need gas

4. Fill up your tank, record the gallons, look at the odometer and divide that number by the number of gallons.

5. Post again and let us know your real mileage.
 
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I'm confused--the OP says that he drove out all 22 gallons, and for those 22 gallons he only got 254 miles.



That's the exact type of calculation ya'll are advocating for him to do.



I put 22 some-odd gallons into my ST all the time when I'm doing distance driving and end up forced to take it to the limit.



Sadly, the CAI that I didn't have on (Stupid Emissions Test) would have gotten me 22 more miles to the tank :(
 
KL,

I just went 254 miles on my sport tracs tank (22gal)

That means that I'm getting 11.54 MPG...That's horrible
Click to expand...



When someone gives mileage for a single tank of gas in gallons rounded to an exact gallon of gas they are typically using the gas gauge to measure or guestimate gas consumed and will get a very inaccurate reading. People on this site have been doing that for years. If you round the number you get inaccurate MPG numbers. Also, most people will fill the tank to a specific gallon or sales price rounded to the nearest 10 or 25 cent reading on the pump



Did he really drive all 22 gallons out of the tank? Maybe it was only 20 gallons but the gauge read Empty? Did he pull over to the side of the road as soon as he got to the 254 gallon mark?



I have put 23 gallons in my 2001 Sport Trac that only had a 20.5 gallon tank and it wasn't even on empty?? I have also put 24+ gallons in my 2003 Sport Trac with the 22 gallon tank and drove over 460 miles on a tank of gas. But I never used those readings to calculate gas mileage until I filled the tank to the same level. If you drive unil the tank says empty, just exactly how much gas did you use?? You don't know until you fill the tank to the exact same level it was when you started



Had he said that he drove 254.6 miles on 21.24 gallons of gas it would probably be an accurate reading. Even then, a single tank of gas does not really give a true picture of the vehicle's gas mileage, just the MPG for that tankfull



Also, it does not matter how much a person puts in the tank, but how much he uses out of that tank, and you can only get an accurate measurement if you fill it to exactly the same level, that's why I recommend filling the tank till you see gas at the filler neck restrictor plate each time fro gas mileage test. I don't recommend over-filling the tank on a regular basis.



If you only fill it till the pump shuts off, once or twice, that is not accuarate because not all pumps shut off a the same fuel level and the gas settles down immediately and you can add more fuel. Unless you can see the gas level in the tank, you do not know exactly how much gas you put in the tank.



...Rich



 
Ah. See now, I assume that he actually did consume all 22 gallons, as that's what I would have done, and used the pump to fill up fully.



Doing it by the notoriously inaccurate ST gas gauge and "guesstimation" makes 0 sense, and gives you a meaningless MPG number.



I take the analysis of gas further and use the total gas used per tank, checked by individual trip amounts summed, to make sure that I'm putting in as much as came out, at least.



Got my MPG going back 2 years, almost entirely uninterrupted save for when my family had the ST while I was out of the country and they lost the mileage book, and I hadn't entered the data into my Excel spreadsheets :( :(



Plan fill till you can see it is a nice retro trick that I do like to employ, though I said it was anal, though when I'm forced to stop at a BP, that's tricky as IME once they click off, they will not restart until you start a new transaction. Same with Citgo, but I hate 'em anyhow.



They told me it's a "safety feature", along with having to give 'em your zip code and be limited to either 50 (HAH) or 75 bucks.



(And yes, even if you hold it, without using the little widget to hold the lever for you, it'll click off)
 
Ryan, a couple of things to do since you have 76k on the truck is:

Clean the

Idle Air Control

Throttle Body

Mass Air Flow Sensor

Replace the PCV valve, fuel filter, plugs(stay OEM), wires, air filter. Tipical tune-up stuff, it'll make a world of difference.

:banana::haveabeer::supercool:
 
Oh yeah, forgot about the PCV. 10 bucks and 10 seconds (ok, took me 10 minutes) to change that guy out. Made a difference, since mine was dead. 90 degree pliers and a twist of the wrist and the job is done, literally.
 
Just to be sure, I drove it completely empty.

When I filled up, it said that I filled up with 21.23 gallons.:throwup:

I'm cleaning out my throttle body, and replacing my plugs.

That's all I can afford right now. When I get some money, I'll replace the wires, air filter, fuel filter, and get a Flowmaster 40 Series.:bwahaha:
 
I've filled up to 22.6 gallons before. It's a bad habit of mine. Trying to stop.



220k miles. Normally get 400-420 miles per tank. But I drive 100-150 miles per day, mostly freeway.
 

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