I get better highway mileage with my custom tuned 4.2L V6 Ford F-150 (26-27 MPG), than I do with my 1.2L I4 Suzuki Samurai (23-24 MPG). Same symptom. With the 4 cylinder, I have to drive at wide open throttle.

 

I have a 2003 screw and Im getting about 11.5 mpg. I talked to troyer about getting a custom tuned xcal3 with 87 tow 87 perf and 87 econo. Now after reading im questioning even going with the econo tune since people are saying that drivability suffers and therefore causes you to have a heavier foot which would completely cancel out the purpose of having an econo tune. But... 93 is 3.89 here. im trying to get away from the gas pump not put more money in it. should i just run a performance 87 and just be nice to it???
any suggestions?

 

Towing a lot? All city? Thats not good.....

 

Have you ever changed the fuel filter? If you drive the same with the mpg tune, you will see an increase in mileage. You don't have to slam the pedal to the floor just because it's not accelerating fast like a performance tune. Part throttle power is decreased.

 

Good point. Every since I got my new 07 and a Troyer tune, I have decided to replace the filter ever 15k. I think most would be surprised how much crap gets caught in their fuel filter. Is it overkill? Maybe, but better safe than sorry.

 

15,000 is generally what is expected out of a fuel filter especially running 87 octane. When you run 93 octane you can get 25,000 miles, maybe 30,000 miles out of one. It's a good measure and it's easy and cheap.

 

When does Ford recommend a change?

 

Every 15,000 miles. I'm not sure this is per Ford's recomendation but most dealers use that as their normal interval.

 

I havent changed it recently. Probably ought to do that soon. And in answer to the above question, I have a 3 inch body lift with 33x12.5r16 ProComp Mud terrains and I drive ALL city. I tow my jet skis and fishing boat occasionally. Before the lift, the truck got about 16 mpg. fuel filter first. Imrunning marvel mystery oil fuel system cleaner now. Thinking about getting a tune and cai.
thanks for the suggestions tho

 

According to my Maintenance Schedule: Every 15,000 Miles

 

Well, that answers the "when to change" question.

But, back in the bad old days, when I was just a "kid" of 40 or so, if the fuel filter got clogged, it just progressively made your vehicle run more "fuel starved" the heavier your foot pushed on the gas pedal.

I.e., the engine might run fine at idle, since enough gas was getting though to supply the correct mixture, but at "driving throttle", it would be way too lean and might even die.

A teenaged neighbor's car did that. I removed the filter, tapped the gunk out and it ran fine again. I advised him to get a new filter.

Isn't this what happens now? Am I hopelessly out of touch?

- Jack

 

My mileage tunes are designed to give an increase of 1-2mpg, with no loss in WOT power, and no loss in driveability on the 3v trucks.

If you are towing there are some trans things I do to help mileage.

In theory all mileage tunes reduce part throttle power slightly, but you should not notice it on a 3v truck.