Overdrive"od"

[bknighton1]

i have a 2001 3.0 ranger and i am only gettin appx. 15 mpg in the city, i have over drive on the whole time from going 20 to going 70 on the highway is it better for your mpg to have it off at sometimes, if so when?? I just bought this truck a few months ago and the used truck dealer said he did nothing to the truck at all. I got the oil and trans. fluid changed, Would any adj. (changing spark plugs,ect.) help on mpg. because i cant see a 3.0 Ranger only getting 15mph.... Any help is greatly appriciated!

 

[Big Jim M]

If it is an auto 3.0 in the city...about 15 is what I would expect. Changing FROM OD won't save any milage. The fact that the modern small trucks DON"T get much, if any, better milage than the full size trucks is the reason they don't sell well. Seems to me they would be quite popular if they got 25/30 mpg.
Big JIm

 

[TrucksGetDirty]

Yeah, O/D does nothing for your gas mileage.
Personally I think its funny that my father's Ram 1500 gets better MPG then my B3000.

 

[bikerboy]

I have a 2001 ranger 3.0 auto as well. In the city i am getting 17mpg. I was getting 15 until I installed an underdrive pulley. And yes doing a tune-up including plugs, wires, fuel filter and air filter would definitely help. Another thing you can do as a maintanence is clean the throttle body, idle speed motor, and your MAF sensor. Keeping your truck tuned up will help you get the best you can get. Don't expect huge improvements from it if any.

 

[fixizin]

Man, sounds like that auto trans is a real wet blanket on the fires of efficiency. My 3.0 is hauling the heavy 4WD gear around, and getting 18-19 lead-footing in town, 25 hwy... 26 on premium.

Since Ford and Galactic Motors are both saying high gas prices are here to stay (judging from recent truck and SUV plant closures), we can hope that Ford's successor to the Ranger pays more attention to weight savings and mileage.

 

[arden13]

Ya, I'd guess the auto tranny is definitely NOT the way to go then..

I have a 2WD '93 ranger 3.0, gettin 19-20 in city. (manual)

try tune ups (like he said). it'll help a lil.

 

[exbass94]

Turning OD off can help if you're traveling mostly around 40-50 mph. It seems that's when OD usually kicks in, at least on my truck. But I have the 4.0. Just try turning it off and see if the rpms change and try to keep it above 2500 rpm.

 

[dorman68]

My 1992 Ranger w/3.0L , 5-speed manual gets about 18mpg in the city and 26mpg highway. It appears that the 3.0L likes to hang aroung 3000 rpm for optimum power & efficiency, at first I thought it was bulls%&* as I was lugging the truck around 1100-1800 rpm around town. I changed my shifting habits to maintain 2500-3000 rpm and noticed a slight increase in mpg. (about 1-2mpg)