Powerstroke fuel economy (a rant)

[69oiler]

12.3 here even with the new exhaust.

 

[Brimmstone]

I know this is the Powerstroke forum but it definitely sounds like something is odd. My 87 F350 has a 6.9 with a hypermax pulse unit going through a T-19 down to 3.55 gears and I've seen 17-18 running easy and empty down RT.70 in Maryland. With a load in the truck and the trailer loaded full I still get 11-12 going down the road. Is it possible your injectors are getting weak? I know with mine when three of the injectors got tired I saw an instant drop to 8-9 on the road. Just my thoughts take them or leave them.

 

[Diesel JD]

12.7 on my IDI yesterday with the C6 and 3.55s. I thought the PSD was supposed to get better fuel mileage than the IDI? I know that down in the basement our rigs vary from people who have a hard time getting 12mpg all the way up to folks claiming low 20s. I've heard the same variance on PSDs. We had a thread down there awhile back about how they all seem to be individuals in regard to power and economy. You'd think much of that variability would be eliminated with the computerized PSD... but I guess not.

 

[Mike]

You'd think much of that variability would be eliminated with the computerized PSD... but I guess not.

Fuel quality, vehicle maintenance and driving style are probably the big 3 when it comes to ALL fuel consumption issues.

 

[JLDickmon]

Fuel quality, vehicle maintenance and driving style are probably the big 3 when it comes to ALL fuel consumption issues.

and to that end, I changed the front & rear diff's & transfer case fluid today... lube in the front diff was like mud, rear wasn't much better... trans got done last spring, I'll do it again before our spring road tow trip to Columbus... along with all filters

 

[greg_a_morton]

I have heard a lot of diffrent stories about mileage also. A think the big thing for most of the people on here is that yalls trucks are 4x4. My 2000 7.3 is 2wd and every fill up I put 2gallons of filtered motor oil. Up intill they changed the fuel for the new emmisions I was avargeing 20.5 per mile for about 1 year, my best was on a 1300 mile trip I got 23per gallon. Since the new fuel I average 18pergallon. I dont pull often so I dont have much to go by. On one trip I pulled a trailer with about 6000 pounds on it and got 16.5 going 70 plus. my old 6.9 2wd f250 avg 20 pergallon using burned motor oil mix. just wondering what other 2wd trucks were getting? greg

 

[Brimmstone]

Just finished my move to Beaumont, Texas from Ohio. This new blend of fuel really sucks when pulling in the hills. I almost croaked when I did the first fill up and came up with 8.54 MPG. The next was 9.123 and so on. I will admit I was into the throttle on the way down pulling EGTs around 1100 steady. I will also add the combined weight of truck and trailer was pushing 25,000 pounds with all my tools and equipment loaded up. I also don't have a 5th gear so that tends to hurt things also.

 

[JLDickmon]

I have heard a lot of diffrent stories about mileage also. A think the big thing for most of the people on here is that yalls trucks are 4x4. My 2000 7.3 is 2wd and every fill up I put 2gallons of filtered motor oil. Up intill they changed the fuel for the new emmisions I was avargeing 20.5 per mile for about 1 year, my best was on a 1300 mile trip I got 23per gallon. Since the new fuel I average 18pergallon. I dont pull often so I dont have much to go by. On one trip I pulled a trailer with about 6000 pounds on it and got 16.5 going 70 plus. my old 6.9 2wd f250 avg 20 pergallon using burned motor oil mix. just wondering what other 2wd trucks were getting? greg

that's real similar to our trick of putting a quart of TCW3 ashless two cycle oil in with each fill up to make up for the lack of lubricity from the ULSD... I'm not sure I'd use used engine oil, as the ash reduction properties are lacking.. plus, I read somewhere (some diesel site, can't remember which) that concentrations greater then 1qt:30 gallons is a waste...

but if you're getting good results, I'm not going to tell you to stop...

after all, I'm the clown with the 13.5 mpg truck...

since I've changed my oil, driveline fluids, and the brand of diesel I buy, I'm up 3.5 mpg...

which helps, but the price of fuel still hovers around $3.65/gallon... which is just flat ridiculous... at this price and rate of consumption, I'd need to get 20-21 mpg out of it to keep it as a daily driver... which ain't gonna happen with an 8,000lb 4wd truck..

 

[rebel_horseman]

... at this price and rate of consumption, I'd need to get 20-21 mpg out of it to keep it as a daily driver... which ain't gonna happen with an 8,000lb 4wd truck..

It would happen if you would have bought a Dodge. My old school '93 dually gets 20 without any mods whatsoever.

 

[greg_a_morton]

In my old 6.9 I kept on adding filtered motor oil every fillup untill the point I was using about 25% each time. the way I look at it is that is free fuel, plus the truck ran better too. With my powerstroke I am a little warry about using much oil. Iam building a filtering system with barrels, a 400micron filter on top and 5 sock filters that filter down to 5 micron. I am building a 72 f350 cab and chassis 2wd and putting in a 6.9 4 speed. My goal is to run atleast 50gallons of oil with 50gallons of diesel or karosen. When I run the oil I also use the ceaten additive to make it combust better. If truck runs good Im looking at about 15$ for 50gallons of fuel with filters and additive. about .30cents per gallon

 

[JLDickmon]

I know I've seen guys run everything short of candle wax in these things to fight the high cost of fuel...
I passed on an IDI truck with a five gear trans over the summer... still irritates me... not that I think it would have gotten any better fuel economy, but I could have played around with it just to see...