I think I'm getting screwed in gas....
 

I know this has been beaten to death but I gotta ask. I really know nothing about cars or trucks but I really don't think I'm getting the gas milage I should and I wanted to make sure. I drive a '06 F-150 4.6L with 3.73 gears. It only has 1100mi. I have never taken it over 2500rpm. the only place I drive my truck is to work and back. I work about 5mi's away from my home. I only really take my truck on longer drive(15-30mi's) once or twice a week. On the highway I never drive over 65MPH. But for the most part the only place I drive is to and from work. I start my truck and let it warm up before I drive it. I drive it like an old lady and I still only get 12-13 MPG. Is this right? I didn't expect my truck to be a gas saver but 12-13 come on, there is something wrong right? I use regular Shell gas all the time, never put anything in but Shell. Is this normal?

first off, mobil is better.

secondly, your going to get bad milage untill the engine breaks in which is usually at around 5,000+ miles..

and dont be afraid to get on it every now and then. your 5.4 wont mind being worked..

another reason you might be getting bad milage is the fact that you let it "warm' up.. your wasting fuel as your idling there and that affects MPG

i dont by this "you have to warm an engine up" crap because the oil in it is designed to provide lubrication to the engine weather its cold or hot.. thats why oil is multi-viscosity.

unless its extreme cold.. like 40 degrees or less :beers:

Your mileage is about the same as my work truck. It is a 2005 5.4 4x4.

My 05 Supercrew hovers around 13-14 during the winter.

Good advice on the warm up. You really don't need it with these new vehicles. I just slow roll and stay out of it for a couple of miles and it's fine. The warm up will be quicker and help to increase mileage.

I didn't realize how long it takes to warm up oil on these rigs until I got my EDGE tuner and could monitor it. My water temp is always up to normal before the oil temp. so that has alot to do with the mileage, especially on short trips.

And the 5000 mile break in is about normal for these trucks. You should feel abit more power and see the mileage go up alittle also.

Good luck.

dude you call 40 or below extreme cold? cmon man throw it a bone! in my mind extreme cold is in the single digits.

as for your mileage question, its been covered fairly well. my ol wore out 97 4.6 gets anywhere from 13-18 depending on what im doing, what time of year / temp. so relax a little.

oh and btw. i've heard if you baby it too much you lose mileage because your trying to use more torque / effort from the engine for a longer period of time instead of getting to speed and cruising at that rpm... dont know how true that is but i thought i'd throw that out for the sharks to mutilate.

Here is something that I keep in mind when I drive my Screw: "There's more to life than good gas mileage".
That said, your engine does need to break in, and hopefully the mileage will improve.

I don't know why so poor mileage. My dad's 07 Harley gets 16 mpg on avg. and it just hit over 5000 km's. I would say though, city driving is terrible on the mileage. But to say it improves greatly on the highway for you? Maybe not because of the 3.73's. This helps a bit in the city, but hinders a bit on the hwy. I'd give it time, but remember too that wintertime is poor mileage season, no foolin' there.

Actually I get my worst mileage with Mobil up here in New England.
I prefer Sunoco or Citgo although when price was at its worst I used Irving as well.

Your mileage is about right.
Truck is nearly 6000 lbs.
5 miles is not far enough to fully heat up and keep the crank case clear of contaminants.
3.73 gear doen't help either.
What was the basis of buying this truck?
Hope it was not for compact car mileage because you won't even get close.
The best gas for mileage I have been able to see is Citgo.
If gas in your location has a lot of alcohol added, the mileage suffers.
Then cold temps use more gas because the air density is higher and requires more fuel to get the same air to fuel ratio. The OX sensors see to this automaticly.
Welcome to reality.

He drives it 10 miles a day.... That's why.... Once a week, it gets on the hwy... That's the worst conditions an engine sees and is considered 'severe' driving conditions....

My wife has a little Rav4. Gets 30 mpg on the hwy. Gets only 18 mpg during the week when she only goes 10 miles a day to the park and ride.

Her little 2.0 engine only has 2 gallons of coolant, so it actually reaches full temp in that time... Your 4.6 has some 5-6 gallons of coolant and I bet the T'stat barely starts to open by the time you shut it down...

Ok, if you 'warm it up' before leaving, the engine might be getting a bit warmer, but you are just wasting the gas idling for it to warm up..

Be happy with the mpg you get with it for the way you are using it.

I drive 40 miles a day with 35 of them on the hwy and I average 16 mpg.

I've also got 167,000 miles on my rig, but it's been getting the same mpg since I got it with 62,000 miles on it.

At the rate you are going, it'll be years before you see 5,000 miles, so just get used to it! ;)

Mitch

There is one other point I forgot to mention.
In cool weather the transmission won't heat fast enough to allow it to go into overdrive on a short run. It can remain locked out. It's the way they are all set to work by temp sesnor control.
The difference in gear ratio is 3.73 vs......3.73 x .77 = 2.87 final ratio if in OD..

im making around 320hp at the crank with 3.90 gears and i get 13-14mpg on the highway..

When you bought your truck, there was a sticker in the window which probably said something along the lines of 14 MPG city/17MPH Highway. They inflate those numbers too. Welcome to reality. Don't be afraid to get up on that sucker either. Betcha your mileage won't change at all.

lol, just think. back in the 70's, you got 9 mpg in a truck whether you were babying it or trying to pull your house behind it.

I didn't start to see any mileage gains until 12-15k.

I agree...and gasoline was like .27 cents a gallon. BoB