7.3 Mileage on 02 X. Bad!

[pauls1948]

I'm new here. I searched the forum for mileage. Seems 15 to 16 in town is common. I get 12MPG. Just took it in for some warranty work and the service manage says 7.3s are not even EPA rated for mileage. I told them to check it over to look for anything obvious. They say 12MPG is the norm for this engine. Now I bought the truck to up my mileage while towing and expected to get at least 15MPG in town from what I read. What do you guys say? I plan to add Magna Flow exhaust and a K&N filter. What is realistic?

[MotionMan]

I average 16 in town and 17-18 on the highway at 70. The other night on a back road I put the cruise on 55 and traveled about 50 miles and got 20. Are you reseting it?

[rfalcone]

I just got back from a hunting trip to Colorado (from Houston). We took my Excursion this year. The only mod, if you could call it that, is that I have had a K&N filter on it since we bought it. I cleaned it before we left. I also changed the fuel filter.

We had 3 guys, seven guns, gear, etc. We pulled a trailer with a Polaris 4-wheeler, coolers and a large infrared BBQ. This stuff easily weighed over 2,000 pounds.

We averaged 13.7 mpg (manually calculated) for over 2200 miles. This was a speed run as opposed to a fuel mileage run. Except for Colorado most of the speeds were over 75 mph.

All things considered, I really can't complain about the mileage we experienced. Running around town we have always got around 15 mpg. Unloaded, driving sanely, highway has seen over 20 mpg.

I don't think this will help you get better mileage but might help with comparing what some of us get with these beasts.

[Tecate Virgin]

I've been reading this board for over 3 yrs. I see all kind of claims about mileage. Here's my story: I don't dog this truck. When I tow its a 5980 lb(weighed) boat with windshield removed but the center console(22ft Triton tunnel hull CC) does produce drag. In town, stictly up and down the local streets with stoplights every quarter mile, automatic idling till it gets to 320 on shutdown, I get about 12mpg, sometimes a little less. Some freeway with that will average anywhere from 12.5-14.5 on a tank, depending on amount of freeway. On highway at speed limits I get anywhere from 17-17.6, all hand calculated. Towing the boat I get 12.5-14.0 depending on the speed I run, the higher numbers are on 2 lane roads where I'm limited to 55mph. I might add that the truck vault carrys about 500lbs of stuff all the time, jacks, chains, spare parts for trailer, fishing stuff etc etc. I run Stanadyne in every tank since day one. Truck weighed without boat 8960lbs without me in it and half tank fuel.

Some guys claim they are getting 20.0. I say BS unless they are driving 50mph. Some claim 15+ in city. Their "city" ain't the same as my "city".

This truck puts the previous two Expeditions so badly to shame that I think my mileage and pulling power is strictly awesome. I always tow in overdrive and can increase speed going up a bridge pulling the boat. The Expedition couldn't pull in overdrive with the slightest headwind.

So, thats my story and I'm sticking to it. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smokin.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/depressed.gif[/img]

Hope you enjoy your truck as much as I do. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif[/img]

[jdadamsjr]

The 7.3 I had in my '02 Ex got MUCH betta mpg with a microtuner - that is when I didn't floor it all the time to enjoy the extra performance !

And that's the key...
the driver is more a factor of the mpg than the engine !
You could probably get one of those little hybrids mpg down to the 10's if you floored it all the time !

Years ago I thought I would help myself by getting a smaller engine in a amaller car - rated at 35 mpg - WRONG, WRONG, WRONG !!!

The smaller engine had to work harder to keep up with my foot !

So now I get as much engine as feasible to not make the engine work as hard to get my 8K lb Ex moving...

Remember -
it's a BIG truck and you can't drive it like you did your sports car. Well, you CAN, and many of us do, but you have to give up one thing to get the other sometimes [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[jejb]

The mileage I'm getting thus far from the 6.0 is disappointing. My 01 dmax did a lot better as a new truck (I kept records). And I was harder on that gas pedal than I am on this one since the power doesn't feel as "fun" in the 6.0 yet (long breakin, I know) and I'm kind of over the powerful diesel, smash it at every light thing. We have a Subaru WRX for that.

I'm seeing 13-13.5 all around town mileage compared to 15-16 in the dmax. Haven't done an unloaded hiway run yet. My only tow so far was pretty good on the outbound leg at 11.5 cruising 75-80 towing a 5000# enclosed trailer. But the check engine light came on almost right away on the trip back and I got 9 all the way home. Very poor.

It's still better than my gas big blocks, by far, but it's a big time disappointment. It seems they don't get much better when they break in, either, which the dmax did. It picked up ~1mpg everywhere comparing the new mpg numbers and the 20k miles numbers.

Oh, don't believe that OH computer. I've not found it close at all yet. I've seen it read as high as 20mpg, tell me I'd averaged 15 on that tank and in reality see 13 at the pump. Total piece of junk for mileage stuff, IMO. I just wish there was a way to only see the compass. Duct tape? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[swhitney]

Even with the mods, I've never been able to break 15mpg in town, usually 12-14, lots of stop and go mixed with some freeway blasts. I think it's pretty normal with these, although a fresh air filter is worth about .5-1 mpg, changed mine out at 20k, it was about 10k too late [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

Best straight hwy mileage has been 17-17.5, cruise set on 75. Made 18 once with a tailwind, but my buddies with Dmax's can break 20mpg.

[rfalcone]

I should probably qualify my "city" mileage estimates. Perhaps a better choice of words would be commute. That includes some freeway miles but, as we all know, that can be a lot of stop and go driving depending on traffic conditions.

I do the mileage thing more for fun than anything else. I do like to see those high numbers but all things considered if you took dollar for dollar and pound for pound, the fuel efficiency of these buggies is really a testimony to the diesel engine.

Does anyone out there know the mechanics of how the obc computer figures mileage? I have seen it within a few tenths. On my last trip to Colorado I was lucky to get within a mile and a half on the computer vs. doing the calculation manually.

[jhartwig]

I just checked mine this morning when I refilled. I haven't reset the computer for 3 tanks. My driving is the same almost every day so pretty consistant for all three tanks. About half highway and half city. My computer showed 15.9. My actual calculation this morning on my last tank was 15.7. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img]

[scotpart]

I've got 28,000 mi on my 7.3 and I get between 13-15 around Miami. ( It all depends on how much time you spend idleing) Recently on a 300 mi run over to the west coast of Florida I got 19.5. I wasn't pulling anything but I was doing at least 70 most of the way. Mine has a moderate chip, a K&N, and a 4" exhaust from the turbo back. The muffler is very non restrictive.

Scott