200 miles to the tank: is this normal?

You think 60 lbs makes any difference ?

 

Seems like it's guzzling gas. Have you checked the tire pressure? It's amazing how much a soft tire puts on extra drag and makes the gas mileage plummet. Check the air filters too, a dirty air filter will make it harder for the enigne to breathe. Also, quit using the AC if you can, I've noticed my truck does quite better when the AC compressor isn't drawing extra power from the engine. On really hot days if I switch it on full blast going down the road, the extra load to the engine causes it to hesitate momentarily and from then on makes it feel sluggish.
Other than that, drive conservatively. If your truck has a manual transmission, keep it in the highest gear with the lowest RPMs possible without lugging. If it has an automatic, learn the shift patterns of the tranny by watching the RPM gauge when it shifts and then figure out how to drive it at the lowest RPM possible without the tranny downshifting.

These trucks take some getting used to, and if yours is a V6, getting much more than 20mpg will be a stretch. My truck is a 4 banger, and the best tank I've ever gotten was 27, going down the highway at about 65, 5th gear at 2200 RPMs, with a slight tailwind and going downhill. Most times, on summer mix I average between 22-24.

 

The rule of thumb is 1 to 2 percent increase in MPG for every 100LBS. of weight deduction. Those numbers could be much higher depending on the vehicle.
http://green.autoblog.com/2009/10/29/greenlings-how-does-weight-affect-a-vehicles-efficiency/

 

Seems like a waste to me and I don't notice any difference driving at full vs half tank.

 

It think it stops a lot better and corners better with a half a tank or less. Full tank I feel its sluggish and when you stop it lurches like a hummer h1 bc the fuel tank is long front to back and only on one side.

 

My truck usually gets 280-300 miles to a tank.. i have a 2013 DCSB 4.0. my truck is lifted 6.5" with 35's, and stock gears. I drive a lot of highway, and i drive like I'm 97 years old.. i would think that you should be getting a lot more miles to a tank.
stock i got about 340 per tank before the light would come on

 

True haha

Before the lift I was at 21-22 mpg per tank.

 

On a full tank, I get 330-350 miles on a normal fill up.

On a side note, has anyone noticed how much more gas will fit in the tank after the pump shuts off? I went on a road trip this summer so when I filled it up, I wanted the max amount in the tank. It shut off at around 18 gallons and I was able to fit 20.9 gallons. The light was not on at this point either.

 

Maybe. I'm always worried my cars are shaking and driving funny whenever i start driving. by the time i get home im not worried anymore lol.

 

2009 v6 6sp access cab prerunner with scangauge. 40k miles. Strongly suggest you calibrate your SG for odometer - zero trip gauge, run 50 miles on interstate by mile marker to get SG miles travelled accurate. Also adjust on fillup for gallons used - these 2 things will improve accuracy. I currently get about 18 city and 21 interstate at 67mph. Last fall replaces dunlops with Mich LTX MS2, same size (245/75-16) which has same rev/mile as dunlops, BUT is .4 inch wider tread. MPG dropped about 1.5. True mpg really needed the above plus averaging at least 3-4 tanks of similar driving - good excuse for a 400-500 mile road trip. Another reason for averaging, even if same station/pump is how much you're actually putting in the tank. From first "click-off" I can put as much as 2.5 more gallons in, depending on the pressure of the pump (I usually burn at least a gallon right away, and have had no problem with carbon canister).

Also, virtually NO stop and go traffic, little A/C use, combine trips and minimize cold startups. Tires at 35# front and rear. Typically low fuel light comes on at 370 -380 miles. BTW the above calibration got me 0.0 SG odometer error, with my truck odometer is off about 2.5%, and truck speedometer is off about 2 mph.

 

OP, no 200 miles is not normal. I get around 280-300 in the city and around 410-420 on the highway

 

I remember one time I got 8-10 mpg. It was because my maf sensor was no werky. Drove 170 miles to a full tank. Yea that was no bueno man. No bueno.

 

I would say that 200 miles on a tank is not normal at all, especially if you aren't weighted down with offroad gear/have big tires, etc. I figure where you live, you probably would get pretty bad gas mileage, but what you are reporting seems too low even for that. It could be one really big thing killing your MPG, but chances are, it may be many little things. When was the last time the truck had a full tuneup? Have you checked your MAF to see if it's dirty? (Although if that were the case, you'd probably also notice a sputtering/hesitation.) Put the truck on a scanner if you can get ahold of one and check the readings from the o2 sensors. Are you getting codes of any sort? I've got a failed o2 sensor and I'm still getting 20+ on the regular, so it probably wouldn't be just that, though.

 

I suspect you were robbed by an improperly calibrated pump.

I've never had the light come on later than 18, and have had it on as early as 17. After the pump clicks off, I've never been able to get more than 0.25 or so in. Seen other reports of people getting 2 gallons in after shutoff... it's not physically possible to get 2 gallons into the filler neck.

Either way, stuffing fuel into the neck until you can see it will flood the evap system and result in the need to replace the charcoal canister.

 

My stock pre-runner v6 gets about 18-19 mpg, mixed city/highway with about 300 miles between fill-ups. My avg highway speed is about 80. 200 miles per tank sounds really low even with up-hill/city driving

 

"Also, try using the same pump for fill ups, and stop filling at the auto-shutoff to remove another variable from the calculation."

Unfortunately this can introduce more error - I have found that same station/same pump can give different results, ie on a double-sided pump it can vary depending on whether someone is using the other side. If so, seems like the pressure is less, and tank takes more before auto-shutoff. Similar to some pumps will let you fill at a trickle, others are almost full pressure regardless how little you pull the trigger, and this can have a big impact on how much fuel you can put in.

Only suggestion I have is to average several tanks of similar driving. If you have a ScanGauge/UltraGauge, if the pump gallons matches what SG has calculated you have used, and your SG odometer has been calibrated (either mile marker or GPS), then I would expect the SG mpg would have less than 1% error (ie 20 mpg would be between 19.8 and 20.2)

 

I get like 310 miles per tank average and I have a v6

 

Appriciate the replies and advice. My truck is...mostly stock. I installed a steel plate/rock guard under the front bumper. Installed 17" FJ Cruiser wheels with 275/70/17s. That's about it...

Otherwise, when I do leave the city and hit the open roads my mileage increases by 50%...but I rarely leave town. I've been up to date with my dealer service.

I hope the new drop in air filter will help it breathe better...

Someone mentioned drawing amps effects mileage: I'm running two amplifiers under the seats for my sound system. Could that have something to do with it? It's not the AC: living in SF...it doesn't get much use .

Thanks again!

 

The new air filter will not help at all. The stock intake system and filter can flow more air than any normally aspirated 4.0 can draw.

The 275/70-17 tires are definitely not helping. They are hurting your economy in town, especially on the hills, plus they have slowed your speedometer/odometer down so you are actually going farther on a tank than indicated.
Use a GPS to determine the mileage error. If you don't have one of the TRD models, those tires are introducing about a 5.5% error... about 5% if you have a TRD package. When you think you've gone 200 miles, it's actually closer to 210.

 

I am only on my third tank on my new off-road (2013 DC, auto, off-road) and with the stock 265 bfgs on it I am averaging 340mi before the light comes on and 19.75mpg according to Fuelly. Stock suspension, truck only has 885mi on it so, I am pretty excited about the MPG thus far. Everyone that I run in to wants to tell me how horrible the fuel mileage is on these trucks but, I haven't seen it yet.