10 MPG! Is that right?

[Tig OBit]

I have an 02 with a 22.5 gallon tank. My gas mileage has always been awful with the truck over the past 4 years. I got 230 miles out of this tank and it is almost empty. Am I missing something?

 

[Mark Grumpy]

About 200 miles.



Smething seems amiss - you sure you're getting it full? E-brake off completely? I get between 400 and 450 on the highway.



grump

 

[Ben Poche]

may be your accelerator is heavy :lol: how many gallons do you put in at each fill up do you putt the 22 gallons i get 300 to every 14 gallons

 

[Gerald Pierce]

I get 20mpg on the highway, but I think I have a smaller tank (01)??? I usually fill up at about 320 miles and it usually takes about 16 gallons. The needle is usually just above "E".



Dont measure mileage by "I got xx miles out of this tank and the tank holds xx gallons", measure how many miles and divide by the actual number of gallons you put in. Try to use the same station and same pump to really be consistant.



My mileage has been pretty consistant over the last 4.5 years..... I quit tracking it because it wasn't really changing.

 

[Todd Z]

Tig,

I was never able to get over 280 On a tank. A tank is not the correct way to judge mileage, But after 5-6 tanks of the same thing I concluded that it was not going to change..

Each fill up was around 21 gallons... If I drove my normal I got between 230 and 280... My best ( before my mods on the highway was 320).. I now can see over 21+ mpg on the highway.

Todd Z

 

[Scott Tanner]

my 02 2wd gets 16-19 around town and i've gotted 23 on the hiway before... you'vegot an issue w/ the engine or a brake hanging

 

[Todd Z]

Just noticed you have 18 inch tires, if the height changed from the stock, that will throw your speedometer off enough to make it look like your mpg is in the toilet..

Todd Z

 

[Ben Poche]

Todd i think you are correct

 

[TomT]

I'll bet that's it. I'm pretty heavy footed yet I get 16-17 pretty consistently and over 300 miles per tankful. And that's mostly in-town stop and go traffic.

 

[Richard L]

You cannot use the gas gauge to determine accurate gas mileage, especially on the Sport Trac.



The only way to accuratle calculate an acurate MPG is to accurately measure the exact amount of gas you used to go a specific distance. To do that you must fill your tank to the brim. That means the gas must be just above the the restrictor plate in the gas filler tube. Then reset your trip odometer to zero.



Now drive how ever far you want (50+ miles should be the minimum) and return to the exact same gas pump and again fill up the tank to exactly the same level you started with. That means you must fill the tank until the gas is again just above the gas filler restrictor plate. Now record the gallons used (to the 2 or 3 decimal places shown on the pump) and record the miles driven to the 10th of a mile as shown on your odometer. Divide the miles driven by the gallons of gas used and you will have your average MPG for that trip.



Now one tank full of gas does not necessarily mean that is your best MPG or your worst. It only means that was the average for that trip under those traffic conditions, temperature, weather, tire pressure, etc. All the rest are variables that you cannot control.



If you don't fill your tank to the brim before and after your test trip, you will never know how much to fill the tank to replace the exact amount of gas used. The gas guage is just too inaccurate.



...Rich

 

[David Sader]

I filled my tank yesterday at my usual station. The pump I used was not the usual one.



My tank was empty but had some gas in it. The reserve light had just come on.



The pump charge me for 26.7 gallons. I asked the owner of the station to check it. He got a five gallon marked gas can and put in 5 gallons according to the pump. It registered about 4.3 gallons on his gas can.



Pumps can lose their accuracy. This particular pump was checked by the State of Arizona approximately 1 year ago. The station owner has it shut down pending instpection from the state of AZ. He did give me a refund for 4 gallons.

 

[Tig OBit]

I was talking to someone else and they also mentioned that the 18" wheels may be deceiving as well. But I can't imagine it would make too much of a difference. Wouldn't that also make my odometer off by alot. I mean I'm showing less that 32k miles, but that could mean what? That my truck really has 35k miles on it? If I did the fill up, drove 50 miles by the odometer and then filled up again, would I still get an accurate measurement by going back and filling up again? Thanks everyone.

 

[Ben Poche]

no you need to drive 50 miles but not by your odometer but by a gps would work fine.

 

[Jeff C]

What size rims/tires did you originally have vs. what is the actual size of the tires now, like 2XX/XX/18. Depending on how small your original tires were and what your speedometer was calibrated for; for every 2" in diameter bigger your tires are, you're adding about 3" to the circumfrence around the tire. So that's an extra 3" every time your tire fully rotates.

 

[Richard L]

It's not the rim size as much as it is the tire diameter that effects gas mileage. If your tires are smaller in diameter than the stock tires, your dpeedometer and odometer will read a higher speed and mileage than you actually traveled. That would make your MPG appear higher



The opposite is true if your tires are larger than stock you would be traveling faster and further than indicated on your Speedometer and odometer.



While your tires could throw off your mileage, it would normally only be about 1 or 2 MPG at the most, unless you have made a huge change in tire diameters.



A trip of 50 miles is the minimum distance. The further you trave the more accurate overall average MPG you will get. A 50-100 mile trip is OK for a quick test. The purpose of filling the tank to the brim is only to have an accurate reference as to how much gas you need to put back into the tank to replace the gas used. You cannot see into the tank so you cannot tell if the pump shuts off at the gas level all the mine. The only way to tell is if you fill the tank until the gas is visible in the filler tube just above the nozzle restrictor plate.







...Rich