Clutch replaced, feels like different ratios

[Beanmachine7000]

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Just curious, what tire size and gear ratio do you guys who can't cruise 35 mph in OD have?

I have a 2wd with 3.73 gears and 255/60-15 tires and can cruise through town at 35 mph in OD without a problem. The truck gets better mpg at 35 mph in OD than it does in 4th. My clutch locks tight and doesn't slip.

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There's no way you can get better mileage cruising in 5th at 35mph, your engine has to work harder to move your truck... Unless you are just coasting most of the time instead of actually driving... Plus, it's bad to run your engine below 1500rpm like that... I'm still in 2nd at 35mph, I'll shift to 3rd if I'm going to be there for a long time (just because my truck has a weird vibration around 3k rpm)

 

[LITTLE FOOT]

holy crap. my truck would stall at 35 in 5th gear
i have 35in tires with 4.56 gears
in 5th i would do 55mph at 2,000rpms crusing highway
i will not go into 5th if im going under 50

 

[#1]

There's no way you can get better mileage cruising in 5th at 35mph, your engine has to work harder to move your truck... Unless you are just coasting most of the time instead of actually driving... Plus, it's bad to run your engine below 1500rpm like that... I'm still in 2nd at 35mph, I'll shift to 3rd if I'm going to be there for a long time (just because my truck has a weird vibration around 3k rpm)

I don't know, it works fine for me. I live on flat ground, so maintaining speed is fairly easy.

I drive 55 mph on a two lane highway, and then come into small towns with 35 mph speed limits. I slow to 35 mph without downshifting, then accelerate back to 55 mph on the other side of town... also without downshifting.

I use a Scangauge II in the truck, and one of things it reports is instant fuel economy. The "tank miles per gallon" is always accurate when compared to doing the math using miles divided gallons, so I believe the "instant mpg" to be accurate also.

At 35 mph in 4th I get about 28 mpg. At 35 mph in OD it is about 35 mpg.

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[Beanmachine7000]

I don't know, it works fine for me. I live on flat ground, so maintaining speed is fairly easy.

I drive 55 mph on a two lane highway, and then come into small towns with 35 mph speed limits. I slow to 35 mph without downshifting, then accelerate back to 55 mph on the other side of town... also without downshifting.

I use a Scangauge II in the truck, and one of things it reports is instant fuel economy. The "tank miles per gallon" is always accurate when compared to doing the math using miles divided gallons, so I believe the "instant mpg" to be accurate also.

At 35 mph in 4th I get about 28 mpg. At 35 mph in OD it is about 35 mpg.

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That's why... You can't believe the "instant" mpg calculations, my uncle has a new Cadillac that has that feature and whenever he takes off it claims he gets 1 mpg... Once he gets on the highway it can go up to 40mpg (from a v8 in a big heavy car)

 

[km_ranger_owner]

I don't know, it works fine for me. I live on flat ground, so maintaining speed is fairly easy.

I drive 55 mph on a two lane highway, and then come into small towns with 35 mph speed limits. I slow to 35 mph without downshifting, then accelerate back to 55 mph on the other side of town... also without downshifting.

I use a Scangauge II in the truck, and one of things it reports is instant fuel economy. The "tank miles per gallon" is always accurate when compared to doing the math using miles divided gallons, so I believe the "instant mpg" to be accurate also.

At 35 mph in 4th I get about 28 mpg. At 35 mph in OD it is about 35 mpg.

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You're able to get 35 MPH in Fifth? There's absolutely NO WAY that I could do that in mine. Especially where I live deep in the Appalachian mountains. For instance, if I was going uphill, right behind a coal truck (which those trucks BARELY go 20 MPH uphill anway) and I was in fifth, I would definently stall out. I just don't see how you can pull that off without any major problems.

 

[Beanmachine7000]

I actually tried driving in 5th at 35 the other day, it was like 1000rpm... It didn't like it at all (this was completely flat) but, it didn't stall... I don't see any reason for lugging your engine like that... Just downshift, haha... I'm usually in 2nd or 3rd at 35...

 

[brad_cad]

I have have been glued to this string and I to find it amazing that anyone could run their 2.3 that slow in OD. I have tried it with my truck just so see what it how it does, it does NOT do well. Oh it will stay running but is "growling" and buzzing, complaining like crazy. My truck does not have a tech but I was watching my speeds during a normal "go through the gears" and this is what feels right for this truck.

25 MPH shift to 2nd gear
35 MPH shift to 3rd
45 MPH shift to 4th
and at 55 into OD


1994 XL 2.3 5spd man

 

[#1]

You're able to get 35 MPH in Fifth?

No. I can actually go as low as 25 mph.

Sure, it doesn't take off like a rocket then, but it also doesn't buck/kick/growl or anything.

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[TheTopher]

A note about the scanguage, and most instant mpg calculations in general. I've got an SGII in my truck as well, hop on over to ecomodder.com if you guys have any questions about how they work. they're a wonderful little device. Anyway, the instant mpg calculations work by measuring the duty cycle of your fuel injectors and give you a REAL TIME reading. What this means is the reading it gives you is for current conditions. For instance, if you have your foot all the way down in a heavy ass caddy with a v8, odds are at that particular moment you really will only get 1mpg. Once you reach speed and you let off the gas, the injectors are pumping less fuel into the car and the mpg at that moment goes up. You need to look at the "average" reading if you want an overall reading of your mpg.


As for him doing 35 in 5th, that is a tad excessive. But he also has the higher compression 2.3 with just a tad more power...I cruise at 35 in 4th with no problem and I have 3.45 gears in my truck, I just downshift when I hit hills. So with a little extra power and a little higher gearing I think 35 in 5th is getting close to the realm of possible.

 

[#1]

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Thanks for the support on the SGII, I wasn't about to try to explain it. The instant mpg can be a useful tool to improve your average mpg on flat ground while maintaining the same speed. I can shift from one gear to a higher/lower gear while still going the same speed and get a good "feel" for how good my mileage is by watching the instant mpg since it will vary little while traveling at a constant speed.

As I understand it, suppose my "tank average" is 28.3 mpg. If I am cruising though town in 4th and my "instant mpg" is hanging around 28 to 30 mpg, I am doing very little to help increase my "tank average mpg". If I shift to OD and the "instant mpg" jumps up to 33 to 36 mpg, then I am actually increasing my "tank average mpg". These are actual numbers, not just some numbers I used for an example.

My gas pedal in OD @ 35 mph is often on idle or barely off idle. My throttle body at this point is passing very little air into the engine. Since engines operate on a set mixture of air/fuel, less air means less fuel. Less fuel = better mpg.

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[km_ranger_owner]

No. I can actually go as low as 25 mph.

Sure, it doesn't take off like a rocket then, but it also doesn't buck/kick/growl or anything.

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That's really amazing, man. I say that it wouldn't take off like a rocket, but it would definently move like a turtle. I'm astonished that you can be at that speed in that gear without stalling out or something. I'm not saying that it's never possilbe, I'm just saying I'm amazed that you can pull that off.

 

[bonerb]

altitude has alot to do with it to i just bought my 95 2.3 i can barely use fifth at 65 on the highway going up a slight grade. but im in CO at 6500 altitude we lose 18 percent of HP off the bat with NA motors here only way to get it back is boost it.


so stock 100 @sea level
here stock 82- power train loss shoot im only getting like 60 tops to the wheels + plus its got 279K on it so im probly not even making the whole 82 at the crank

 

[Beanmachine7000]

A note about the scanguage, and most instant mpg calculations in general. I've got an SGII in my truck as well, hop on over to ecomodder.com if you guys have any questions about how they work. they're a wonderful little device. Anyway, the instant mpg calculations work by measuring the duty cycle of your fuel injectors and give you a REAL TIME reading. What this means is the reading it gives you is for current conditions. For instance, if you have your foot all the way down in a heavy ass caddy with a v8, odds are at that particular moment you really will only get 1mpg. Once you reach speed and you let off the gas, the injectors are pumping less fuel into the car and the mpg at that moment goes up. You need to look at the "average" reading if you want an overall reading of your mpg.


As for him doing 35 in 5th, that is a tad excessive. But he also has the higher compression 2.3 with just a tad more power...I cruise at 35 in 4th with no problem and I have 3.45 gears in my truck, I just downshift when I hit hills. So with a little extra power and a little higher gearing I think 35 in 5th is getting close to the realm of possible.

The duty cycle of his injectors might be less because he is at a lower RPM, but his truck is creating more heat... His truck may be putting less fuel into the combustion chamber (which gives you good instant MPG) BUT, less of that fuel is going toward moving the vehicle, and more of it is going toward creating heat... Heat is just wasted energy... Your engine will operate it's most efficiently, and use the least amount of gas at it's peak torque point (point that your engine can most efficiently move air in and out) which on a 2.3 is ~3500rpm...

For cruising at 35 in OD, I have a 4.0l, which makes 2x the torque of your 2.3, at a much lower speed(2500rpm) and it does not like to drive in OD at 35 mph... I keep my truck happy by driving at it's torque peak (2500) and I easily get 18mpg, in the city, on a engine with 170k miles... I can get 20mpg on the highway at 55mph in 4th gear (2500rpm)...

 

[#1]

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Here's a video from today since I had the camera with me for an unrelated event. I had a friend hold the camera and do the filming of course, because it would be unsafe otherwise

I was driving 55 mph in 5th gear and came into a small town with a 35 mph speed limit and a couple sharp curves. I left it in 5th through town and as I accelerated out of town (at a slow rate as I always do). The thing runs fine at low rpm... no grunting, bucking, vibrating, or jumping.


And why does the video never look as clear on photobucket as it does on my computer?









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[#1]

For cruising at 35 in OD, I have a 4.0l, which makes 2x the torque of your 2.3, at a much lower speed(2500rpm) and it does not like to drive in OD at 35 mph... I keep my truck happy by driving at it's torque peak (2500) and I easily get 18mpg, in the city, on a engine with 170k miles... I can get 20mpg on the highway at 55mph in 4th gear (2500rpm)...

How much does your X weigh?
What size tires do you have?
What gear ratio do you have?
What gear ratio is OD on your transmission? (edit: I think you have a .79 ratio, same as I do)

I weigh just a bit over 3,000 pounds, 26.5" tall tires, 3.73 gears, and a .79 OD ratio in my transmission.

My average mpg (mixed city and highway) is 28.8 mpg with 183,000+ on the ticker.

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