Gas Mileage

[maskeet]

I have a 1994 B3000. Wut can i do to increase gas mileage?

[koda6966]

Less extreme - Smaller tires, Drive slower, Don't over-accelerate.

Extreme - Lower it, swap in a manual and a smaller engine.



Overall theres not much you can do.

[Roddy1]

^^^ wow, weird reply.. maybe disregard that post.

Id recommend a good tune up, change the plugs, wires, air filter, fuel filter, oil etc.

On top of that you might want to look at a K&N drop in and a free flow exhaust, and just drive it like a granny. :headbang:

[koda6966]

^^^ wow, weird reply.. maybe disregard that post.
Id recommend a good tune up, change the plugs, wires, air filter, fuel filter, oil etc.
On top of that you might want to look at a K&N drop in and a free flow exhaust, and just drive it like a granny. :headbang:

And why would you disregard that post bub?
Judging from his original post, hes looking for an increase in mpg, usually a notable increase.

Theres not much you can do that will give you upwards of a few more miles.

[maskeet]

thank you both and i figured but i thought mine as well ask with the price of gas right?

Roddy1 i have already done all that except for the free flow exhaust and K&N

[koda6966]

thank you both and i figured but i thought mine as well ask with the price of gas right?

Roddy1 i have already done all that except for the free flow exhaust and K&N

Yea, it's up to 4.00 finally around here. And still going up.
I've considered selling my ranger and buying a geo. :bad:
But I can deal with the high prices until it hits $5.

[tanbuddy]

A tonneau cover is supposed to increase mileage too. Also, pump up the tires to max pressure, use a street tread insted of a aggressive tread, and lighten the truck as much as possible, use synthetic oils.

[koda6966]

A tonneau cover is supposed to increase mileage too. Also, pump up the tires to max pressure, use a street tread insted of a aggressive tread, and lighten the truck as much as possible, use synthetic oils.

Actually, a tonneau gives you worse mileage. The airstream going over your truck will hit the hard surface and create friction. But if your truck is just an open bed with the tailgate up, it hits the soft swirly vacuum of air thing. I dont quite know how to explain it, but I'm pretty sure thats what happens.

Max pressure in your tires also gives you worse mileage, you should keep it at the manufacturers suggested rating, not too hard not too soft.

Synthetic oils could be bad for your engine after a certain point of using normal organic oils. It gets used to one type and then switching... isn't good for it. Same for using organic in a engine that always had synthetic used in it. I could just be talking out of my arse on that, but I'm pretty sure I'm right on that too. I'll leave it up to someone with a lot more knowledge about engines to correct me if I'm wrong.

[TrucksGetDirty]

Don't complain my friend...
this is my B3000--

1/4tank = 4.875gallons

Highway:
100miles burns 1/4tank

City
20miles burns 1/4tank

How does that work? No idea.

[hihoslvr]

I have a 1994 B3000. Wut can i do to increase gas mileage?

park it, and ride the bus

[Boggin]

lol, or even cheaper a pedel bike

[99MazdaB4000]

sorry koda6966...

Nope, you can go from synthetic to regular oils all you want, your engine does not know...but the difference comes from the viscosities because a lower viscosity weight, the easier it is for your crankshaft and what not to move through it...you can knife edge your crank too if you want to be extreme...it will rev faster.

Again if you pump your tires up to their maximum pressure range you will get better gas mileage as there is less rolling resistance.

Thirdly its not that the air hits the hard surface of the cover and creates friction, its the fact that the air creates a buffer of air inside your bed that allows the air to pass over the cab down to the buffer and thus clearing the tailgate. That is according to myth busters, but on my short bed truck I tested it with my tailgate on and my tailgate off, then the results were that on the highway with the tailgate off I got a noticeably better gas mileage. Otherwise they were very close in overall mpg.

[99MazdaB4000]

I get 100 miles on the highway in my truck I use slightly under half a tank.

[inferno94]

Don't complain my friend...
this is my B3000--

1/4tank = 4.875gallons

Highway:
100miles burns 1/4tank

City
20miles burns 1/4tank

How does that work? No idea.

WHAT?!

I get ~25mpg (10L/100km) towing a boat! and 27-28ish (9.5L/100km) unloaded both highway. In town I get 450-500km to 3/4-7/8 tank.

I beat on my truck to break it in, maybe thats the key?

I run synthetic oil, k&n insert, 235/75/15 tires (35psi) 4.1 torsen axle, manual trans, soft tonneau. Truck has about 14000km = 8750mi.

[Birdman09]

yall shouldnt be complaining bout gas, my bronco gets less than 5mpg city, and worse highway, cause its got a 3spd auto, and 35" tires. which is why im selling it, to probaly get a ranger 4x4

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/DriftingRz/bronco4.jpg

$10 gets me to school and back and i live 4 miles from school

[TrucksGetDirty]

WHAT?!

I get ~25mpg (10L/100km) towing a boat! and 27-28ish (9.5L/100km) unloaded both highway. In town I get 450-500km to 3/4-7/8 tank.

I beat on my truck to break it in, maybe thats the key?

I run synthetic oil, k&n insert, 235/75/15 tires (35psi) 4.1 torsen axle, manual trans, soft tonneau. Truck has about 14000km = 8750mi.

I think my gas gage if off hah, cause with the last 1/4 gallon I got 200miles in the city? And then it just randomly dropped down to E. :annoyed:

[rngrdngr]

leave ur truck stock, # 1 most important. #2 dont add a kn intake, they can help but most of the time floor it to hear the sound. #3 add a vacuum gauge and keep the vacuum as low as possible(may be backwards it might be as high as possible cant remember for sure.
O and add aluminum 17inch rims with stock tire size,lightens rotational load.

[prls1power]

DANG!!!!!!!! BIRDMAN09, i'm sorry to hear that. your almost paying $1.00 per mile on the bronco. It would be cheaper if you rode a taxi cab everywhere, save yourself some money. :3gears:

[Kona]

Switch to a Nissan or a actual Mazda (pre 93 ) truck. Tune up, gas filter , syn oil like Mobil 1 ( type 4 syn oil only, not 3) tires at 35, smooth street treads, syn gear oil/atf, learn to drive smooth MAKE SURE your wheel bearings are good. That was good for 1 mpg right there. Cat back exhaust.

[rponycar]

My B2300, 5 spd gets 20MPG. City,Hwy, air on or off, doesn't matter. Clean air filter, standard size tires, good plugs(all 8) and oil changed every 3,ooo. The only thing I have not done is replace o2 sensor(s). Would this help?
It also has 226,000 miles, doesn't leak or smoke.
r

[Boggin]

rpony, what year is your 2300?

[koda6966]

rpony, what year is your 2300?

Sig says its a '97.

[rponycar]

Yep, 97.

[Boggin]

k thanks

[Will]

Crankshaft doesn't touch the oil in the pan. If it did, there would never be any oil in there because it would be spun like cotton candy around the reciprocating bits. That's the danger of over-filling when you change it. In a racing motor where the motion of the car combined with high rpms come into play, a windage tray and maybe knife edging are useful. Fuel saving oil is probably low viscosity so the oil pump doesn't draw as much power.

There's nothing you can do really. You can't cheat them into using less fuel to get the same power. The way to get better mileage is to reduce your horsepower requirements. Think about what it would take to drag your truck around by a rope, and think about how to make that easier. Reducing the frontal area matters a lot on the highway. Narrower, high pressure tires will help. Less weight would make some difference. But none of it will be cost effective. At current fuel prices increasing your annual average 10%, from 18 to 20mpg say, will save you about $300/year for an average person. If you spend $500 to get that 10%, where are you?

You need to get rid of the thing if it's killing you and get a shitbox. My shitbox is going to use half the money as my truck--about $1,700 year savings. I'm keeping both because the little car is going to pay for itself in no time flat.

[hihoslvr]

My B2300, 5 spd gets 20MPG. City,Hwy, air on or off, doesn't matter. Clean air filter, standard size tires, good plugs(all 8) and oil changed every 3,ooo. The only thing I have not done is replace o2 sensor(s). Would this help?
It also has 226,000 miles, doesn't leak or smoke.
r

I'm confused, you got an 8cyl?
You get the same mpg's as mine, it's just a hair under 44,000.

[99MazdaB4000]

The crankshafts do touch the oil, that is also how it circulates the oil in the bottom end and the pump circulates the oil in the top end. Almost every vehicle has a windage tray and all it does it keep the oil from sloshing away from the oil pump. The danger of over filling comes from basically drowning your engine in oil in that it will eventually force itself into places it should not go such as your combustion chambers. The low viscosity is used in newer cars because it allows for tighter tolerances as instead of having these huge oil passages, they can narrow them down and make everything more compact. An additional benefit is the fact the low viscosity flows smoother or more freely...its like trying to blow water through a straw versus ketchup through a straw. Go take off your oil pan and you will see the lobes on your crank are covered in oil and it needs that revolution of the crankshaft to lubricate all the bearings, and journals in your bottom end, your pump does not lubricate your bottom end on 95% of the motors in the world. That is another reason why companies use lower viscosities is that on start up the high viscosities take forever for the oil pump to push the oil up to your rockers or cams. The "lighter" the oil, the faster that oil can get up there and lubricate those areas.

I dont even care how expensive gas gets, I live 8 miles from my job and make shitloads of money....I dont care if it is 10 bucks a gallon.

[bryan240sx]

The most efficient way of handling the "tailgate up or tailgate down" issue is to get a flow-through net style tailgate. This was proven on Mythbusters and the tests were compelling.

In order of efficiency (according to Mythbusters)
1) Flow-through tailgate up (most efficient)
2) Standard tailgate up (efficient)
3) Rigid tonneau cover (less efficient)
4) Tailgate down/removed (least efficient)

The results were consistent that the tailgate being down or removed was the worst for gas mileage. It has to do with friction of air moving over the body of the truck. The more air contacting the truck or anything attached to it, the more gas required to move it forward.

If I recall correctly (and I've watched these two episodes numerous times) with the tailgate down or removed, air is directed down into the bottom of the bed, flowing over that. There's a dramatic drop from the roof of the cab and the sides of the truck into the bed...the air slams into the bottom of the bed and rubs along the bottom before exiting at the lowered/removed tailgate. With the tailgate up, a "pillow" of air forms in the bed and the air rolls right over the top of the tailgate without ever coming into contact with anything but that air pillow. If you put something light in your bed with it open, you can see this floating tendency that it has. That's not to say that it's not going to fly out if a crosswind blows, but what's in the bed is generally held down by that air cushion. With an air gate, the airflow over the "cushion" of air is softer and more gentle, reducing friction slightly.

There was outcry over the first show (this seriously broke an old wives tale that many bought into). They did another show the next season and confirmed everything. In the second test, they added a test of the air gates, which came back as more efficient. They said to save your $1000 on a tonneau cover and buy a $20 air gate of your choice.

I'm 100% behind the Mythbusters theory. It makes sense and produces results you can duplicate.

[wannab20hatch]

I'm confused, you got an 8cyl?
You get the same mpg's as mine, it's just a hair under 44,000.

its a dual plug motor.

i just did a tune-up on my 96 2300. Gas mileage is around 20 mpg. Mine has the k&n drop in it and im getting rid of it. seems to lose power. stock air filter felt better. maybe their intake kit wpuld work but the drop in is shiot.

[jelinski]

Some years ago with my '68 F100 (360 V8, 3-on-the-tree), I would get 13-1/2 MPG at 70 MPH highway cruising.
I put on a camper shell (flush with the top of the cab, extending to the tailgate) and my mileage went to 15-1/2 MPG.
No other changes.
My opinion is that it was a reduction in wind resistance