F150 horrible gas milage question.?

Question

I have a '98 ford f150 single cab, 2wd with an automatic 4.6 v8.
I drive to work which is 15 miles round trip and when I pull back into my driveway it has drank 1/8 of a tank! I don't hotrod it either, Any suggestions to improve this pickups mpg? Thank you in advance

it also has 125k on it

Like said above I don't drive with my foot in it. I do simple mechanics so the all the filters and ect are good to go. Also thanks for the cocky comment on how to spell. I'm quiet aware of how to spell considering i'm an english major I was just in a real fast hurry while typing this up.

Also tires are brand new and everything is perfectly aligned. There's no weight in the bed and I know how to drive so it's in overdrive and such.

Answer 1

It's your flux capacitor!

Answer 2

I really think the basics are in order new air filter new spark plug wires and spark plugs AUTO LITE or Motorcraft only please. New fuel filter under the truck on the frame by drivers feet Proper air pressure in the tires. Empty out the bed of the truck no extra weight allowed. Driving 7.5 miles each way is the worse thing your truck never heats up all the way. If you don't need to use a truck drive an economy car.

Answer 3

how hard do you drive meaning how heavy is your foot meaning are you standing on it , cause the millage is a rating for normal driver conditions, now you could have something wrong like a vacuum leak and that would make it have horrid millage or a stuck open EGR vale . if you drive somewhat normal take to a ASE or Qualified auto repair shop and just have her looked at and the should look at it and for free and if something is wrong then they will give an estimate and it you have them do the work make sure its in writing that what they do will correct the problem OK, in writing with a guarantee OK, good luck, also if an automatic make sure you in the overdrive position always not drive 1 or 2 always in OD it automatic up and down shifts depending on throttle pressure and you are not driving it in this range is will suck on millage, do you have a camper on it ? or a trailer ?

Answer 4

Keep the RPM's low. Keep the tires inflated to the high end of the range indicated on the sidewalls. If you haven't done so, do the 100,000 mile tunes up. Consider a K&N airfilter.

Also, spell mileage "m i l e a g e"

Answer 5

no way, i have a 98' f150 extended cab with 122k on it and gas mileage suckkks, same here, regular maitenance and 4.6 V8 and on the way to school to drop off kids, work and back again is like 40 miles and i got 1/4 tank from topping off that morning, it doesnt smoke and im not driving crazy. just regular everyday with little traffic. and it just sucks down gas. hey quick question, do you have low torque??? email me someone please with answer [e-mail]

Answer 6

Do you carry weight in the bed? Are your tires properly inflated? When were the spark plugs last replaced? Throttle body and injectors cleaned? Air filter changed? You should be getting about 15mpg and with your figures, you're getting about 10.

Answer 7

First off, gas gauges aren't very accurate. They're fine for a guesstimate of how much you have and have used, but can be off. Mine takes a nose dive from the half to quarter tank mark but can hang on forever from the 3/4 to full mark.

15 miles round drip, outta be using about 1 gallon of fuel if it's relatively flat and smooth traffic.

My 2000 F-150 5.4triton with 4X4 and extended cab can do about 18mph on the highway, about 70mph with the AC running.

Better fuel economy for your truck, start with simplest thing, raise your tail gate. With it up your truck builds a ball of high pressure that helps it's aerodynamics improve over a truck with the tailgate down.

Get unnecessary cargo out of your truck. Every 100lbs takes off a couple percent on your mpg.

Then go to stuff like tire pressure, oil changes and airfilter. If those are fine, check your wheels for damage and alignment.


I flushed my transmission and got a nice little boost out of my trucks fuel economy a few months ago.

Best thing I've done for fuel economy has been a "Roll-N-Lock" truck bed cover. It cost a bit, but it gives me a nice looking bed cover that's very easy to stow so that I can load cargo when I need to (unlike clamshell tops that have to be removed for cargo hauling) and easy to pull back over unlike Tanau covers that have to be buttoned back into place (I'd never take the time to do that and wouldn't get much fuel help out of it being rolled into a ball in the front of the truck)

Edit:
Forgot to mention get a tune up. If it's running bad maybe a sparkplug or something is fouled and costing you a cylinder, that's expensive as those rob you of energy and dont put any energy out but do pull gas through them.

Answer 8

Get a diesel, all v8 gas engines suck for gas mileage