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  #1  
Old 06-05-2009, 09:41 AM
tulsatime tulsatime is offline
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Default Bad gas mileage from my '04 3L

Guys-

Anyone got suggestions on what to check for bad gas mileage on my '04 3L?

Currently no CEL's. Idles fine. But mileage is 14/15 around town. 18/19 hwy at 75 mph. Pretty much baby it. Figure I should get 3/4 more mpg.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
David
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  #2  
Old 06-05-2009, 10:10 AM
Tom Tom is offline
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These trucks are rated for around 15 MPG in town and 19 MPG highway, so unless you recently had a drastic drop in MPG (suggesting a problem you can fix) you probably wont be able to get an additional 4 MPG.
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  #3  
Old 06-06-2009, 05:03 AM
mrphdvr mrphdvr is offline
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The ususal things:

tire air pressure
Air Filter
carrying too much weight around (stuff you don't need)

Have you gotten something different than what you are getting now? I don't know what the difference is or if they made changes from 02 to 04 but I get around 18-20mpg. Only time it has ever dropped below 18 was when I changed jobs and drove less than 2 miles to work. The engine didn't have time warm up. Now that I have moved and drive about 5 miles it has gone back up.
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Old 06-06-2009, 04:46 PM
sickranger3.0 sickranger3.0 is offline
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One thing that id do is seafoam it and clean the throttle body. next thing is it automatic manual? regular cab or ext? Also if you have a manual i suggest you shift no earlier the 3k rpm. If you have a K&N filter that you oiled make sure to clean the maf sensor because you may have saturated the filter with oil which then transfers to the MAF throwing it off.
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Old 06-08-2009, 07:24 AM
RangerJustin RangerJustin is offline
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Why no earlier than 3k???
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  #6  
Old 06-08-2009, 04:19 PM
sickranger3.0 sickranger3.0 is offline
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the 3.0L's love the higher revs. If you keep it outta its "zone" then it will have to work harder (load up harder) If you shift before the engines "zone" the motor will be working harder in the next gear then it should be therefore using more gas then it should. I did a test on my truck where one gas tank i shifted at or as close to 2500 as i could. i averaged 20-21 mpg. I then moved my shift point to or around 3,000 rpms and i averaged at the highest 22.68mpg on a rich tune. I now shift at 3500 rpms since it seems smoother and a lot less sluggish. I think 3k-3.5K is where the shift points should be. If you think that shifting below that will help you then your mistaken. Its the nature of the beast to love the higher revs. In theory keeping low rpms will help save gas mileage. in theory yes that is correct to an extent. but also most people know that if you load up a motor to hard it will use more gas straining then running it at higher rpms .
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Old 06-08-2009, 05:19 PM
98blownranger 98blownranger is offline
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your milage sounds about right
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  #8  
Old 06-08-2009, 06:09 PM
sickranger3.0 sickranger3.0 is offline
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who mine or the guy who started the thread? cause 14/15mpg city does not sound right. my brother has an 2000 3.0L ext cab weighing in at 3800 pounds and gets 17-19 mpg and its an automatic.
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Old 06-09-2009, 07:40 AM
RangerJustin RangerJustin is offline
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Oh cool cool. Just curious if I could use that method on my civic, as I usually shift around 2k for the MPGs. My truck is auto, so no use for me there.
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Sold:2005 XLT 4x4 Ext. Cab. 4.0 Mods: ProComp lights w/ HID swap on tabs, 32x11.5 on 15x8s, CB/PA, black out heads/corners, lil sound system, cranked t-bars, flow 40 dumped, line-x, shell, bed rug, 06+ tails, metal tail gate handle since plastic one shattered, OHC, Mustang Dome.
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  #10  
Old 06-09-2009, 08:35 AM
sickranger3.0 sickranger3.0 is offline
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yes you can use the same principle for your civic you just have to find its sweet spot. every engines sweet spot is different.
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  #11  
Old 06-09-2009, 03:13 PM
mrphdvr mrphdvr is offline
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Not sure about the sweet spot but for most engines if you can keep the rpms around 2k, that's where your optimum fuel efficiency is. For the 3.0 it is 55 mph. depending on the gearing it will be different. My wifes explorer does about 60 at 2k rpm.
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  #12  
Old 06-09-2009, 05:30 PM
sickranger3.0 sickranger3.0 is offline
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you are talking about cruising. not acceleration two different principles.
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  #13  
Old 06-10-2009, 08:49 AM
Psychopete Psychopete is offline
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It is true, lugging an engine will cause it to consume more fuel shifting too soon. The 3.0L is a car engine and it likes to rev. Manuals tend to get better mileage as well.

Pete
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  #14  
Old 06-12-2009, 07:07 AM
tulsatime tulsatime is offline
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It's an automatic. Just figured I might be able to get 17/18 around town, maybe low 20's on the highway. Turns a little under 2500 at 70mph.
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  #15  
Old 08-14-2014, 04:47 AM
trkbilder trkbilder is offline
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Default Re: Bad gas mileage from my '04 3L

Tujsatime, that's about what I get! 17=18 around town and roughly 20 on the interstate. I have an '03 with the 3.slow and auto. Would love to get 20 around town without expensive mods.!
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