Hello all. I am needing help from all of you to see if any of you have an idea about my gas milage... I am getting 21 miles to the gallon. I have a 95 with a 2.3 and a 5 speed. I have replaced the spark plugs, plug wires, EGR, IAC, TPS, PCV, and I have cleaned the throttle body and replaced the gasket for the throttle body. I do all the oil changes right at 3,000 miles or every 3 months... It seems like everything I do to get better gas milage, it gets worse.. Everyone that I talk to no matter what year they have, they are averaging 30+ mpg... Im about ready to just take it and trade it in on a car but I love my Ranger. Please help...

 

tires are they inflated properly, aligned, bald? air filter, fuel filter, keep your foot out of it, any evap leaks, or exhaust leaks.

 

is it 4 or 2 wheel drive?

 

30+ out of a 4banger ranger?

I'm highly skeptical. my buddy that has one gets 22 avg.

 

Did you check for codes ?
More importantly how is your driving ? do you ride it like a F1 or like granny ?

 

Tires are fully inflated, I keep a close eye on that. All tires are in good shape, Air fileter is clean/new, no exhaust leaks, it is a 2 wheel drive, I dont drive it like a granny but I dont drive it like mario andretti either... I do the speed limit all the time unless its an emergency, I did check the codes. I check them at least once a week at school. It aint throwing any codes.

 

then it sounds like you've done all you can do.

heard the saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"?

 

It's quite possible but in my case, I had the same gas mileage or worse one year ago (although I changed EGR valve / dpfe) and I recently change my pcv valve and It make a lot better gas mileage. Now I'm doing 26-27 mpg with 15" wheel (1997 ford ranger 2.3L 2wd). I do medium distance every day like 35kms and I drive way under the speed limit (-20 km/h under).

I'll make better a better gas mileage with changing my spark plugs that I plan to change those soon.

Did you check your ignition coil pack / spark plug wire / alternator / do you run with A/C all the time / change serpentine belt etc. ?

 

Ididnt check the Igniton coil pack, I do run with the A/C all the time in the summer and parts of the winter cause I live in Alabama. You have to run A/C all the time in the summer... Alternator still chraging, and I changed plug wires and belt at the same time. I have also replaced thhe EGR and the PVC at the same time I chenged pkugs and wired, and all that good stuff. We have done test at school for the DPFE and some tests say that its bad but most say that it isnt...

 

If you're running the A/C as often as it sounds theres a good chance that its the cause behind your "low" milage. Honestly, 22mpg out of a ranger is pretty decent. It you really want to try to raise it higher, try seafoaming the oil on your next change. Really there is not to much you can do to get it up higher. 30+mpg average is a lie IMO.

 

if you are averaging 21mpg with the a/c on then i would say that is normal .. possibly better than normal. i get about that with no a/c....

 

4cyl. Rangers do not get 30+mpg unless they are diesel.

 

Well, then I guess im gonna have to trade it in then. Cause I drive 500 miles a week at least and I am filling up 3-4 times a week to total up to about $500 a month for just gas... So I guess im gonna have to do what I didnt want to and trade it in. Thanks for the help...

 

That doesn't make any sense. 17 gallon tank (if regular cab more if extended), 21 MPG and 500 miles per week, you should be filling up like 1.5 times per week. I don't think your math is right.

 

Yes, it's weird...maybe he rides towards the mountains or something like that.
Anyway, what a shame he'll trading his car....4 banger are rock solid ! I love those ranger.

 

Something seems funny about this to me also...

 

something doesn't add up .. you should check the mpg's again over say 2 full tanks worth of gas.

furthermore, it makes no economic sense to trade in a '95 ranger.

 

If everybody you're talking to has a 2.3 Lima and says they're getting 30 mpg, then most are probably BS'ing. 25 is about the best I get during the summer and during the winter I get just over 20 mpg, has been consistent over 4+ years of ownership. In addition to hauling sandbags around, I'm convinced that our motors are setup to run more efficiently in hot weather.

Anyways, I think you should be shooting for 25 mpg, not 30. And even if you get 21, trading for a newer car isn't going to see a payback for a while to say the least.

 

Well, first of all, I am doing my math right. I fill it all the way up and then I take the number of gallons that it take to fill it up (full number with decimals not rounding) and the miles I got on the last tank and divide them. I have done it 3 times in a row and then took the average of them (added all 3 of them up and then divided it by 3). Thats the best way to calculate the mpg's. And secondly, while I was at school today, I put in truck in the shop and put it up on the lift to see if I could tell anything thats getting me bad gas milage and well, for the past month, the hose that goes from the air filter tube to the valve cover, it has been popping off. I aint been able to figure out why but I knew that it wasnt normal. Me and one of my classmates was on the computer trying to figure out the name of it and what would cause it to pop off and then another one of my classmates and I went out to the shop to the truck, lowered the lift and looked at the hose and saw that it was loose and I thought that it was just old until I pulled the entire hose off and looked at it, and turned out that the end of the hose that connected to the valve cover is cracked (original hose) and thats whats causing it to pop off. So I was loosing vaccum when it pops off so bad fuel economy... And then I hooked the scan tool up to it and ran some tests and both of my o2 sensors are bad as well. Imma order the o2's from rock auto this weekend. I got a discount coupon cause rock auto sent them to my instructor to pass out to us so imma use that for my o2's. Between those 2 things getting fixed, im sure ill get better gas milage hopefully...

 

That is your PCV hose and mine used to pop off as well (4.0) until I put some RTV on it. It would not be a reason mileage although your O2 sensors could.

Your mileage story still doesn't add up. I get much worse mileage than you and still get 300mi to a tank. You may be running through 4 tanks in 500mi or getting 21mpg but not both.

 

Yeah dude your math is off or something. 3-4 tanks in 500 miles and 21 mpg dont work together. Learn how to work a calculator.

 

I'll explain it this way. Its how i do it, and it makes sense.

Fill your tank until the pump stops. and then drive your normal routine until you need to get gas again. then go to the same exact station (i usually use the same pump) and fill it up again, until the pump stops.
take the number of gallons you put in and divide it by the miles driven. (this is where your trip meter comes in handy)

i get 17.8-18.1 every week. I've been keeping track for the last few weeks.
So, that means i get about 280-310 miles to a full tank of gas. and i'm driving a 4.0 OHV, 4x4 extended cab.

so, if your not getting at least like 350 or more mpg, you need to start driving different.

 

Try removing and cleaning the Mass air flow sensor and cleaning it with MAF cleaner its just a spray and gap your plugs or have them gapped properley and intermittently use your A/C dont use it in town open your windows only use the AC when you get up to highway speed and then turn it on on the highway, Good Luck! Also whats your reae end gearing and what size tires are you running??

 

MAke sure you buy OEM oxygen sensors spend the money I bought a cheapie for my old pathfinder and got horrible gas mileage ended up buying a Nissan OEM from the dealership and bam back to good for my mileage! Just Sayin it will save you buying them twice