What's your gas mileage?
 

Hey everyone - I have a 87 Dakota with the 2bbl 3.9L and I'm getting around 13 miles to the gallon wether I trash it, or drive it like a grandma... what is everyone else getting?

With my old 92 dakota 3.9 4x4, I was averaging 17.5. If I was driving 100% on the freeway then I got 20

i have an 87 4x4.. just swapped the 3.9.. but before that i got around 12 to 13.. the 87's were carb'ed, they started getting improvements as the dakota line aged a bit..

it's gonna sound crazy, but i have a 94 v6 3.9 magnum and my milage was like that, my computer read 02 sensors like crazy. but a couple weeks ago i changed my headlights switch and it fixxed everything, the light switch was bad and was pulilng power from everywhere else to run, so i'd check that and run a few gallons out to see how far you go

92 3.9L Extended Cab, get 13.5 average. Should improve when I do a tune-up in the next few weeks.

17-18 mpg in town

20-22 on the highway

I have a 94 w/3.9. I average 17+ in everyday driving. I have done so since I bought it in 96.

I have a 95 v6 5 speed 4wd with 3.55 gears and 31" tires and I average 12-14 in town driving 'normally'. I have bested 18mpg out of it on a mostly highway run, I think 20 is possible, but in town mileage is just terrible.

I'll throw the curve. When I was using my truck as a daily driver I got 19-20, but I have done a lot of mods to get there. While towing I get 15-18.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/em-fuel-l...vehicleid=4853

Around town my '92 3.9 2WD manual gets around 13-15 if I beat on it or let it idle a lot (especially this time of year to get it warm). If I behave it'll get 17. On the highway the highest I've gotten is 22, 19 with the bed loaded to level.

My 95 V8 5 speed Dakota standard cab shortbed 3.55 averages 300 miles a tank-22 gal capacity. I got around 17 mpg on this truck, not bad considering how heavy my right foot always got when I sat in that truck.
My 93 V8 auto O/D Dakota Clubcab shortbed ratio? averages 270 a tankful-22 gal capacity. My fillups are usually 18 gallons so I get better than 14 mpg. I expected better mileage from this truck when I bought it, disapppointing.
I prefer the throttle body in the 95 to the injectors in the 93. I find the throttle body more responsive as well as more efficient.

Huh? Could you please elaborate?

I just took a 400 mile trip in my '93 3.9L V6, automatic, extended cab, stock - 22.14 mpg on the trip driving about 73 mph. I checked this with GPS and calculator. I'm happy with me Dakota.

Oh, I try to only use non-ethanol gasoline:

http://pure-gas.org/

Nice! I've noticed my '92 3.9L manual gets better highway mileage when I'm cruising from 75-80 MPH compared to 55-70 MPH. I have to verify with a GPS but when the speedometer has me at ~80 the engine's turning 3,000 RPM in overdrive which definitely helps on the grades and with passing, being 200 RPM right below peak torque.

They both use multiport EFI... Of course the 95 get's better mileage, it's a regular cab and a 5 speed.




Mine averaged 15-16 mixed and will do 20 highway.

Sorry for the confusion. I should have been more succinct. My research shows that both my 93 and 95 Dakotas have the same intake, throttle body, injectors, but utilize but different ECMs. The difference in performance, efficiency, and behavior between the 2 trucks is very striking. I expected a difference between auto O/D versus 5 speed and standard cab versus Clubcab (both weight and longer wheelbase) but I also expected a reasonable amount of similarity, or a pattern, to their behaviors. My 95 5.2L 5 speed is a thrill to drive, has alot of torque, and will sip fuel when driven conservatively. The only maintenance issue I've had is that it will begin to run at a rough idle from time to time. Some throttle body cleaner to the underside of the 2 round air flaps (unsure of the proper term for these) inside the throttle body solves that problem. My 93 5.2L auto O/D, on the other hand, is very finicky. Upon startup, anything resembling touching the gas pedal before reaching normal operating temp causes the engine to sputter and stall so warmup must include my assistance. If I loan the truck out, whoa, forget it, the truck will run terribly for a month and stall often coming to a stop. It's as if the computer must re-learn how to act/react to certain situations. Nothing I've done, maintenance or repairwise, has altered its behavior one bit, and yes, the IAC checks out good, no codes coming up either. I love this truck. It just has certain behaviors that appear if its routine is altered in any way. I didn't expect such a difference in fuel economy either, in fact, I'm much more conservative in the 93 so mpg gains would be expected.

I honestly believe that when dealing with vehicles of this age, wear and tear plays a bigger role in fuel economy in comparable vehicles than any other factor.
For example: My 87 cutlass got ~15mpg with the bone stock 307. It was a 150k mile motor with little maintenance before I got it. Similar cars got 18-22 mpg, and I could not duplicate that no matter how I tried. What it came down to was wear and tear on the major internal parts of the motor along with a failing computer system caused by degraded sensors and lack of care.
That's what your 2 trucks sound like, one faired much better over time.

'94 3.9 2WD, I'm getting 15 combined but its not running right.

So it seems like when the truck is running good, she'll get about 20 or so, and then when it's running bad it seems the average is 13 or so. I really want to drop in a 318 this year in hopes i'll get a little bit more power and mileage

I've gotten as good as 21 on the highway in my '95. My '92 and '93 both got around 15-18 on the highway. They were 4wd whereas my '95 is 2wd 5-speed. All three have 318's.

I almost started a new thread for this, but did a quick search and decided to revive this one.

I have a 94 extended cab, with the 3.9 magnum engine and automatic trans. I have only owned the truck for about a month and today it passed NYS inspection :) I so far have gotten about 14.5 MPG average, ($30 gas, 7.9 gallons, about 115 miles.) But I noticed the engine is not getting up to temperature. I picked up a new thermostat and gasket today and will repost with new figures at proper operating temp!

13 city 20 highway. 5.2 with a few extra ponies and a 5 speed. I think the 3.55's are killing my city mileage which is 80% of my driving.

I got a nice surprise since I've installed a Magnaflow muffler. I'm now getting 19 mpg city driving with the A/C full on. This is at least a 1.5 gallon increase over the stock muffler. 3.9, no cat.

I guess it's due to the new muffler. I haven't done anything else.

22 mpg
 

I get anywhere from 22 to 24 with my 95 2.5 standard,can't wait to see what I get with my 95 v6

I have a '95 Dakota Sport with a V6, 5-speed manual transmission, stock muffler and catalytic converter, and 3:21 gears in the back. Each time I've checked, I average 20 mpg.

1987 dodge dakota 4cyl 2wd normal cab. I get 8mpg combined and im still putting money in the truck -.- Worst idea ever, the owner before me was horrible, took out the egr, thermostat etc. ive replaced the carb -> $200. The waterpump -> $25 . 4 spark plugs " and they were stripped from the previous owner "$10. muffler -> #50. had to get a radio because there was none in it. $50. speakers $40. new head lights $30. oil change: $20 Flush radiator $30. Now i have a rear main seal leak, Add a quart of oil a day. and my turn signals broke today....


$425 in parts so far, only had it for a month....

at this rate im going to fix it up and hope i can sell it for $2500 maybe get my money back -.-

picked up my 95 with a v6 and manual transmission yesterday.I got 21.3 mpg on interstate 95 in connecticut,witch is a lot like city driving,but worse.All stop and go with top speds of 35 to 40 for about 45 miles

um.... was great .. now argh.... but that's what I get for adding 800lbs+ tot he vehicle and and TSL boggers @ 33X14R15 :) in town I get roughly 8mpg and highway im getting 18 to 20 but sounds like a small aircraft LOL
Attachment 38810

The gas mileage on our '92 is approx. 17 mpg combined. Wish we could improve on it though. We have 3.55 with 518.

I get 6, 12, and 36. 6mph with the ford, 12 with the dakota(both city and highway for both), then 36 highway with my intrigue 32 city. 20/24 with the gmc and 2mpg with my kawasaki. its a wonder I can afford anything.

I have gotten as high as 21 right now averaging 18. '95 2wd, 318 5-speed

Well its an old thread. But I get in Canada 24 mpg @ 75 mph. thats 3 hrs hy way, and 1.5 hr city.
92 cc rear drive. 5.2 auto w 3:90 rear gear. 225-70/15 wheels. Cold air home build / 3" single exhaust with no cat, and Gibson headers./ Keg intake mod, / true double roller chain(mopar) / Mopar performance computer/ Harland sharp 1.7 roller rockers / port matched intake and headers / lowered 3-4/ aluminum one piece shaft/ box cover... Need body work, and paint yet.

My '93 3.9L 4x4 gets close to 12mpg. lol. Very little highway driving. Mostly small town main streets.

Heh. I've just added my Fuelly banner to my .SIG - but it's not quite the full story (it includes a 10MPG or so run while fighting the plugged cat, the bad TBI injector AND a failing ECU ...).

Currently I'm getting about 18MPG at speeds up to 75MPH on I-20 and I-49.

I've got it in my list to replace the front bumper (to get the black rubber piece under the bumper back on the truck!) and my next tires will be LRR (Low Rolling Resistance) units, since I drive so much highway.

Also, replacing the bent driver's fender and door, and replacing the weatherstripping around, should not HURT any *grins*

RwP

94 3.9L had 9mpg when I bought it. SO far I did the wires, plugs, cap, rotor, switch plate, coil, PCV, MAP,IAC, TPS Oil Sensor, EGR, O2 sensor, timing chain with added tensioner, and Hughes Engines intake plenum kit.
It got 16mpg+ or 365 miles on 22 gals all in town and the next tank got 17.27mpg or 380 miles on 22 gals with a 210 mile highway trip. This is with the cheap gas!
I figure doing all highway would get me 400+ miles per tank and I still need to solve a tranny issue. I feel lucky.

Just replaced my IAC that was bad, Hopefully that'll help a bit. Still bogs down when cold though >.<

You don't have to do the hughes engines kit the Chrysler TSB fix was to just replace the intake plenum gasket/s which leaves it to happen again. The problem is the sheet steel of the plenum expands/contracts at a different rate than the aluminum intake which over time destroys the gasket seal allowing oil into the intake. This affects everything. I figure the straight TSB repair would be good for a few years if that's how you want to go. You should still get new bolts to torque the intake down.
My intake was black inside I had to have it tanked it was so hard to remove. Then I just replaced all the sensors on it as 3 temp sensors are in a hard to get at place and the rest on the TB were also 20 years old.
Hughes Engines stepped up to create new plenum's out of aluminum to make the repair permanent. They make them for the 3.9, 5.2, 5.9 motors.

For OMGnanerpus.
Try changing out the single coolest temp sender. There is two left of the thermostat .
Smaller one helps control cold start up running also, and the before cat O2 every 40-50 thou really does help warm engine run, and milage.
Just my 2 cents.

Has anyone ran the Hughes injected air gap intake on the Magnum 5.2 ???
Iv heard of milage gains with them, but as well heard negative on lower milage, and low end torque loss ??? Any input helps.

Will definitely check that out! Thanks :D