i read alot about you guys getting upwards of 20mpg with your V6's. well i have a 1998 4.2L V6 regular cab long box with a 5 speed and 3.55 gears. it has 2.5 inch true duals and i get 13-14 mpg with it. now i am 18 years old and you would think i would drive it hard for being a kid. well i dont. i never rev the engine alot and i never really floor it either. just drive it from place to place. and the best i can get is 13-14. what is the problem with my pickup?

 

The true duals might be hurting your bottom end.

 

x2 on the duals.

I know everyone loves big exhausts, but maybe dual 2.5" tubes are a little big for a low revving 4.2 truck.

Your MAF sensor might be dirty. This can cause the truck to run overly rich. Do a search for threads on how to clean it.

BTW, do you have oversize tires? Any other mods?

 

Look into changing spark plugs (if if they have never been change), clean your MAF and maybe spill for a drop-in K&N filter

 

Also make sure the brakes are not dragging. Sticking calipers happen.

 

no i have cooper discover 255-75-R16 tires. and no mods other then the exhaust. and i just put the 2.5 inch exhaust with 4 inch tips on 15,000 miles ago. and i do not want to drop another 200-300 on a diffrent exhaust i love the way it sounds for V6 my brother owned the pickup before me and had inch an 3 quarter exhaust on it. it sounded like crap. so i changed that. but it was only getting about 14 with the other exhaust also... how could i clean my MAF ware is it at? and could ford do it? if so how much?

i have been thinking of putting a K and N intake on it. would this help the bad millage problem also? i know it would but would there really be that much difrence to justify a 300 dollar intake?

when i bought the pickup 5 years ago from my brother (he bought it new) i would drive to pierre from here alot and it is about 210 miles. i use to be able to drive that on half a tank of fuel. which was about 17 mpg. now it takes 3/4 of a tank. to do the same trip. and is about 13 mpg. not good for an average of 75 the whole way. and my pickup has the 3.55's so you would think the millage would be outstanding... but it is nothing close to outstanding for a V6

how do i clean the MAF and can ford do it? if so how much?

thanks for the responses guys

 

had this problem last year. the park brake was sticking. so we just cut the cable so now i have no parking brake but am in the process of putting it in this week. and as for the parking brake i have never really needed it because our drive way is steep and if you put it in low range and reverse you can pretty much park wareever you want. but always have to shut it off and keep it in gear. that is why i have not really pushed to get the parking brake in. i have had the stuff for 6-8 months now. just have not took the time to put it in.

so i know the brakes are not dragging or the parking brake for that matter cause i dont have one at the moment! lol
thanks guys! i appreciate it.

 

Mine only gets 15 on the highway at 75 using that crap you call gas in SD.

 

Sounds like wisdom to me.

 

Yeah, the low energy content fuel we have in most parts of California just kills the fuel mileage on these trucks.

FWIW, you never see the 20 mpg claims from people running low energy content fuel. The high mpg folks live in areas that don't have air quality problems, so they are not required to run lousy fuel.

 

dont know how we have air quality problems we only have one city over 100,000 people here and that is on the other side of the state from me.

and as for the person that said sounds like wisdom to me. what does that mean?

 

read further in what i said i put it in low range and reverse and can park on the steep driveway without needing a parking brake.......

 

how many miles are on the truck?

 

113,250 now.

 

I wouldn't depend on just that on a steep driveway.

Whether you have air quality problems or not, all I know is I get crap mileage on your gas. I can get 20+ on 85 octane mountain gas in Colorado and Utah as long as it doesn't have ethanol in it and as long as I keep it under 70. I've seen as high as 23. I have gotten as low as 12 on the highway - this was in West Texas fighting a headwind with the cruise set at 85 with the A/C on. This was on unbranded gas in a small town. I sucked through that tank REAL quick.

We have crap gas here in MO - it all has 10% ethanol by law. I get about 18 on it on the highway cruising between 70 and 75.