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Justin Spafford

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I just purchased a 2002 Sport Trac. It has 65K on it with the 4.0L and and Automatic 4wd. The first half tank of gas I got 14.3mpg. Is this normal? It has 4.10 gears. I was hoping for a little closer to 16-18ish. Most of the tank was highway.



What should I look for or is this normal?
 
It's not far off, I get HUGE variances even on the highway depending on how I drive. I've gotten anywhere from 12 (towing) to 22 (flat highway with cruise at 60) so if you drive fast or live in a hilly area you aren't going to get very good mileage. Slow down, use cruise and you might get closer to 17.
 
Welcome to the site Justin :)



I think it comes down to your driving habbits on what mpg you get. My '07 V8 Limited....on the highway, I avg about 20-22....on city streets, more around 15-18 if I stay light on the foot.
 
again, WELCOME to this great site :)



i have had 2 gen one tracs and experienced the same gas milegae.

i believe that it is normal for the way your trac is equipped.



enjoy your new trac
 
I would enjoy it a lot more if it will do a little better in mileage. Did anyone notice the mileage go down in the winter? Or another words, can I expect it to go up come spring/summer grade gas.



Would a programmer or tuner help or is this just the nature of the beast?



Sucks, I got 30 miles and it's coming off of full already.



I have a 1989 Bronco II 4x4 with 158K miles 4WD, and it gets 18-19 city, 20-22 highway.



I guess I was expecting a bit more out of it.
 
Justin,

Yes, winter blend gas kills your mileage by 1-2mpg average, so it should come up in the spring. I know my ranger is down to about 15-16 now and summer is 18-19 easily. As others will tell you here, tuners are good as long as u keep your foot light, which you won't want to do when you realize the power lol



Good luck and enjoy,

Andy Szkutak
 
Welcome to the site, Justin.



I totally agree with what Andy said. You can get better gas milage by boosting performance, but you must keep a light foot on the gas pedal with keeping your speed between 60 & 65 mph. Below is what I have done to increase gas milage; with the SCT XCalibrator being the most important.



AirAid Cold Air Intake;

Royal Purple: 5w-30 engine oil, Syncromax tranny fluid, power steering fluid, Purple Ice radiator additive, & MaxGear in the differential;

SCT XCalibrator II w/ programs for 87 octane economy & towing;

Trick Flow differential cover w/ Royal Purple MaxGear oil;

Flex-a-lite 180 Extreme electric fan, off w/ engine;

Taylor Vertex spark plug wires (or Taylor Vertex Thundervolt 8.2 wires) & new OEM plugs;

Flowmaster 70 Big Block single-in / duel-out muffler, because I wanted the quietest one on the market;

ZabTeck (site sponsor) throttle body;

ZabTeck (site sponsor) 'C&L' Mass Air Flow Sensor housing;

Accel Coil Pack (or Screamin' Demon coil from Zabteck - site sponsor)

 
Using a half tank is not the best way to figure milage. The fuel gauge is not that acurate. Run several tanks and use miles and actual gas amount from fill ups.

Welcome to the site..
 
I agree, You may be calculating it incorrectly...



Also as Gary S said, He got the same mileage in 2 different trucsk...



Well I purchased 1 of those trucks and My Wife gets 18-19 MPG in that ST ...



All in driving habbits,....



My 03 me driving gets 15... My wife gets 18-19.......



Todd Z
 
It seems I average 14.7 on every tank on my '08. My old '05, same engine, I got a little less but it was slightly lifted and had bigger tires.

The highway mileage is actually pretty good. I've seen as high as 22 on highway trips on a flat road if I keep it to 70 or less. I think that's where the exhaust helps.

If I do a lot of in-town driving it'll go to 12 or less.



The best things you can to do help mpg are 1) drive it right, 2) exhaust, 3) tuner.
 
I am still in shock how low the mileage is in the city. If I was going to spend money on ONE thing to try and improve it, which would you choose? How does the tuner help?



Also, the compass and thermometer, does that have the "Avg MPG" and "Miles to empty" function?



See ya on TRS Johnny
 
Also, the compass and thermometer, does that have the "Avg MPG" and "Miles to empty" function?
Click to expand...



No, that feature only became available in the Gen 2 (2007-up) ST's.



All of the above suggestions are great for improving MPG. Here's another: Buy a ScanGauge II. It provides a real-time MPG readout, and you can adjust your driving habits to obtain the best MPG. The website is linked below. Sometimes you can find them cheap on eBay.



What kind of MPG were you expecting? Keep in mind that the Sport Trac is a 4310 lb truck. It's not meant to be the most fuel-efficient vehicle. And you can't realistically compare it to your Bronco II, because the Bronco II weighs only 3385 lbs. That's over 1,000 lbs less than the Sport Trac.
 
I was expecting what I got out of my 2001 Ranger with the same Engine/Tranny combo. It was an extended cab not much shorter than the ST. It got 20 in the summer, and a few less in the winter.



I am hopeful it will go up with continued driving... I figure my mileage by miles driven/gallons used.



When I sold my F-250 in May, I was getting 12MPG with it, and it was a 3/4 ton truck with the 5.4 in it.



I wish it had the fuel guage in the overhead, I will check out the link you posted..



Thanks



 
I was expecting what I got out of my 2001 Ranger with the same Engine/Tranny combo. It was an extended cab not much shorter than the ST.
Click to expand...



Keep in mind that the ST is still 800 lbs heavier than the Ranger.



ST curb weight: 4310 lbs.

Ranger curb weight: 3584 lbs.
 
Thanks.

There isn't anything that will make a big difference other than driving downhill all the time, but with 65k on it I'd change the plugs if they're original (and get those gawdawful Bosch plugs out of it if that's what it has), all the filters, fresh synthetic lube in the axles and t-case. Flush the tranny for good measure. Coolant if it doesn't look fresh. An exhaust, Zabteck's CAI, and a tuner will help some. But it'll never be a mileage champ no matter what you do. City mpg sucks because that's a lot of mass to get moving over and over again.
 
Another small thing to look at also.....what is your tire pressure? I keep mine at about 35 psi.
 
If you had bought the '02 ST new you would be getting better gas milage after 10k miles. But, since you bought used with 65k miles on it I would not expect to get any better gas milage w/o mods and changing your driving habits.



Whether or not you are going to do any mods, be sure to do the following (see Projects/Maintenance):

Have a fresh air filter,

clean the IAC motor,

clean the throttle body,

run a bottle to fuel injector cleaner through a full tank of gas,

do the Seafoam cleaning project,

change the gas filter,

run 35 psi in all four tires to maximize rolling resistance,

switch to Royal Purple, or other good full synthetic oil, in the engine / transmission / differential.



 
Also My 04 ST weighs in a 4,848 and my 03 tipped the scales a 5,100 lbs...



Thats a lot of weight for a little v6 to push around..



Todd Z
 

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