Posted: 4/23/2006 7:35:59 AM EDT
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Hello all, I currently own a 2003 4cyl 5spd Ford Ranger, and no matter what I do, I can not get more than 280 miles per tank, when 3/4's of my driving is city and the other 1/4 is highway. The Truck has 22K miles on it and purrs like a kitten. The air filter is spotless, and I run 87 octane fuel with a can of STP octane booster in the tank. Also for what it's worth, I have an Aluminum cap on the truck. Is this normal for my little Ranger, or should I just suck it up. 
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20 mpg isnt too bad for a pickup, mine's lucky to get 15 and it's a toyota. and by the way, with that octane booster, it MIGHT bring the octane rating up from 87 to 87.2, and considering how much those little bottles cost, you'd be better off going with 91 octane, but it should run just fine on 87. you could always try taking the shell off and see if that helps any |
Assuming you're running it bone dry before filling it, that works out to 20mpg. I bet you're getting 22 or so. It's not too bad. Ford Rangers in this configuration are very underpowered (my dad has one). You may be nailing the gas pedal a little hard. When are you shifting? Oh, and to echo TRH's comments, ditch the octane booster. You're not raising your octane (these companies should be investigated, IMHO), and it's a waste of money. |
| Well as a matter of fact, I do drive it a little hard, but by no means do I beat the shit out of it. The oil is changed every 2,800 to 3,200 miles, I am always checking the air filter, and my tires are always up to air pressure specs. With the scare of gas shortages on the East coast I have been topping off my tank every other day regardless. So I have not let my tank run dry in quite some time. |
There's not much you can do, that will make a significant improvement. What kind of mileage are you looking for? You can ease things a bit by feather-footing the gas and shifting around 2100-2300 rpm or so. Also consider whether or not you may be lugging the motor a bit. For example, if you're going 35mph in 4th gear and you want to pass somebody, shift into 3rd and ease into the gas, instead of flooring it in 4th. Little things like that will help some. I can manage 20mpg in my 05 Mustang GT around town, if I take it real easy (I almost never do, though). 
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I agree with the other guys here - that's pretty much on target for that engine in that truck style. CMOS |
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I have owned two 4cyl Ranger pickups. 20 to 22 mpg is just the nature of the beast, in most situations. Your driving habbits do have an effect though... The 2.3L OHC is MOST effecient at high cylinder pressures. You should accelerate very near full throttle, and "short shift" at around 3800 to 4200 rpm. Brisk acceleration to the speed limit actually does better on fuel. Once you are up to speed, use the highest gear that you can for that driving situation. For passing, downshift, and "short shift" at full throttle to accelerate. Winding out in a gear does not buy you anything with this engine, except noise. "feather footing" is a waste of time and fuel. The engine runs in it's LEAST effecient mode, for a longer period of time. Keep the highway speeds down. Pushing any pickup at 75mph burns more fuel than 65 mph. I did have good results with advancing the camshaft timing on my 1986 Ranger. A six degree advance gave a huge increase in usable torque, and improved the gas milage by about 3mpg. I do not know if this can be done on your newer engine, but at the time I did that one, the part was available from Ford Motorsports. Lem |
I owned 2 and both of them got no more than 17mpg. I ended up getting a Focus, for better fuel economy
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Iv'e got a 98 Ranger 6cyl. 3.0 I consistently get 14-16 mpg. New air filter, new o2 sensors, tornado device, no luck. I jam packed the thing with a deep freezer, guns, and ammo, and it got 20 mpg. Go figure. I guess i'll have to turn it into the arsenal on wheels. It's for the environment.
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Keep your speed down. Big difference in mpg at 60mph vs. 80mph. Well, that's my expereince in my Corolla with a 3 speed automatic. The torque converter "locks up" at 50mph. I pull 35mpg at 70 mph vs. almost 40mpg at 55-60mph. Just try for one tankfull slowing down a little. Might be surprised. Good luck. vmax84 |