Hey Virused, got a picture of your ride with the 3" lift? How about the 33's, don't they rob a lot of power due to rolling resistance and change in rpm???

 

Thanks for the answers guys, and for the humor - I needed that. OldDodgeDriver, no the brakes aren't draggin', but that's a good thought. Right now I'm stuck with a truck that has no power (4 banger), and gets really lousy mileage. I just put several hundreds o0f $$ in a new AC system so I can't afford to sell it; cant afford to drive it either. Wife won't let me take it out back and shoot it as she gets real paronoid about that stuff. Probably not a good idea in a residential area anyhow. Please keep the ideas coming as maybe that way we can figure it out. Thanks Again, Dave

 

i will post som pictures of the truck over the weekend along with the tutorial. i wish i had taken some before pictures, but anyone who has owned a 2wd extended cab dakota or seen one knows how they look stock. i cant wait to post them up when i finish this project and tutorial.

 

8mpg is worse than I get in my 86. That's pathetic. Unless you're rodding the absolute snot out of it everywhere, you should be getting quite a bit better mileage than that. I drove a 2.5L Dak for work once upon a time and it got around 20mpg mostly highway.

I would check O2 sensor voltage and make sure you don't have a stuck fuel injector.

If you're running THAT rich, you're going to foul your new cat converter too. They don't like having to burn off that much extra fuel.

 

Horatio, not rodding it at all. In fact, driving it very easy and coasting as much as possible.
The front o2 sensor is new as of last week, didn't seem to make any diff, but it did make a p0545 code go away. Haven't had any other codes show up until tonight. Stopped by Autozone
to borrow their obdII tester and found a p0320 code "Ignition/dist engine speed/input circuit malfunction", the guy looked it up on their computer and said it needed a new speed sensor. I asked him what it did, where it was located, and what effect it had on gas mileage. He said he didn't know.
I've tried to do a search for speed sensor and p0320 but my DSL is messing up so bad that I can't do the search. Took me 20 min to get onto the forum! Verizon - but that's another issue.
Also I've pulled the plugs 3 times and no indication of running rich.
So, can your guys tell me what a speed sensor does, where it's located, and what effect it has on gas mileage? I do appreciate all your responses, this is a great forum! Dave

 

Speed sensor, iirc is on the rear diff. I could be wrong here, but it probably controls the ABS activation and perhaps tied into cruise control.

Regardless of what the plugs say, it HAS to be running rich! There's no way you could get that lousy fuel economy unless you're keeping it floored all over the place. I've got a 5.9 and I DO keep my foot in the gas fairly often and I still average over 12mpg, and my truck weighs a good 4600 lbs. SOMETHING is awry. I wish I could tell you what it was.

 

It's the neighboor kids siphoning gas at night to fuel their truck so they can go get stoner food.

 

Ha Ha, you got robbed!!

 

i had the same problem, but not 8.. more like 10 to 15...
from the 20 i was getting hiway... It was slowly getting worse.
I had the sending unit go bad..
after that i thought it was the altanator, but i think now I am going to have to replace the computer.
You may have to do the same.

 

What year is your 4 banger? Well if your truck is within the 2000- 2003 years heres what the haynes maneul has to say see if this dont jog any ideas. First the casues for high fuel consumption whichwe allready now but ill say again. 1) dirty or clogged air filter element. 2)Emissions system not functioning properly 3) Fault in the fuel or electrical systems 4)low tire pressure or incorrect tire size 5) Restricted exhaust system...

Fuel injection system...... The sequential Multi Port Fuel Injection system consists of three sub-systems: air intake, Emissions and engine control, and Fuel delivery. The system uses a powertrain control module (PCM) along with the sensors ( coolant temp sensor, throttle position sensor (tps), Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAP) sensor, oxygen sensor, ect.) To determine the proper air/fuel ratio unde all operating conditions. The fuel injection systems and the emissons and the engine control systems are closely linked in function and design. I bet you 1 of them sensors isnt reading right throwing you off a tad... hope that helps any.