Went through 1/4 tank of gas in 40 miles...normal?

[Mosinguy]

Is this normal? I'm hoping my gauge is just really inaccurate. Most of that was highway driving at about 60 mph. I'm going to try a tune up soon and hope that helps, but what other things could I do to improve mpg related to the 3.0?

 

[RonD]

Could be a gauge issue, where was the gauge needle to start with?
Full to 3/4, 3/4 to 1/2, ect....
Some fuel gauges are only grossly accurate above 1/4-1/3, then they are more accurate below that, when its important

Look at the drivers door label to see what kind of axle it has, gearing.

Assuming 1992 Ranger with 3.0l
It is an automatic or manual?
Is it 2WD or 4x4?

Is it stock or has it be raised?
Stock tires size?

 

[Mosinguy]

Sorry, should've included more info. Yes the tank was filled up. It's an automatic 2wd, I'll check the axle ratio soon.

 

[ab_slack]

Fuel gauges as a rule are inaccurate. Is this a new vehicle to you? Is it the 92 Ranger you list? Something that old probably be much worse than normal.

I've seen a quarter tank movement in a simple round trip 25 mile each way. Typically when I start with it around half tank. If I do the same trip starting with a full tank it will hardly move off full.

Part of the inaccuracy is by design to appeal to customers habits and such even if it really is silly when described. For example they tend to make the fuel gauges say full even after using quite a bit (1/8 of tank or more) as the users like security of seeing the gauge show a full tank rather than seeing it move off full in the first 15 minutes after filling up. Or when it gets to the bottom, they don't want to be running out of fuel so it intentionally shows empty when there is still a couple/few gallons left.

Only to really know is, fill it up again and see how many gallons it takes compared to the miles driven.

 

[Mosinguy]

Yes it is my 92 Ranger. My uncle whom I bought it off of hadn't tuned the engine in 10 years , but he rarely drives.

 

[ab_slack]

Well full tank usually wouldn't go that fast unless it wasn't really full (like the pump stopped early) for the reason I stated. But if an older vehicle, no telling how the guage is.

Since you started full, fill it up again. There may be a leak or something causing it to go thru fuel fast.

 

[Mosinguy]

I'm going to fill it up today. If it really is using that much fuel I'll tune it up and look around for leaks. I don't see any fluid on or around the tank.

 

[Mosinguy]

Well the ranger took about 5.5 gallons of fuel. Yep, I'm just real inefficient right now.

 

[stmitch]

5.5 gallons is over 1/4 tank. Regular cab trucks had 17 gallon tanks, and extended cab trucks had 20 gallon tanks. If your gauge showed you as having 3/4 of a tank of fuel when you got gas, then it should be reading accurately, or even a bit over what you have depending on your truck's configuration.

 

[Mosinguy]

5.5 gallons is over 1/4 tank. Regular cab trucks had 17 gallon tanks, and extended cab trucks had 20 gallon tanks. If your gauge showed you as having 3/4 of a tank of fuel when you got gas, then it should be reading accurately, or even a bit over what you have depending on your truck's configuration.

I double checked my trip odometer and I actually did about 60 miles on 5.5 gallons of fuel. So my gauge is good, but I'm sucking down way too much gas. I'll do a tune up today and look for leaks up at the engine.

 

[Mosinguy]

Here's the truck. It's been well maintained and kept in the family so I don't think this is a complicated issue...I hope.

 

[RonD]

Also did the engine temp come up to just below 1/2, if not t-stat could be stuck open, this would cause computer to run engine rich, choke mode while engine is cold, idle would be higher than 750rpm as well.

On the fuel rail is the Fuel Pressure Regulator(FPR), it will have a vacuum line attached, remove this line and check it for gasoline or gasoline smell, the FPR diaphragm can leak when it gets older and extra fuel is sucked into the engine via this vacuum tube.

1992 Ranger 2WD with automatic and 3.0l is listed at 18MPG combined, 16MPG city
That's stripped bare(no extra weight) with stock tires

EDIT: nice clean truck

 

[Mosinguy]

Now that you mention it, the coolant gauge goes from about "N" to "O" and then it'll go all the way to the left and then bounce back up. So I'm not sure if that gauge is accurate. My uncle had told me that if it is really cold out and you don't let the engine warm up, if you have to gun it the engine will die because the computer floods the engine. He replaced the thermostat but that didn't really fix anything.

 

[MastuhWaffles]

Fill it up, drive it to empty, fill it up again, divide the miles you drove by the gallons you used to fill it up, and you get your mpg.

 

[chicagodude]

My ranger it takes more than 2 gallons to move the gas gauge off dead empty. I completely emptied the tank when I changed a fuel line from the tank to the filter. After that I put a 2 gallon can full of gas in it and it didn't move the gauge enough to notice.

The needle goes quite a bit below the empty mark before it's bone dry. This is good to know that I have at least 2 gallons left when the needle hits the empty mark.