I have a 1993 Ford F150 4x4. Talk about a gas hog. It has the inline six cylinder engine. The most I got out of it was 18 MPH when it was new. Now I am lucky to get 14 or 15 MPH. I have put a K and N air filter and the tornado air duct stuff and some other gadgets and still don't get much.

 

When was your last tune-up?

Plugs, wires, cap and rotor can do wonders for performance and economy.

 

Kampe,

I have a 93 with the same engine (no 4 wheel drive) and I don't get over 12 mpg on the best of days with the wind at my back. In city traffic I can watch the gas gauge move. The truck has be tuned-up and checked several times because of the poor mileage. My truck has over 160,000 miles on it but still runs great.

The good part about all of this is my wife sees how much we spend on gas each month so she suggested that maybe I should get a newer truck that would be better on gas. If she would read what the average mileage is on the newer trucks she would probably have me in an escort UGH!!

 

Hey Guys - Check the air pressure in your tires. Low tires presssure will cut your MPG. How do you drive? If you are a "lead foot" driver this will reduce your MPG. Have your brakes checked. Sometimes you can have a brake shoe or disk that "hangs" and will cut your MPG. Have you greased all of your wheel bearings lately? What kind of load is in the bed? The less weight you drag arround the more MPG you get.

 

Dont complain about that. I had an '85 F150 with an I-6 and I averaged 8 mpg. I had K&N, Splitfire, Flowmasters w/ no Cats, 3.08 rear end.

 

I say somethings up...My uncle has a 92 4x4 300/E40d/130k/3.55 gears, and he gets at least 14 on the highway...

What all have you done? Like Nomo mentioned, I read in a 4-wheel and offroad magazine, they did a complete tuneup and etc, on a 85 Ramcharger and got about 4mpg better and 12hp more.

your truck isn't a spring chicken anymore, and 1993's need several sensor's replaced due to time...

I have a 93 302/E40d/2wd and it gets 20 most of the time.

[This message has been edited by Pastmaster (edited 02-09-2000).]

 

I've had 4 F-150's with the 300 inch six. My 94 was 2wd and gave me 14 in town and 18 on the road. The mileage dipped off a few mpg around 80Kmi, so I did the fuel injector service and changed plugs, wires, cap, and rotor, and ended up back to the norm.

Dont forget that this is a BIG six banger and as far as I'm concerned, one of the best engines to ever come out of Detroit!. Ford has never really given us a fuel sipper in any full size truck.
Tune it up and drive it till it pukes!.
Rick..

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"99" F-150 4x2,ext, med red / silver, 4.2L, auto, 3.55's, 265x16's premium snd w/cd, 4 wheel antilocks, leer "too heavy" matching cap, Mobil 1.

 

Pastmaster,

My truck is insulted, no longer a "Spring Chicken." Yea, I know, its getting old.... That's a good point about replacing some of the sensors. I replaced the plugs, wires, rotor, cap, removed and cleaned the throttle body, etc. but I haven't replaced any of the sensors. Something to look into.

Thanks!

 

I have a 1990 F 150, 300 in line 6 cylinder with a five-speed transmission and 355 years, 2wd. it now has 62,000 mi. on it and around town I get about 17 to the gallon and about 20 on the freeway. If I keep my foot out of it I can get about 22 to 23 mi. to the gallon. Now don't ask me why but what I tow my 1965 Mustang with the trailer that weighs about 1500 pounds I get about 27 mi. to the gallon. Several of my friends have had the same experience and none of us know why. I would definitely checked the fuel injection system and the rest the vehicle because something wrong. The only modifications that I have made the vehicle is I remove it the mufflers and ran straight pipes from the catalytic converter straight out the back, reprogrammed the computer for richer fuel mixture and run about 3 degrees of extra ignition timing, installed a K&N filter and splitfire spark plugs.

Good luck,

Jeff

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Member: Never trust a person over 40 who drives a Chevy club
Flatheads ain't so bad!
Certified backyard mechanic I & II

 

I also have 4.9L in my F-150 ('95 SC w/5 speed and 3.55's). I have three loaded tool boxes in the bed, and the last time my truck was on the scales, it was over 5500 pounds. I drive it hard, very hard. I am always on the gas, and always downshift, and my gas mileage always seems to average out to 11mpg. There was, however, an exception recently. I live at the beach, but right behind me is a 7000 foot mountian known as Pine Mountian. It is in a very remote part of Ventura County, here in So Cal. Near the peak of Pine Mtn. is an old resturant called Pine Mountian Inn (they have no phones or electricity, other then generators). Anyway, my ex's father owns and runs it, and his '73 Dodge pick-up blew the motor, and he asked me to take a look at it. I gassed up the truck, and proceeded to go up the winding, uphill 80 mile drive. When I checked it out for him, I realized it was going to have to come down for some machine work. He also had a large, heavy trailer he needed brought down, so I came down with his trailer and the 360 out of his truck. The total mileage on this trip was 160 miles, and I did it on less than 6 gallons of gas. That's over 26 mpg. I can't for the life of me understand how I got such great mileage. The needle on my gas gauge barely moved the whole way up. Since then, my mileage has returned to 11mpg. Go figure.
Take care,
~Chris

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Moderator
MustangNet

'95 Eddie Bauer F-150 SC & '64 Falcon/Ranchero
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You're still here, PKRWUD? I thought that bonehead who was hung up on " '97 and newer" ran you off? Just kidding. I noticed in Bosch's ads, they recommend replacement of your O2 sensors on occasion to help mileage. If your rig has high miles that might be something to look into as well as the fuel injection cleaning. No, I'm not talking about pouring some Chem Tool into your gas tank. Take it somewhere where they offer the service of running high pressure solvent through your system. Shadetree Mechanic showed a kit some outfit sells now to allow you to do this at home. It wasn't cheap, something like $140, but after you've used it a few times it'll pay for itself. At any rate, I've known alot of folks who've had problems with their fuel injection getting scaled/clogged up after many miles/years (Fords to be exact) and fuel economy/performance has suffered. They'll get the fuel injection service done, replace O2 sensors, and they're back in business (these have all been high mileage engines, in the 100K+ range).

 

Wow, they only get 14mpg? Thats terrible. I thought they got around 20 highway atleast.
Its no better on gas than the 5.8 or 460 then huh.

 

Check out the pre-97 forum...I posted several things I did to my truck, and it gained performance and hp easily.

I also replaced my coolant Temp sensor, and for 12 bucks, it sure helped...Also might consider decarboning the engine...

My dad owned several 302's, 14 to be exact, and several 351's, 4 to be exact, and 1 460. The last 351 he had was in a 86 F-150 with a 351HO/c-6. It got 10mpg, but would outrun most anything. Had several 351's in company trucks, and they never got above 14, ever. The 460 never got above 12-13 either...Most all of the 302's got at least 17, and he had several early 300's, and they got about 13-14, 3/4ton,4-speed,4:10 gears

most of the 300's with 5-speeds got better mileage than a 302, but if they were equipped with a auto, they would stay about the same as a 302.

What does your 4.6L get? gotten close to 20mpg?

[This message has been edited by Pastmaster (edited 02-10-2000).]