I love my truck! - There I said it.

NOW, the thing that's killing me is the mileage! I purchased this truck used in Feb and have been tracking my MPG's. I am getting 13-15 MPG (calculated by hand). I have changed the fuel filter thanks to Eric's AWESOME instructions. Part of the problem may be my commute. I only travel about 6 miles each way (I don't think the truck even warms up). They tell me we don't have "winter fuel" in Portland Oregon since it doesn't get that cold. What else could it be - do I have injector issues?

PLEASE HELP!!!!:help:

Around town my mileage is so so. It's on the highway where I can see much better mileage.

Same mileage here. Drive 4-5 miles to work, get 14.5 consistently. If I have to go somewhere with a decent (i.e. freeway) drive, then mileage jumps considerably. Almost enough to make me consider moving farther away - not.

Short runs with a lot of stop and start stuff is a great aid in getting poor mpg. Cold engine doesn't help at all. Mileage really jumps up when running steady.

I'll bet it's your commute. Mine gets about the same mileage and my commute is about the same distance. In the Summer it's a bit better, but probably because it runs more efficiently not having to start from dead cold. On the road, though, I see mid-18s up to just about 20mpg at speeds up around 75mph. Above that and it may drop a little.

TC

I just made a trip from St. Louis to the Kingsport, TN area. Took the northern route across Hwy 64, then 75 to 81. About 1,400 miles round trip. Mileage (hand calc) pulling 11,000+ 5th wheel was 12.57 mpg while driving on cruise control at 58 mph without tow-haul. Average for daily drive without the trailer is about 12.4 but is only about 9 miles one way. Also, the daily trip has a lot of stop and go. The stop and go must really suck the fuel. Truck just rolled over 20K on the clock and DIC says average MPG since new is 12.6 mpg. Estimate is that about 4,000 of total miles is with the trailer.

NOW, the thing that's killing me is the mileage! I purchased this truck used in Feb and have been tracking my MPG's. I am getting 13-15 MPG (calculated by hand). I have changed the fuel filter thanks to Eric's AWESOME instructions. Part of the problem may be my commute. Yup! HWY=16-18.5 City 12-15 Towing 9.6-11.9 ... at least for me! My highway might be better if my foot was attached to a helium baloon. I tend to go as fast as the law will allow ... or ignore.

RJ

that's about what i always got..

that's about what i always got..

Ditto...... so much better than my 454! ):h

So what everyone is saying is that I am going to be HURTING when my 2002 comes in! I am used to 15 to 16MPG towing, 18 to 20 in town and 20 to 22 on the road unloaded with my '95 Ram (Cummins). Thats alright, i still like the Chevy better!

Also, don't forget about warm-up time. Some say they let the truck idle for 5, 10, or even 15 minutes before they drive. I think JK posted that these trucks burn about .75 gal. per hour at idle. Now if you only drive 75 miles per week.......at 17 miles per gal takes about 4.5 gal of fuel. Add to that 15 minutes of idle time ..........twice a day............equals another 2 gal. of fuel.
Now 75 miles divided by 6.5 gal equals approx. 11.5 mpg.:eek:
Been there and done the math since I also noticed quite a drop in mileage in winter......and I drive about 25 miles a day round trip. A lot of idle time really kills the MPG..............

That 6 mile commute has to be hard on the truck. I hope you let it get warm everyday, and that is why you have poor mileage. My mileage currently is around 18.5mpg with about 80 to 100 miles per day mostly highway. I know a guy that commute about 1 mile to work everyday. His truck never got warm because he stayed at work for lunch, and probably only used the truck every other weekend. That truck was a gasser but it took a dump a little after 100k.

I don't really let it warm up before driving, just get in, start the thing and go! The alison temp never comes off the low end and the truck doesn't get that warm. I will be towing in the summer but the winter it barely gets driven. What maintainence things should/could I do to keep the truck going, I spent a bunch of $$$ to get the diesel!!:eek:

Same mileage as mine. In town, 14-15 mpg. Highway 17-20. Towing heavy 9.5-13 depending on the mountains. Beats the hell out of any gasser I ever owned! Its just to bad the price of diesel is out of this world!!!

parent723,

There is not a whole lot you can do with a short commute. A 6 mile run on a US route I get on to go into to get into town will barely get the engine to 185°F. That's still not warming the engine and tranny up to normal temps. My commute is 25 miles at Highway speeds and depending on the weather, it can take 12-15 miles to get up to full temps. (Winter of course)

I would recommend a once a week romp to get everything good and warm. That is the best PM's I can see you doing right now.

I've gone over this many times before. You are in the same boat as I am, I drive about the same distance. At times in the summer I got as much as 19.5 mpg, but most of the time I get around 14 mpg. I too changed the fuel filter, air filter and constantly use the fuel additive but no better. I learned to just get used to it.:(

I keep mine plugged in when the temps are below 40. It then starts off much warmer and I don't worry about driving right after a start. I bought it used so didn't get the cowl cover :( . If I was to do a lot of in town winter driving I would probably go to the dealer and buy one. Just did a fill up and my in town milage with the edge at 3 and a relative light foot (this tank) and got 13.3. :)

I have a similar commute and at least once a week take it out on the highway to get her good and warmed up and do a pretty hard run. Mileage still sucks, but it does seem to run better for a day or two after that.

I also have a diesel Mercedes and it also gets the same treatment. It really fogs the road up on that hard run, though, after low speed city driving for a week.

Just returned from a weekend in Couer d' Alene ($2.59 9/10ths/ Gallon). Got right at 16 mpg @ 80mph average. Altitudes ranged from 3300' here at home to two passes at the 6500' level, down to 2200' at Cd'A. Coming home, I ran a steady 72 all the way and got 20.8 mpg ($2.44 9/10ths/ Gallon, Billings, Mt). No RV, just luggage. FYI.

BB

I get terrible milleage too until it warms up, after about 10 miles. After it's warm I get between 20 and 21 on the highway at 70 MPH.

My daily "commute" is only 5.5 miles, I am getting 17.5-18 pretty consistently whether it's city (driving to/from work) or highway which I do plenty of during the week (60miles every Thursday morning, part of that is stop-n-go I-35 traffic) and weekends (100+) to the farm and back etc. Perhaps I am driving enough highway miles in a given week to dwarf the 5.5 mile daily commute mileage.

I can make a 450mile cross country (Texas) trip and still get only 17.5-18, maybe it's because the tach says 2400rpm's most of the way. :-) I should really try running 70 sometime and keep the tach around 2000 to see if there is any difference. Oh and I run a VA150 box on the 150 setting 100% of the time don't know if that makes any difference or not.

Tim

your rt on the dollar

that's about what i always got..
Nick,

What do you mean by "got"?:confused:



Gary