gas mileage?

[dmbrisket 51]

ok, i own a 98 chevy s 10 (i know hear me out) and i get roughly 20 miles to the gallon with the 4.3l v 6, others get up to 24mpg, and some as low as 12mpg, a few of us were woundern what mileage you guys get with your rangers? is there as big of a variation with the 4l as what chevy some how did with the 4.3? thanks for anyones input, and please include your year, moter, and any mods you may have (ie, bed shell, intake, exhaust, lifted, lowered etc.)

[williamskinner16]

I think alot of your variation comes from the variation on the drivers and the envirment they drive in. you are right that the particular setup of the vehichle makes a difference.(gear ratios, 4wd vs. 2wd, finished weight of the vehicles, even the type of tire and air pressure in the tire) but much of the variance comes from the way it is driven. Stop and go city vs.highway,off road, snow, or even the temperature of the weather. is the driver a leadfoot? so many things go into the amount of MPG a vehichle sees.

I had a 81' 2wd ford f100 shortbed/stepside with a 302" with headers holley 600cfm carb and an edelbrock performer intake. I also had a modified (for street performance) 81 2door buick regal that I shoehorned a 1973 455 that I put aftermarket stage I heads mild performance cam and 750 cfm e-brock carb. the F100 used nearly as much fuel (unless I was racing around in the Regal)

My brother currently drives an 89 Ranger with a 2.9L(never uses 4wd) and we have done frequent tune ups and preventitive maintnance on and his stock ranger gets horrible MPG is underpowered(in my opinion) but is very dependable.

[TheStang00]

i got the 2.5 I4, rediculous mpg on city driving, not sure highway tho because i havent had it all that long.

[dmbrisket 51]

i realize driver(s) and conditions play a role, but up to 12 miles to the gallon??? that seams like a big step, and i realize there will be slight variations, and im tryin to see if the variations under a different manufacturor are as drastic as chevy/gm's variation

[Psychopete]

Originally Posted by williamskinner16

My brother currently drives an 89 Ranger with a 2.9L(never uses 4wd) and we have done frequent tune ups and preventitive maintnance on and his stock ranger gets horrible MPG is underpowered(in my opinion) but is very dependable.

How bad is it exactly? It should be getting around 19 city / 24 highway. There may be a sensor that is going, causing the computer to run rich, which would explain the 'missing' power. Check the plugs for richness. That is a 16 year old engine, you can't expect everything to be as good as it was off the lot.

Pete

[Psychopete]

Oh,

I get horrible mileage with my 2.9L. It's got a drag cam, 19 pound injectors from a mustang, converted to MAF, brand new exhaust / pacesetter headers & dynomax exhaust + more. I'm guessing it's around 13 - 16, I also drive it like I stole it, but I need to since the cam is made for mid/high RPM, or else it doesn't really make a whole lot of power.

You're probably wondering why the hell anyone would want to build a 2.9L like this, but honestly it's a small engine that can put the power down given the oppertunity. I've seen a sand buggy with the 2.9L American version with a Carb that put out 250h.p. (I have the link) Given the mass + power, and engine like that will make you get to the grocery store in a hurry. They also race the 24v Cosworth 2.9L (same factory in Germany) in parts of Europe. It's bore/stroke is the same, different block though. Same bellhousing.

Ford or Chevy, I'll drive either/or. Although, on the other hand I also won't hose myself and buy a Dodge. Some of their transmission failures are suprisingly far worse than the Ford Taurus transmission behind the 3.0L/3.8L 12 valve engine.

Pete

[dmbrisket 51]

that 3l ford with the 24v dohc, and 12 fuel plates on a six cylender... let me tell you what that it one hell of a moter, it keeps up with the gm 3400 and 3800 series moters, and the gas mileage in those things (when its not treated like a stepchild) is 24 mpg in the city, thats one hell of a moter

[dmbrisket 51]

(just dont tell my chevy buddies about that post lol)

[williamskinner16]

Originally Posted by Psychopete

How bad is it exactly? It should be getting around 19 city / 24 highway. There may be a sensor that is going, causing the computer to run rich, which would explain the 'missing' power. Check the plugs for richness. That is a 16 year old engine, you can't expect everything to be as good as it was off the lot.

Pete

I dont actually drive it. He uses it daily for work(a 50/50 city/highway), and I am often a passenger. My guess is 15, maybe 16 MPG. We were planning on doing some sensor changes, in particular, beginning with the O2 sensor(s). the only problem I am somewhat sure of is an exhaust leak that I think is at the exhaust manifold to head gasket. I was going to fix this but seeing the rusted manifold bolts (requiring torx bits!), I chose to hold off on this. Is this problem more than a nuiscence, contributing to MPG-Power Loss? I can live with the slight "fffth--fffth--ffth" noise, but not the at the cost of gas and efficiency.

Bill

[dmbrisket 51]

if the hole is in the manifold you want to change that with a quickness, a hole outside a cylender makes that cylender hotter then the others, hotter then it should be, and you can, and eventually will burn a hole into the aluminum pistons, and due to the loss of backpressure (yes back pressure is bad but all moters need a certin amount to run proporly) you could be getting the loss of power from the hole

[Psychopete]

The exhaust leak is the problem. The o2 sensor readings are not correct. It thinks it's running lean. Exhaust bolts, huge PITA. Use liquid wrench or P.B. Blaster on it for a few days and don't force them or else they will break. Anyway to get an exhaust C-Clamp on it? Anything like that at this point would most certainly help.

Pete