Bad Gas Mileage

[92rangersport]

I have an 92 Ford Ranger 2WD 5spd. Thats has gotten worse and worse gas mileage the past few weeks, does anyone have any tips to get maximum fuel economy.

 

[rurouni20xx]

how many miles? if over 120000 i would recommend having the catalytic converter checked, mine stopped up and i got 8mpg b4. if thats not it an ignition tuneup, new air filter and fuel filter may help you out.

 

[92rangersport]

164,000ish, How is the cat checked? I always thought it was good or bad no in the middle there, im thinking about tune up this sunday aslong as i have enough money.

 

[rurouni20xx]

take it to an exhaust shop, they cut it off and look in it. if it looks plugged up they recommend replacement, if it looks fine they weld it back in. try the tune up first, as it should be cheaper, the air filter plugs and wires should be changed, if its eec4 like mine you may need to change the cap and rotor, if its obd2 you have a coil pack, dont worry about it then, just do wires and plugs. fuel filter will def help, itll be under the cab on the drivers side on the inside of the framerail, good ole haynes manual will have pictures and all if you have questions or cant find it.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

first, the cat is bolted on. there is no reason to cut it to look inside. second there are ways to check the cat without removing it. a vacuum or (better) a backpressure test will reveal a stopped up cat.

but odds are in the favor of the cat.

always start with basic maintainence items. air filter, fuel filter, oil change, plugs with the correct heat range and gap (autolite or motorcraft only), cap, rotor, wires, PCV valve (also motorcraft only).

check the PCM for stored codes. just because the CEL isnt on doesnt mean there might not be a clue stored in the computers memory. there are details on how to do this in the tech library.

check tire pressure and alignment.

check that none of your brakes are dragging (e-brake cables in particular are known for locking up).

what kind of mileage are we talking about here? mostly city or highway?

 

[north44]

^ All v good advice.

Just curious: where do you do your driving? And what kind of drop in gas mileage are we talking about here? Just to have some idea.

Up here, winter has set in in a bad way - snowy/winter/extreme cold conditions often make your gas mileage go down the tubes.

Excess idling, warming up the truck, driving through snow, driving in the extreme cold - all contribute to poor mileage.

Taking the advice given, you can tune up your truck and have it running in top condition, and you can modify a lot of your driving habits - easy on the gas, no jackrabbit starts, coasting when possible, anticipating lights so you don't have to stomp on the brakes or gas - all the "hypermiling" techniques; these are things that you can modify to increase your mileage.

Winter driving conditions, that's another story - there's not a lot you can do about the poorer mileage you get that's due to the weather.

 

[fleck]

I only get 15MPG city out of my stick-shift 3.0 and that's supposed to be low. I have no idea what it is though, every major tuneup has been performed, it doesn't smell like gas since the FPR was replaced. I'm not complaining though, it has 29s and I do run 1st gear to 5K all the time.