im getting lousy gas milage

[steve63]

recently i checked the gas milage on my 90 ranger,and im only getting 20 mpg,the truck has 147k on it,its a 2.3 twin plug,3.73 gears,5 sp,has no engine codes,nothing in memory,tires are 205/70-14,the truck runs well,tire pressures are up at 32 all the way around,plus the bed is empty so its not hauling around a bunch of weight,the only thing i have noticed is the tail pipe behind the muffler looks like swiss cheese,it cant smog because of it,until i fix it,but this should do better than 20 mpg,and its mostly highway mi

 

[Duane867]

Thats about right actually. You can expect no more then 23-25 MAX on the highway and any where from 17 - 20 in the city.
Our 4 bangers get no better gas mileage then a 3.0 unfortunately.

 

[scotts90ranger]

back in the day when my truck was economical and before the days of ethanol in our gas I got a consistant 26-27mpg, when they started adding ethanol it dropped to 23, one tank to the next with no other problems/changes... then changed to 4x4 and that dropped to 19 no matter how I drove because of the bad alignment, now I'm at 17 with the bad alignment and the turbo.

 

[robmedina]

I have a 97 regular cab, 2.3L 5 speed, 3.73 gears & 225/70/14 tires. I consistently average 23-24mpg but 95% of my driving is highway.

@scotts90ranger- for having turbo, 4x4 and 31's 17mpg aint too bad.

 

[Memphis]

I've only checked mine ONCE so far and it was 19mpg. I was hoping for more, maybe closer to 25mpg for a 4cyl,5spd, but I'll keep making improvements and maybe new exhaust someday. Still, it is better than the 10mpg my '67 Dodge truck was getting or even the 14-15 my Suburban was getting. There is always a bright side!

 

[steve63]

ill fix the exaust and check it,doubt there will be much difference

 

[scotts90ranger]

the only way exhaust could change mileage on yours is if your exhaust manifold was cracked or loose on the head (IE the oxygen sensor thinking it's lean from letting air into the exhaust).

do you drive a lot? and do you mostly cruise at 55? if so, try a tank driving in 4th gear instead of 5th, I used to do that when mine was built like yours and it got better mileage. Another thing, does your engine have a MAF sensor or is it an early '90 like mine was without a MAF (early in '90 they went from no MAF to having one)? if it has one, it could be dirty and putting more fuel in than the engine needs without causing a code.

 

[Memphis]

Drive mostly in 4th? Will that be hard on the truck? I drive to and from work, 15 miles one way at 55. There are some hills. This 'could' give me better mpg? I might try that.

 

[scotts90ranger]

it won't hurt anything, the 2.3 is nearly bullet proof, you could drive all day at the rev limiter and not hurt it...

 

[Bryan22]

when i'm coming up a grade on the freeway im usually in third at around 5k rpm for 5 or 10 minutes. that was 3 or 4 times a week when i was using it for work. no problems. like scott said, bulletproof. haha. And i have a ext cab 2.3 5 spd with 33's and 4.10 gears getting about 18 on the highway, probably the same around town.

as for 20mpg with a stock truck, time for a tune up? make sure the brakes aren't dragging.

 

[dezert dreaming]

[/QUOTE]as for 20mpg with a stock truck, time for a tune up? make sure the brakes aren't dragging.[/QUOTE]

x2. I found out my calipers were sticking and that ate my clutch and mileage. Now im getting better mpg's and im in the process of changing the clutch.