I know being a truck forum this has probably been posted about 1000 times, but I need someone to point me in the right direction.
I've got a 2001 Dodge Ram Sport 4x4 with a 5.9L, and auto tranny. I can completey fill the tank (about $65) and only get about 200 miles at the most, out of it. This is really, really, bad mileage. What can I do to make it a little more fuel efficient?? Even just a little will make my day.

 

Do you have larger tires and haveyou re-adjusted the speedometer?
https://dodgeforum.com/m_939724/tm.htm

Are you noticing you're low on oil?
https://dodgeforum.com/m_249261/tm.htm

Finally try this:
https://dodgeforum.com/m_107603/tm.htm

There are about 1,000,000,000,000 variables that affect mileage,you'll just have to decide what'sa do-able and within you're budget.

 

Here is a very good mileage booster idea. You got a Dodge, so push it like Al Bundy to and from work. That should boost it to at least 9mpg if you get about 200 miles to the tank which holds about 25 gallons.

Otherwise, start tuning that sucker up until it's almost new again without rebuilding the engine. Check your distributor cap and rotor for corrosion and sand them to fix or just buy new ones. While the distributor is out of the truck, get a cheap electrical tester and check the resistance of your plug wires and spark plugs. Just Don't Mix Them Up!

If your plugs have more than say 5000 ohms of resistance, try to find new ones at the store with less resistance.

Less Resistance=More Spark=More Fuel Burned=Less Wasted Gas

If your plugs are still good, try indexing them when reinstalling to boost power a little.
Indexing means to aim the open end of the spark plug towards the center of the engine so that nothing inhibits the flame in the combustion chamber from spreading, thus providing a more efficient burning of fuel.

This is just a start for better mileage but will help you on your way. By the way, tell us about your truck. What mileage does it have, have you changed all your fluids regularly like your supposed to? What kinds of fluids do you use? Cheap no name or expensive name brand? There is alot that can be done with just fluids alone. Also before this gets too long, what settings do you have with your hypertech? If that thing is making you get maximum power, you will get minimum fuel efficiency. Consider playing with that thing if you used it to tweak your trucks PCM

 

P.S. Spark plug cables are good with less than say (wild guess here) 10,000 ohms of resistance. My old ones had more than 12,0000ohms, and new cheap ones had 8,000ohms that's 33% less resistance in cables alone... Another good idea is start researching. Here is a good site I found. http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/ultra5.htm Good information available about mileage tips there.

 

It is a common internet myth
that less ohmic resistance in ignition wires
will improve engine operation.

What really happens is that with less resistance in the ign wires
the time the spark lasts goes down, as the intensity goes up.

It is actually better to have a longer spark duration.

I wonder if these guys advocating low resistance ignition wires
would go to their computer motherboards and cut out all the resistors
and replace them with copper wire?

I am *certain* this would be a great mod
...try it guys.

In geek-speak the ignition wires, plugs and coils
are an LCR system.

The guys who started the MegaSquirt EFI open source project
have also created this ignition system simulator:

http://www.bgsoflex.com/igncoil.html

which can predict when missfires will begin to occur.

 

The long read about how to improve MPG on Ram pickups
is at:

https://dodgeforum.com/m_447500/tm.htm

Best 'bangs for the buck'
are to improve driver habits
put more air pressure in tires
switch to low rolling resistance tires
install electric block heaters
make the pickup slip through the wind better

 

Dear Hanky Panky (No pun intended... Just can't help myself),

I would have to disagree with you about the lower resistance plugs and wires.

I never suggested just ripping out all the old wiring and throwing in straight copper like you suggested. You seem to be twisting things up a bit by suggesting that what I said was somewhere within the lines of doing that.

I stated that less resistance in the plugs and wires would be optimal (not my exact words from before, but same idea). The reason being is that if say you have a combustion chamber full of fuel, how many seconds do you have to hold a match near it for it to catch fire? No longer than what's necessary for the chain reaction causing the spread of fire to occur. Anything longer is just a waste of effort. Thus( with my peabrain ), shorter duration and more powerful spark is better than longer duration weaker spark.

Always open to positive criticism. Please comment

 

I disagree with you on this one Hank... years back I had a honda prelude and experimented with the coil wire & a hot coil... 1st I put in a solid core coil wire (< 1 ohm/ft) and notice right off the bat under load there was more power. My testing ground was a steep grade I hit every day on the way to work, early morning, no traffic. completely stock I'd loose speed in 5th, would also loose speed slightly in 4th @ WOT. added the solid coil wire and I would be able to hold 4th easier & accellerate slightly @ WOT. Then I added the HP coil and would easily accellerate in 4th and would be able to hold my speed in 5th. then I switched to synthetic oil as my final mod for the experiment... after that switch I was able to ever so slightly accellerate in 5th... I dont remember the numbers but it was something like 2~3 mph from the bottom to the top on the final run. always starting at 60 mph.

On another car (mazda rx7) I ran solid coil wires (2 of them) and it made a good bump in performance as well.

I would not recommend running solid wires on a street car as you'll have radio noise. I eliminated it in both of those motors with a shield around the plug wire to ground... Going to an MSD 8.5 superconductor wire would be a great choice, had it on 3 magnum motors I've owned an it worked well on all of them. they are approx 40 ohms/ft IIRC.

 

if youre runnin platinum plugs, DO NOT GAP them!

start with the basics...

plugs
wires
air filter
oil change
tire pressure
tire size..stock, over sized??
tail gate up


when youre fed up with it, find a nice 5.9 cummins and enjoy 17+ mpg!!!

 

You cannot 'eyeball' an ignition system.

Inexpensive meters similar to this one:

http://www.etoolcart.com/browseprodu...r-KEQ2969.HTML

can tell you peak voltage and burn times.

The best meter to use for understanding ignition systems
is the 'High Voltage module'
for the SnapOn Vantage meter
but you pay for the precision.

The best 'mod' for an ignition system
is exactly what Dodge has gone to
first with the 5.7 V8
and now with the revised 4.7 coming this year:
duel sparkplugs with low turns ratio coils firing them.

This description of good ignition wire design is well worth a read:
http://www.magnecor.com/magnecor1/truth.htm

MSD should be ashamed of itself
for its deceptive ignition wire display seen in many auto parts stores.

The NASCAR sponsored program to train young engine builders
at UNC-Charlotte North Carolina
spends a day showing what various ignition system mods
to to V8 engines on shaft dynos.
The practical emphasis here is that each cylinder is its own engine and needs its own ignition settings, and that meters like the SnapOn Vantage can tell you surprising things about what is going on inside each cylinder.