Hello All,

I have had my 2004 Lariat for about 4 weeks now and I am enjoying it fully. As most of the owner can agree, the truck is awesome, except for a few minor problems (my temp gauge is off as others have posted). Now I have a new problem. After about 1,000 miles of mainly town driving my MPG has begun to drop. I was enjoying an average of about 14.5 MPG, and then on my last tank I notice the truck started to drop MPG and now I am at about 11.5 MPG and holding steady. Does anyone have the same problem or any solutions?

 

this is the first sign that armageddon is upon us. RUN!

 

I've got almost 3,500 on mine and I'm getting between 14-15 mpg. Those hybrid electrics are getting about 75 mpg. I guess I'll have to park the truck and only bring it out on weekends

 

Reset the MPG counter when you fill up... and don't baby the truck (not that you are). The MPG will decrease the more you "get on it" but will eventually level out. I've been kicking the gas at almost every chance I can and have averaged very close to 14.5 MPG on every tank of gas I've put in, so far (granted, I'm only on my 3rd or 4th fill up). In the early part of a new tank, I'll get 18-19 MPG for a day or 2 (both city and hwy driving, which is sometimes the same in CA).

The outside temp. reading is an easy fix. Take it back to the dealer and have it reprogrammed.
17261 2004 F-150 BUILT BEFORE 10/6/2003 - AMBIENT TEMPERATURE READING INACCURATE AND/OR POOR A/C PERFORMANCE. SOME 2004 F-150 VEHICLES BUILT BEFORE 10/6/2003 MAY EXHIBIT AN INACCURATE AMBIENT TEMPERATURE READING AND/OR POOR A/C PERFORMANCE. TO SERVICE, REPROGRAM THE PCM TO THE LATEST LEVEL USING WDS B27.10 RELEASE OR HIGHER

 

Sometimes gas mileage will go down when winter gas is used. There is more additives in the winter in the gas.

 

Hand Ford : There is one obvious solution. Sell me your truck for $16,000 and buy a diesel golf. Sure you have immediately lost $16,000 - but - if you drive your truck 15,000 miles a year and gas cost $1.40 a gallon you will make that money back in 17 years.

Just don't forget the timing belt has to be replaced every 40,000 miles on those. That would probably extend the time to recover the difference to about 18-19 years.

 

I have over 6,000 on mine and calculate the MPG with a calculator. I am just below 12 mpg on mostly (fast) highway driving. Actually, the guage on the truck is fairly accurate.

 

I'm doing about 90-95% city driving and am getting about 11.9 - 12mpg with about 1200 miles on the clock...anyone else doing the same amount of city driving with better mileage?...I'm hoping to squeeze out at least 13 mpg or so with a few more thousand miles...

sound reasonable? or is this as good as it gets?

 

I purchased a Lariat S'crew from dealer stock with 145 miles on it and an MPG reading of 12 on 10/30. In the 300 miles of mixed city and highway driving since then, the MPG reading has gone up to 13.9 without being reset.

 

hmmm... I drive about 60/40 highway/city. My computer says 16.8, doing the math says about 15.8 - the comp. is off a bit. The tank I used in mostly city driving got 14.5. I filled up and drove 100 highway miles and the computer said 17.6!! This is better than my 01 Screw. I couldn't be more pleased. Mine is the 5.4L 4x2, with the 3.55 ltd. slip. I am still a bit curious as to how the averages will turn out, but so far, so good!

 

It takes a lot of decomposed ginkgos/dinosaurs to motivate 5606 pounds (2.3 tons) of Screw. With the 3.55 rear, I'm doing 14 in mixed town/country (with some back road run-it-to-redline break-in spurts) and did 17.3 mpg on a 300 mile freeway run holding at 60 mph.

 

hey slappaddle, do you have 17 or 18 inch wheels?

 

I figure I'm doin' somewhere around 15.3 -15.5 MPG.

I use the tried and true method of using the Trip Odometer and the Gas Pumps' (Gallons reading) to calculate the MPG.

I'm averaging 415-420 Miles per Tank Full (and this depends on how Full my tank really is) I can probably squeeze another gallon or 2 in the tank after the Nozzle auto shut-off. (Yeah, I know this isn't good for the fuel guage, but I'm just making a point)

Anyway, after 4 fill-ups, I am pumping in 27 Gallons of fuel (on average).

I guesstimated that the "Low Fuel" warning comes on when there is 5 Gallons left in the Tank. I have not looked at the Owners Manual to confirm this.


FX4 SCrew w/ 18" Wheels and 3.73LSD

 

How are you liking those 305 60 18 Toyo Proxies ST 700 ....???

Sweeet.....

 

I have 2500 miles on my FX4 with 3.55 gears. I have checked the milage the last 3 tanks and am about 17.5 every time. This is using the odometer and a calculator. I drive 400 miles a week to work and back, on country roads and 2 lane highway. I used the cruise whenever possible since I already got one speeding ticket since I've got the truck.