2.3L ('83-'97) 2.3 Lima MPG

[vasivan89]

Hello everyone, does anyone have experiance on what MPG i should be getting? I've driven plenty hwy and it seems i can only get 19 MPG max...
I would expect I would get a little more...... I do get a check engine.... any suggestions???

91 Ranger ext Cab 5 speed.

 

[RonD]

Make sure your O2 sensor has less than 125k miles on it or is not over 9 years old, if you are not sure change it
Older O2 sensors run out of chemicals and cause computer to run engine richer than needed, so lowers MPG

Make sure tires are correct size, if you are using odometer for MPG calculation
Look on the drivers door label for stock tire size, if your current tires are a larger diameter then odometer will read low, so MPG will read lower than actual

 

[tomw]

How fast do you drive? Do you have standard or oversize wheels & tires? What codes from the 'check engine'?
I was typing when RonD posted, so duplication is possible. Make sure that you are registering actual miles, and also fill to the same 'shutoff'. Some let the tank fill on auto, it kicks off. They then wait a minute, and set the fill on the slow setting, and when it kicks off the second time, that's it. Having the tank level, or filling at the exact same pump should increase the odds you are getting an accurate account of fuel used.
tom

 

[vasivan89]

Make sure your O2 sensor has less than 125k miles on it or is not over 9 years old, if you are not sure change it
Older O2 sensors run out of chemicals and cause computer to run engine richer than needed, so lowers MPG

Make sure tires are correct size, if you are using odometer for MPG calculation
Look on the drivers door label for stock tire size, if your current tires are a larger diameter then odometer will read low, so MPG will read lower than actual

I was guessing i was having issues with my o2 sensor.
When i read your reply, i had a DUH moment.... I do run a bigger tire size( I love the look)... I cannot tell you the exact but it is bigger than stock. I may try to find an app for milage to see if i am getting an accurate reading for milage.

 

[vasivan89]

How fast do you drive? Do you have standard or oversize wheels & tires? What codes from the 'check engine'?
I was typing when RonD posted, so duplication is possible. Make sure that you are registering actual miles, and also fill to the same 'shutoff'. Some let the tank fill on auto, it kicks off. They then wait a minute, and set the fill on the slow setting, and when it kicks off the second time, that's it. Having the tank level, or filling at the exact same pump should increase the odds you are getting an accurate account of fuel used.
tom

Well... lets just say i dont drive like a GPa everywhere....I got places to be.....but most the time I take it easy. Especially on the hwy. (not much guts if you know what i mean) You will see above i posted a picture of my truck, it does have oversized tires. I had a DUH moment.... I will have to try to calculate the miles a little more accuratly for sure because of the tires. I may have to just live with the fact that i get "poor" gas mileage if its because of the tires. When i pulled the codes, it did not seem as if it was anything to lead to poor gas milage so i didnt know if there was something i was missing. I'll pull again and post them here.

 

[sgtsandman]

Define highway. As in Interstate, 70 mph highway or US Route and State Route highway. It makes a difference.

Anything over 55-60 mph is going to cause a drop in mpg.

Having a tonneau cover or a bed cap can make a difference too.

Are you carrying a lot of heavy stuff in the truck on a regular basis?

I was seeing about 21-22 mpg with my 1998 and a 2.5 Lima.

EDIT: To account for a larger than factory tire size. Take the new size in inches and divide it by the OEM size in inches. That will give you the conversion number to multiply your indicated miles driven to actual miles driven. That will give you a more accurate number to calculate mpg.

It is also best to fill the tank. Drive until you want to get gas and fill the tank. Then calculate your mileage. It doesn’t work well if you don’t fill the tank every time.

 

[RonD]

Yes, speedometer will be off as well with larger tires
If any of the highways you are on have Mile Post markers you can use those to get an idea of how much odometer is off

And on a 1991 you can correct speedo/odo using a different driven gear on speedometer cable hook up on transmission, easy to change the gear, 1 bolt

Look on drivers door label, at the bottom and get the AXLE code, then go here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/axle_codes.shtml

You need the RATIO of rear axle, i.e. 3.73

Then get the diameter of your current tires, you can look that up by size, i.e. 235/75R 15

With the ratio and tire diameter you can see which gear to use, using this site: https://www.tciauto.com/speedometer-gear-calculator

Rangers use a 7 tooth Drive Gear
so use 7, then ratio and diameter to get Driven gear needed

If you get a number like 20.8 then you want a 21 tooth, or 21.2 same thing, 21 tooth

 

[vasivan89]

Define highway. As in Interstate, 70 mph highway or US Route and State Route highway. It makes a difference.

Anything over 55-60 mph is going to cause a drop in mpg.

Having a tonneau cover or a bed cap can make a difference too.

Are you carrying a lot of heavy stuff in the truck on a regular basis?

I was seeing about 21-22 mpg with my 1998 and a 2.5 Lima.

EDIT: To account for a larger than factory tire size. Take the new size in inches and divide it by the OEM size in inches. That will give you the conversion number to multiply your indicated miles driven to actual miles driven. That will give you a more accurate number to calculate mpg.

It is also best to fill the tank. Drive until you want to get gas and fill the tank. Then calculate your mileage. It doesn’t work well if you don’t fill the tank every time.

I calculate after driving on the interstate. I try to go around 65 mph and light throttle.

I usually run empty or close to it. Nothing heavy per-say.

I will say one thing though. The MPG usually stays consistant... I have gotten ~19.5 consistantly when i had a camper shell on it.... I even got the same MPG going (empty with camper) and coming back (bed was filled FILLED TO THE BRIM with the camper on top!). I mean you could not squeeze anything and you had to push the the glass shut. and i still got ~19.5 mpg. so i guess i cant complain???

do you know the stock tire size by chance? my truck does not have a sticker on it. i guess it has been painted? not sure.

 

[sgtsandman]

Hard to say on the tire size. 14” wheels were pretty common then but which size tire would be a guess since there were about 3 options (at least with a 1998 RWD). I think the options were 185/75R14, 205/75R14, and 225/70R14. Chances are more likely your truck originally came with one of the first two.

Since the mileage with the cap on or off didn’t make a difference, it sounds like you had or have a cab height model. The high rise ones typically are the ones that have more effect potential since they stick up in the air stream. Squared off cabs, same story.

Depending on what your axle gear ratio is, you might be right in line for what is expected, once you can get the conversion figured out.

3.45:1 and 4.10 axle ratios get about the same mpg from what I’ve seen. The first because the engine is getting over worked and the second because the engine is revving higher.

The closer and longer you can stay around 55-60 mph, the better your mpg will be. Of course, I’m not telling you to drive at those speeds if the posted limit is higher. Even driving at the speed limit is liable to get people riding your bumper these days. But for many vehicles, that is the speed they are tested at for their mpg rating. So driving faster than that will make your mpg drop.

 

[racsan]

even with a 2.3 milage can fluctuate alot, many factors, tire size, gear ratio, weight of truck,ect, once you get the speedometer right you can see where you really stand. my ‘88 2wd 3.73 manual supercab got 23 most of the time, all time hwy high of 29. the 92 2wd reg cab longbed 3.73’s manual could never even hit 20, had uneven compression, sat for years before I got it. only had 100K miles, the ‘88 had 100K when I got it. The truck I have now is a 94 reg cab longbed, 4.10’s manual. Just recently got the right speedometer gear, havent ran a full tank since thats been took care of. My guess though is low 20’s.

 

[Dirtman]

Averaging 19 doesn't seem too bad to me. You are driving a truck, which is about as aerodynamic as... a truck...

19 is on the low side but not something I would raise too many alarms about.

 

[scotts90ranger]

My '90 used to get 26ish mpg before I started screwing with it, with 31" tires it was down around 23mpg, now it's around 16-17mpg I think...

My '97 extended cab gets 22.5-23mpg on average on my commute, interstate driving for long distances (like 2 tanks in a row in the same day) at high speeds was 21.5mpg fairly consistently over that ~1700 mile trip

 

[BrHotte]

My 94 2.3 is averaging around 25 to 27 mpg. I typically do not drove above 65 and I put around 50 miles a day. I kind of take it easy on the engine and don't try to be in too much of a hurry given the lack of power. Good luck.

 

[vasivan89]

Thanks for all the feedback. I re-did the calcualation using the different ratio because of my tires. I believe im making closer to ~20 MPG. Which im fine with. I just switched the wires on the other coil pack and much more low end torque. From what I see, most people say it does not make a difference etc.

I can only dream about just diesel swapin this thing, make more torque and better mpg.

 

[scotts90ranger]

If you just swapped 1 with 4 and 2 with 3, that would do absolutely nothing, they are literally the same circuit, if it made any difference you have a plug or wire problem on a cylinder... You can't fire 4 spark plugs independently on one coil pack with 3 wires on the input connector (one power and two signal wires).

I still need to change the drivers side spark plugs and wires on my '97, and throw an oxygen sensor at it and clean the MAF, I imagine that should help the mileage. The jump from 16mpg to 22mpg driving this instead of the Explorer has I'm sure almost paid for the truck in the last 15k miles I've put on it...