Better gas mileage with ETC Power button on. Anyone else?

Just wanted to see if anyone else has had a similar experience. The one thing I've really despised about the truck is the shift-lag of the automatic transmission during everyday driving. I've read that it lessens over time after the ECU learns your habits......but after 5,000 miles it still irritates the heck out of me. I found that driving with the ECT power engaged made it a much more pleasant experience, so I did an experiment.

I decided to do a comparison on how much more fuel the truck uses over an entire gas tank with both the power button on and off. I figured, if it only cost me an extra gallon or so over an entire tank then I'd be willing to just drive with the button constantly engaged. I did this twice on both settings, each time going from full tank to as close to empty as possible. What I found really surprised me. I actually got "better" gas mileage with the ECT Power button constantly on (18.5 MPG vs. 16.5 MPG). Very strange, but cool nonetheless. I will continue my experiment to make sure this isn't due to changes is driving patterns or routes (which I'm pretty sure it's not).

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

Yes, I am also actually doing the same experiment this week. I have close to 15,000 miles on mine, and I would consistently get only 16 .... maybe 17 mpg. I have been driving with ECT on when I leave the house on my 50 mile drive to work, and I am up over 18 mpg.

 

I haven't tried with ECT, but I find I get better gas mileage when I accelerate quickly rather than letting the truck dog it at 2k RPMs forever. Then once up to speed I dog it at 2k

My understanding is that ECT would basically do the same thing just without having to give it as much gas to get it to downshift

 

Can't say that I've tried. I think I may this coming week though. I hope to see a marked difference.

 

Great discussion, I'll give it a try too.. More data the better!!

 

Can anyone else confirm this with theirs?

 

I have a 61mi trip one way to work. I was getting 20-21MPG sometimes 22MPG. For some reason or another after my battery had to be disconnected and reconnect for an install the Milage only reaches 20.1MPG, that is also considering that I have a 200lb bumper in the front. Either way what I found that helps the most with fuel is to use the ECT to get up to speed, since it lets the truck get more RPM out of each gear. Once I get to speed I set the cruise control and turn the ECT off and coast all the way to work.

 

Interesting. The stranger thing is that you were only getting 16.5 without ECT. This may have a lot to do with how you accelerate and what kind of city/hwy driving you do. I can easily see a situation where mildly aggressive drivers in city driving would get better mileage with ECT and get pretty low mpg without. The initial lug would eat fuel.

I like ECT for certain situations, but not all the time. If I go to Nashville, I really need it for the kind of freeway craziness that goes on there. If I had the time and cared enough, I would do a mod with a steering wheel button--opposite where the phone hang-up button is.

 

I have heavy 285 MT's. Does much better with ECT on

 

I'm with you. I see better mpg when I don't baby it. I still baby it though.

 

I am thinking a mildly more aggressive rear gear (say 4.10-4:30), coupled with slightly raised shift points, could be just what the doctor ordered for these trucks.

 

Could be, I have no idea really. Have never broken 18mpg (without ECT on) since I've owned the truck even if it was mostly highway miles. Could it be due to the added weight of the DCLB? Hmmmmm.

 

Technical Service Bulletin? This is the first time I've heard of it. Any details? I'll try searching too.

 

I have a DCLB 4x4 and get 19.8-20.4 for a tank on my normal commute of 30% city and 70% rural at 45-50 with AC on full time. ECT drops me ~1+. I would love to see side by side results on a mixed course with two trucks that are getting very different mpgs from their respective owners. One driver doing specific speeds, stops and starts during specific stretches.

I am more and more convinced that ECT favors certain types of drivers and normal others, but have nothing to back that. Moreso, I think the extremely conservative (mpg) tuning of the normal mode is very sensitive to driving style.

 

I also get better mileage if I don't baby it in certain city driving scenarios. Even if you're accelerating to like 30 mph as slowly as possible, instantaneous mpg is going to be <10mpg. You might as well step on it to get to your target speed quickly so it shifts into 5/6 sooner.

 

I have a DCSB off road 4x4. Just finished 160 mile trip froud Asheville, NC to Blue Ridge, GA. Hadthe tranny update done two week ago. Trip was through the mountains along US64. 75% of was in ETC mode because of conditions. According to the truck was getting 21mpg. Not alot of hwy speed but alot of climbing.

 

Ironically, sometimes by burning a little more calories, the transfer from chemical energy to kinetic energy is more efficient. That is one of the main reasons why a turbo charged 4 cylinder will get better gas mileage than a N/A V8 on the highway; even making the exact same horsepower. You need to keep the cylinder's dynamic compression ratio up or you end up with more unburned fuel for the converter to clean up. In essence, the 4 cylinder is burning more efficiently.

 

I was noticing yesterday that I was getting better fuel economy WITHOUT the ECT button on. And I still cant get it to go 18mpg. But I also have a lead foot, and I hate everyone on the road.

 

I had a Subaru with a Sport Sharp button on the steering wheel. It was handy. That car had three modes, though--intelligent (lethargic), sport (linear, felt like a normal vehicle), and sport sharp (first 50% of the pedal was 100% throttle, held gears longer, etc.).

 

I haven’t seen any mpg improvement or decrease using ECT, but I rarely use it now as my truck behaves as though it was on at lower speeds after adoptive learning made significant changes in drivability.

However, I was playing around with it the other night at hwy speeds 70+ and noticed that with it on, and I mashed the throttle as if to pass the rpm’s would jump instantly to 5-5.5k rpm, and with the ECT off, at the same speeds and throttle input, my rpm’s would only jump instantly to 3-3.5k rpm’s.

I thought that was interesting and I’m looking to learn more about it.
Until then I’m not comfortable using it full time as I don’t need it and don’t want an extra rich mixture to maybe cause my cat convertors to have a shorter life.
So until I know more about its full effects and functionality, I’ll use it only as I need, like towing maybe because passing is not an issue, it gets the job done without it.

Hope that helps
Cheers!