MPG's in the Cold

[bigcaveman]

I have a Early '99 F250 7.3L here in Anchorage, AK. It has a 3.5 inch straight pipe on it. It has a 6 inch lift with 34.6" BFG's. It is 4x4 but I only use it when I need to. I bought it back in October of this year so havent ran it in the summer.

I live about a 4 or 5 miles from my work on base and most is straight shot with 9 stoplights/signs getting there so I guess you can say I drive stop and go mostly. I dont get above 45 mostly going 30 to 35.

I know that they use the winter diesel here i.e. Type 2 I think it is called. I am getting about 8.5 to 9.5 miles to the gallon. I have read posts on here about people getting 14 to 18. I have tried both letting the truck run for 15 or 20 minutes and also just "start and go" type driving. Either one produces the same results.

I was wondering if this is typical or do I need to dig into Injector seals or other things?

Truck runs great with 102,000 miles. I plug it up at night usually and besides the EBPV coming on and robbing my horses when it is still cold, the truck seems to be acting normal.

To add...I know that the EBPV, 4 wheel drive and extended warm up time will steal some of my mpgs but seriously 5 to 6 or more of them.

Any advice would be useful. Thanks.

Shawn

[F250 Fever]

do you change all your fluids/filters normally and on time like supposed to? not being a smarta@@

[bigcaveman]

No offense taken. Ask anything if it will give me some ideas. I was told by the owner that he had changed the diff fluids at 100000. I changed the oil shortly after I got it. That was roughly 3 months ago. Oil has about 1000 on it and is rotella 10w40. Tranny looks pink and antifreeze is a nice shade of green.

[07OUTLAW]

I'm here in Anch. too. For what it's worth, my mpg (on an 07' 6.0) drop from about 18 in the summer, to around 14 in the winter.

this is due to alot of reasons (for me at least)..... In the summer, I have SHORT warm up times, I travel alot more on the "highway" (going south in the begining of the summer and north in the end/fall) and of course the "summer fuel"......In the winter I have longer warmup times (if I'm out of town and the gf drives the truck it prob. idles for 15-20 min before she drives anywhere) less highway driving, and "winter blend fuel"

My girlfriends MB diesel also suffers MPG loss in the winter (28ish mpg to around 20mpg)

Keep the oil fresh, plug it in, don't let it idle to long in the mornings (1-2 min is all I let it do, it warms up faster with a load on it anyway) and pray for this damn cold weather/snow/and winter blend fuel to go away

[bigcaveman]

Well maybe it is the nature of the beast up here. I appreciate the comparison

[07OUTLAW]

How long have you been in AK? Did work bring you up here?

There are a few members around anchorage (i've yet to meet any personally though).
If you need any info about the area feel free to PM me here

Also, wave me down if you ever see me around town........ I drive an all black 07' f-250 OUTLAW, it kinda sticks out. I'm on base from time to time, usually at the gym on elmendorf

[F250 Fever]

i would deff change your fuel filter for sure especially if you dont know when it was changed last

[mas360]

I am curious of how a fuel filter may negatively affect MPG ? I'd think it would affect performance in term of acceleration or at high speed.

I am in Houston, I got my PSD last summer. During summer months I got 16.5 mpg (hand calculation). Now, the local temperature average stands at 70 daytime and 55 during evening hours I am getting 11 mpg. All fluids (engine oil, transmission, diff)are brand new with less than 1,000 miles on them. I do not know if winter blend is current in this area given how warm it is.
I added Diesel Kleen in the last three fill-ups. No improvement noted.
I drive like grandpa, keeping rpm under 2K and always try to roll stop at red light instead of using brake.
The truck is year 2000 and has 122K miles on the clock.

[balistic]

i disagree on the 1-2 min warm up, i am in montana and i Keep mine plugged in if its +20 F or colder and I still let it warm up for at least ten min. until the needle comes off the C, burning fuel to let it warm up may be a pain and kills overall mileage but in the long run is cheaper than reringing an engine, wich is what will happen if you put a load on it cold enough times. Maybe go to thinner diff oil if you aren't running hiway speeds, just change back before a trip, lift up the rubber cover over the radiator and put cardboard down the front of the radiator to keep heat in it. I loose a few mpg's letting it warm up when its cold to but until this "global warming thing" kicks in, thats just the deal a dirty fuel filter hurts because any time a system on a truck isn't in top shape, its gonna adversly affect the whole truck ( no not a burned out light )but, a dirty air filter, broke down oil, or dirty fuel filter is gonna have a negative affect on the way the engine runs, wich in turn is gonna harm performance and effeciency

[icysmooth]

This is just an idea,I'm in maryland near pa.line and it's been an average of 20-30 degrees and around 10 @ night.(at least until this past week)
My truck gets about 15 mpg all year-round,so I guess I'm buying a winter fuel mix as well.
Here's a question,have you jacked up the truck,hand spun all the wheels and made sure none of your calipers are binding and e-brakes aren't over-adjusted causing a hard drag?
Trucks that run outside then kept in garages where it's warmer tend to get moisture in the lines from temperature change,then mess up the pistons and seats in the calipers.