Not to keep hijacking this thread but so it seems to me that the best way to go would be to go regular most of the time and run unleaded like once a month or something along those lines?

 

all pump gas is unleaded, and always run regular unless you have a problem with pinging or pre-detonation so in summary

RUN REGULAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and SAVE MONEY

 

And lay off the lead foot! "Be careful daddy!" My kid says that when I stomp on the go pedal LOL!!!

 

OK..so I got down and started smelling the tailpipe (now after my headache) and it seems as if it might be running a little rich. I have no errors coming up indicating anything..

There is no black smoke, but you can smell something strong coming out of the pipe.

Any suggestions?

Also, I get alot of conflicting info...does my Durango have 2 O2 sensors in the front and the back or just one in the front..and one in the back?

 

Mewife; If the converter is working at all there will be very little to determine from the tail pipe.

You may have o2 sensors failing without coding, I doubt the map sensor would do so but maybe?.

The o2's will become contaminated, vaguely remember reading something that made it sound like they would need periodic replacement, like sixty K. I have never known them to be done as a maint item though.

I can say when I replaced the one in my galant it made a difference even though the old one did show good.

if you can do us a favor, swap the tune parts first, then recalculate mpg. swap out the o2's & let us know the mpg difference.

I don't recall having ever gone after o2's for fuel economy reasons but am very curious to see what if any difference fresh ones make.

You could have a shop drill a hole in ahead of the cat & find out what the ecu is setting mix at by stuffing a gas analyzer in there. but short of that no way to say 100% if may be running rich.

TM985: Just stick with regular. if you feel you may benefit from the additives in super periodically then you can by Chevrons Techroline additive at most auto parts stores. other than the octane boosters that additive is the only difference to super.

I will say I have had good luck with the techroline additive for my customers that don't want to spend for a proper injector cleaning. you will want to change the oil after that tank clears, the additives will put the stuff they remove in the oil as well as burning it.

 

Not to hi-jack and still on topic: I have asked before and haven't got answers that I can understand ... what does it sound like when the engine "pings"? I really want to be able to tell since my Durango has a sticker on the gas cap that says "Premium fuel" but I want to run something less expensive. I just can't tell if it pings. And needless to say, my mileage sucks big time ... and it's burning a lot of oil, but nothing is visible. (I know only because I check it regularly and sometimes end up adding 2 quarts. But the engine is running just fine as far as I can tell.) So ... ping: how can you tell?

 

It will make a tap sound. You sould notice this more at idle then highter speeds but it can still do it anyway. If you have a sticker on the cap (and most likely on the fuel gauge) then you are running a more aggressive tune (only SOME R/T's came that way) and you should use 91 octane fuel, however you could try a little 87 octane to see if it knocks and if so then don't run it.



Things to look at in this thread:

1. 02 sensor (upstream).
2. MAP Sensor.
3. Transmission Filter and fluid (ATF+4).

 

Engine ping sounds like marbles in a tin can. Not always very loud but is noticeable. A little ping here and there is ok, any sustained ping is bad. Ping will occur under load like during acceleration. I run regular in a 5.9 and its all good, I ran regular with the stupid superchip handheld performance tune and it didnt ping with that either.

 

Might want to try a compression test on the engine. Bad mileage and oil loss could be worn out piston rings. Its an easy test, takes roughly 30 minutes.

 

A PM to Mewfie

I would do the MAP or 02 sensors first.