Taurus 2003 fuel economy

Hi guys. I bought a 2003 Taurus a few months ago and it appears to be doing 19-22mpg with mostly freeway/highway driving. Is that normal or do I have a problem?

Thanks.

I'd say you have a problem. Do you have the 24V duratech motor? I get 24 in a mixed commute environment, and 30 on strictly freeway driving of 65-75, but I drive with a light foot (to save the tranny). I've got the duratech motor, and its pretty respectable mileage wise for how heavy the car is and how much oomph it has. You may have a vacuum leak or something of that nature. How many miles are on your car? It may be time for a tune up, new spark plugs etc..

What climate do you have? This winter, I am noticing a 3-5 mpg drop in my '01 Taurus (NE US)

There are three engines offered for the Taurus.
If you dont know the difference the 8th number in your VIN will identify it.

S= Duratec 3.0 24V DOHC

U= Vulcan 3.0 OHV

1 or 2 = FFV (Flex Fuel Vehicle) whichs is the Vulcan modified to use E85

You mileage is low for any of the motors.

Typically the Vulcan gets the best mileage.

You dont say what the mileage is or the current state of maintenance.

Plugs,wires,air filter,fuel filter, tires balanced and proper air pressure, are all contributing factors.

Mike
:smokin:


Mike

Thanks for replies. I bought the car in Nov 05 with 32500 miles from a Ford dealer "Certified pre-owned" with the Ford 6 year/75000 powertrain warranty. Now it's at 34700 miles. Everytime I fill it up I read the trip meter and divide by how many gallons I added, thats how I got this fuel economy.
It's due for the first maintenance over the next 2-3 weeks (since I didnt do a lot of driving with it). The dealer told me all liquids/filters and maintenance was done on it.
The VIN has the U (first letters are 1FAFP53U73G ). I use climate on warm most of the time -- i noticed if i dont use it my windows get foggy...
I go slowly on the acceleration, try to never get over 2500 rpms and stay around 2000 or below if possible.
I own a Regal 93 that has better fuel economy (24-25 freeway and 21-22 mixed driving).

What should I ask for when I get to the mechanic? Tune-up? Some other stuff? Oxygen sensor or whatever? What spark plugs/wires are recommended (I know mechanics just put cheapest which isnt always good for the car). Any particular type of oil that would be preferred?

Thanks.

I'd say that's about average. The most I can squeeze out of my '99 24v is about 21-23mpg on the highway. Of course, that's using the mandatory $hitty ethanol fuel that's forced on us here in MN.

Typically the Vulcan gets the best mileage.
-Mike

That is debatable the EPA lists that between 1996 - 2001 that the DuraTech averaged a mile or two higher in Fuel Economy in the 3 of the years and one of two miles lower in 3 of the years. It is due to varations in the computer, transimission, intake and ignition tunning and then when the Vulcan and Durtech where standardized in 2002 they achived the same amount in fuel economy.(They are about even)

But mathematically the Duratech acheivies a significant higher amount of fuel economy than the vulcan. A properly tuned Duratech with the right computer settings with run about 22/35 while still maintaining 200hp where as a properly controlled vulcan will still only generate 20/30 in fuel economy.

I also would like to point that the Duratech engine was never built to run on low octane gas. It has a compression ratio equal to highend automotive engines.

That is debatable the EPA lists that between 1996 - 2001 that the DuraTech averaged a mile or two higher in Fuel Economy in the 3 of the years and one of two miles lower in 3 of the years. It is due to varations in the computer, transimission, intake and ignition tunning and then when the Vulcan and Durtech where standardized in 2002 they achived the same amount in fuel economy.(They are about even)

But mathematically the Duratech acheivies a significant higher amount of fuel economy than the vulcan. A properly tuned Duratech with the right computer settings with run about 22/35 while still maintaining 200hp where as a properly controlled vulcan will still only generate 20/30 in fuel economy.

I also would like to point that the Duratech engine was never built to run on low octane gas. It has a compression ratio equal to highend automotive engines.



You can debate all you want I have owned all three and currently have the FFV and the Duratec in my Driveway , in standard driving the Vulcan will get better mileage overall.

and the owners manual I have for my 2000 Duratec recommends 87 octane

which is the lowest grade available where I live.

Right now I am running a custom program for 92 octane one the duratec and average about 28 or 29 on the highway

Mike
:smokin:

Depends on how you drive. I usually get like 20 in the city and anything above 28 if its strictly highway. I tend to baby the car.

Depends on how you drive. I usually get like 20 in the city and anything above 28 if its strictly highway. I tend to baby the car.

But Miller we know you never drive the speed limit.

MIKE
:rofl:

But going the speed limit is so ... overrated.

Group,

I have a 2003 Taurus with the 3.0 OHV engine that we bought with 17K miles. Last September the city MPG went from around 23mpg to 16-17 by checking the miles and gallons used. I have taken it to two different dealers and no codes show up. It has a rough idle bouncing a couple of hundred rpms around 800rpm. One dealer has replaced the fuel filter, IAC value, reprogrammed the PCM, check air filter, tire pressure fine. I replaced the plugs and plug wires. I found a cracked EGR vacuum hose next to the EGR valve and fixed. Another dealer replaced the MAF sensor. All this and hundreds of dollars later and it still has the problem.

The car did all this around 40K miles. During that time they also found an oil lead around 19K, an axle seal leak at 25K and a transmission leak at 50K (current miles). I have to say this is probably the last Ford I buy.

Anyone have any ideas? It acts like a vacuum leak. I check the EGR valve and solenoid (30ohms and correct voltage). It use to get about 27mpg highway and now gets about 24-25, closer to normal for highway. Since the city MPG is worse it makes me think vacuum leak since you are accelerating alot more and would pull more vacuum. Thanks in advance.

Anthony
Louisville, KY

I'd start by adding a bottle of fuel injector cleaner to your fuel tank and see if that makes a difference. For the $3 or so, it certainly won't harm your fuel economy and may possibly fix your fuel economy.

Did any of the shops that looked at your car connect a scan tool to the car and monitor the O2 sensor readings in datastream mode while driving the car and perform the I/M Readiness checks?

-Rod

I bought a new 2005 Taurus last year.

I am not the happiest camper about a 22 mpg (mostly highway)

When I brought it in for its annual, they ran tests and a test drive and found no problems.

They said there have been a couple complaints about this, but its the standard.

Looking back at my window sticker, it says 20-25 mpg.

tauruses are family cars and not known for great fuel economy. and 18- 20 mpg for city driving is ok, not great. duretecs are the more powerful of the two engines and should drink more gas then the vulcan. both engines and the cars they are in will last a long time if taken care of properly

if one wants fuel economy then one needs to get a smaller car like the festiva or an escort. but these cars are built for economy and not safety and durability and wont run as long as a taurus or a contour.

The EPA mileage stickers are only estimates, and I think they're grossly overstated. The EPA is in the process of revising its mileage estimates:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

I'd start by adding a bottle of fuel injector cleaner to your fuel tank and see if that makes a difference. For the $3 or so, it certainly won't harm your fuel economy and may possibly fix your fuel economy.

Did any of the shops that looked at your car connect a scan tool to the car and monitor the O2 sensor readings in datastream mode while driving the car and perform the I/M Readiness checks?

-Rod

Rod, I did try fuel injector cleaner. They hooked it up to the computer and one on the highway. When they road tested it they reported 29.4MPG. They laughed when I took it in and said I use to get 23MPG. I spoke with a guy last night that has the same car and said it gets 23 city and 27 highway. Don't know about the o2 test.

Anthony

I'm not happy with the 16+ when I use to get close to 22 mpg city. We drove the car for almost two years and know how far we use to go on a tank of gas, not how much it cost, but how far.

The guys at the dealership told me I wouldn't go as far on $10.00 as I use to. I am an electrical engineer and can do basic math and the number use to be roughly 22-23 now they are 16-17mpg.

Anthony

I've got an '04 with the Duratec...friend has a '05 with the Vulcan. This past weekend we both drove our cars on a road trip. On the tank home we checked the exact mileage....my Duratec 28 mpg his Vulcan 28.5...mixed highway driving 2/3 freeway 75+ the rest 2 lane.

On the highway I rountinely get 28-30 mpg....if just me in the car...not loaded down. If I have 4 people and luggage 24-25 is very realistic.

Overall the car is just great. The only thing I gotta find a solution to is a way to keep the back end of the pavement with a full load in the car.:wink:

Overall the car is just great. The only thing I gotta find a solution to is a way to keep the back end of the pavement with a full load in the car.:wink:

You can do a couple of things.

You can use the SHO Jar springs or you can loosen the pinch bolt on the rear struts and drive the struts up.


Mike
:smokin:

my 01 gets 24 on average, and thats with most of the miles highway, just as a note my Yukon XL with a V-8 gets 15-19 same type of driving. My old Lumina with 150K, was getting 27-30. I'm also a little disappointed with what I'm getting with the Taurus also. But hey, I want the safety of the bigger car so you can't have it all.

But hey, I want the safety of the bigger car so you can't have it all.

same here. i thought about smaller cars or 4cyl but they just didn't feel right. i traded in an '00 ranger 3.0 5spd for my '05 taurus about a month ago and noticed slightly better mileage than i got on the truck but nothing to get excited about. i'll take the extra room and safety for my family over a couple mpg any day.

I would disagree with the post about escorts and contours. My 01 sel (when it runs) has 75k gets about 25-28 mpg, which I think it pretty good for a car that heavy and a foot as heavy as mine has to contend with. However, my '93 escort has double the mileage, gets 35-38 mpg, has never leaked or used a drop of oil and I still drive it when the taurus isn't running. So overall, though I'd agree the taurus is safer, it's biggest safety feature is that it doesn't go anywhere. So tune up your taurus, clean the fuel injectors and lighten up on the pedal.

I would disagree with the post about escorts and contours. My 01 sel (when it runs) has 75k gets about 25-28 mpg, which I think it pretty good for a car that heavy and a foot as heavy as mine has to contend with. However, my '93 escort has double the mileage, gets 35-38 mpg, has never leaked or used a drop of oil and I still drive it when the taurus isn't running. So overall, though I'd agree the taurus is safer, it's biggest safety feature is that it doesn't go anywhere. So tune up your taurus, clean the fuel injectors and lighten up on the pedal.