Recently purchased a 1995 F150 4WD w/302. This thing gets absolutly horrible gas mileage! I get about 125 miles from a tank. I'm guessing I should get about twice that. I don't have any real big tires on it, and I checked the tire pressure.

I think the tranny might be on its way out, but it doesn't seem to slip. The only sypmtoms it has is a little trouble shifting from 3rd to OD.

There does seems to be somewhat of a "gear whine". Not sure what is causing it. Can't tell if it is diffs, tranny, tires, or a combination.

When I am in 4wd and I cut the wheel hard, the front end hops. When i'm not in 4wd, it doesn't. So I think the 4wd is dis-engaging properly. BTW, it is "push-button" 4wd.

Any ideas?

 

First thing to do is find out what gas mileage you're getting. 125 miles on a tank doesn't mean anything.

Fill the truck up and record the odometer. Next time you fill it record how many gallons and how many miles. Now divide the miles by the gallons and you'll have your mileage. The real problem could be a bad gas gauge.

 

95's still had hubs right? I believe so but it probably has automatic hubs (no **** on the hubs to lock them in or out). Chances are they are not unlocking. I have seen it lots of times with those crappy automatic hubs. They will kick in and out at random and sometimes just stay in all the time. The way to check is to have someone move the truck and watch the axle knuckles in the front diff going to the wheels and see if they turn. They shouldn't if it is not in 4wd. If this is the case, do yourself a favor and go get the change over kit for a set of Warren lock in/out hubs. You can repair the autos because it is usually just a week spring or even sometimes if someone has repacked the wheel bearings on the front and used too much grease it will cause the things to hang and not work right, but that can be more trouble than it is worth to deal with. I like knowing that my hubs are in or out and its hard to get used to not having them on my new truck. By the way, a 95 302 auto will probably only do 10-12 mpg on a good tune up so don't expect too much.

My 2 cents

 

Thanks, WVTrucker. That makes sense. I will check it out.