Is anyone else having poor millage with the 4.2, purchased truck 1 year ago its a 98' F150 reg cab 2wd ,XL auto and has 76k on it
I owned a 94 150 w/302 v8 before this (ext cab) auto , and I got 16-18 mpg .
The 4.2 average is 15 mpg , the highest Ive seen is 17 ,and it does not have the power of the 302 (course I knew that when I bought it )
I have the same routes and travel time so it should be as good or better u would think .
Been thinking of trading it off for a 4.6 F150
Any body got any input ?? :bows

 

I get 300 a tank, 15mpg is it . I get 14mpg with the Lightning

 

I had a '98 4.2V6 supercab 4x2 shortbox.

I traded it in on a '00 4.6V8 supercab 4x4 shortbox.

To my great surprise, the '00 got marginally better gas mileage.

It seems the 4.2 had to work harder to do the same job and somehow ended up being less effiicient, even though the '00 was a heavier truck.

My 4.2 would get avg 490 km per tank (sorry I would have to convert to figure out mpg, I'm Canadian eh) My 4.6 gets avg 515 km per tank. Tank is the same size on both and type of driving hasn't changed.

 

BTW forgot to mention:

My lightning gets 420 km/tank if I'm really lucky.

Has something to do with my right size 12

 

Its a real shame , in the days of economy that a v-6 gets worse
millage then a v-8 , I am very disapponited in my mpg , do to the fact that i had a 5.0 before and at h/w speeds would maintain its speed and not shift every time the wind blows to keep up , plus at 188,000 miles was still runing strong and not using a drop of oil
plus at 70 mph I could get 18 mpg .
As I hate to admit , the 4.3 chevy seems to be outdoing the 4.2 Ford they seem to be getting around 18 for the same style of truck.
Well thanks for the reponse ,I have been a Ford owner since I started to drive,but It seems this time they let me down!

 

weather, temp, driving conditions, etc make a huge difference in what people report. but i can honestly say that, in the summer, i get a solid 19 mpg @ 70 mph with my 4.2 4x4 5 speed. this is tank after tank so is not a "one off" bad fill kind of deal.

 

I get on average 360-380 miles per tank (usually 23 gals.) SO I rougly get about 16 miles per gal. But I am heave on the gas from time to time.

 

Wow, better than me, I get 14 around town 15 on the freeway on a good day and 12 towing, and I dont even drive with that heavy of a foot. My friends 5.4L gets 15 around town and 13 towing, better than mine, and my dad got me the v-6 thinking it would be better gas milage.... O well...

 

I get 20+ mpg on the highway without much trouble. 99 4.2 extended cab 5 speed, 90k miles.

I'm very light on the gas, though. And I try to keep it to 70mph.

 

Yes I have a close friend with a 97' SC 150 4.2 with 5 spd he claims 20 mpg constantly, I cant believe that the dogomatic
requires 5 mpg , well Im looking at ads for v-8 models now if im going to get poor mpg I might as well have the power , I own a Mack CH model Dump truck with a 350 hp Mack engine and it weighs 24000 lbs empty and I can get 9 mpg with that . pretty close to what I get with the Ford ( in the city )

 

I get around 13-16mpg, all city driving, but I have a lead foot!

RED 92 you get 14mpg in your L? Isn't that really good? I thought most Lightning owners get about 11mpg. I take it you have a feather touch on that beast?

 

allright yall, this interested me a lil, so i did some research...
it all has to do with the cruise control, and usin it while goin up on hill. with the control on it pulls extra gas to keep the speed up, on a v8, the cruise uses a off and on method, lettin less gas not be wastefully used. Ok this is only from one source, and i dont have a clue, never had a v8 so i aint even trustin my word. Just a opinion i guess

 

I do not use the cruise , unless the road is flat as a pancake and there is no head wind ,other wise the damn truck constantly kicks out of t/c lockup (really annoying ) every little incline or slight breeze bumps the trans , but cruise control does not give the best mpg , like u said it eats the power to maintain speed at whatever cost , where most drivers might let the speed backoff a bit going up inclines and coast down , the cruise keeps it pinned at whatever speed , this is worked the same for every vehicle I have owned.

 

I have a 4.6 and get around 15 mpg. Most of my driving is stop and go city driving. You can't change the laws of physics. It takes a certain amount of energy to get a 5000 pound truck to move whether you have a 4.2 or 4.6.

 

Superhero is 100% right about the cruise control, and that is the same for my '98 V6, my current V8, and my L.

With all the other "learning computer" electronics in these trucks, I'm sure that in 10 years there will be a cruise control that learns to drive the way you do on hilly roads.

But until then, we'll just have to either turn the c/c off on hilly roads, or live with the c/c downshifting into 2nd for every little grade and watch the fuel gauge go down like someone opened a drain valve.