does anyone know the fuel tank capacity for a 4.2 liter 98 F150 xl, or what could cause such bad fuel economy for my truck, more info posted below.

 

I just found something on the internet stating that people get over 250 miles on a full tank of gas in their F150....

In my truck i'm lucky if i can get 220 miles with a full tank of gas...

I have a feeling that there must be something wrong with my engine...... Anyone know what would cause such bad fuel economy.

I already do the following to keep my fuel economy the way it is....
- Keep my oil changed every 3k miles
- drive with tailgate down to see if that creates better air flow.
- weight is stock, no added weight accept fiberglass bumper that adds maybe 30 extra pounds.
- keep tires inflated to recommended psi

 

http://my.en.com/B7/C8/smorris/ford/tank.html

shows different mileage per tank of gas plus engine size that some people get

 

If you have a shortbed it's a 25 gallon tank, longbed is 30 gallon.
You say you get 220 miles out of a tank. How much gas do you put in when you fill up?
I wouldn't be too concerned with some of the claims in that link. The high mileage vehicles probably had itsy bitsy tires/wheels put on them.
They probably also have a top end of about 190 mph.

I went the other way. My commute to work was 25 miles. I got me some big ole tires and now it's only 19 miles to work. I don't know how but, it's true. Odometer don't lie.

 

tires are bigger, it tricks the odm thinking that the stock tires are still on there, no those monsters that you have on now. just like small tires put on more miles

 

between full and 1/4 tank when i fill up i regularly get 210-220 miles. less of course if all driving is in town. i think if you do some checking you will find that for the most part it seems as though the v6 gets the worst gas mileage of the 3 engines. especially on the highway.
a better way to check your fuel consumption though is to check the actual mpg. miles driven/gals. used. mine is generally 15.7 combination driving.
many things may afect your mileage, such as gear ratio, type of driving, type of acceleration, also where you live do you have reformulated gas such as we do or good gas such as other places.
hope this helps.

 

So far my record is 398 mi on a tank of gas, and I believe I pretty well sucked all of the fumes out of the tank that time. I didn't have the $ to fill it up to see how much gas it took.
Anyway, 398/30=13.27, which is pretty typical for my truck.

I typically get have between 350 and 380 mi on the trip odometer when the fuel light comes on, and I can usually get between 28-30 gallons in the tank around the time it comes on.
My truck is a 2000 F150 4x4 ORP, with the 5.4 L engine, 3.55 LS rear end, 17 in stock AT tires, extended cab, 8 ft bed, and a 30 gallon tank.

Are you getting the tank all the way full? The owners manual indicates that our trucks that are not the econboxes that gas tanks are full when the pump kicks off. I can typically put in another 5 gallons of gas in the tank after the pump kicks off the first time.

 

i got my numbers from a trip that i took a little while ago to North Carolina, i was traveling an average speed of 80mph, the truck maxes out at about 85-90mph i think that's what sucked up most of the gas when the engine was maxing out. I'm not sure, but i'm considering selling my truck for a tahoe... I recently drove one and fell in love, i feel bad that it's a chevy though...

the dealership offered me an even trade for my truck, the tahoe is a 96 has the 4x4 and 5.7 liter, all leather interior, power everything, only bad thing is that it has 115,000 miles. My truck is a 98 4.2 liter 2wd, no power options, almost has 25,000 miles. What do you guys think? trade my truck of keep it?

 

keep your truck . i have a 90' f150 w/ 5.0 and i get about the same mpg . i get anywhere from between 11 to 16. depends on if i got my foot on it . temp and weather all affect mpg .

 

if i was you, id keep your truck. 115k miles is a lot of miles.