Hi, i am new to dodge trucks and i have a 99 single cab ram 1500 4x4 with the 5.9 360 and 97k miles. I am now getting about 8 mpg and most of my driving is around highway speeds. I was thinking of getting a tacoma that would get better gas mileage, but i really want to keep my dodge...its the sound of the y pipe i cant give up.

First, what is average mpg for this engine?
Second, i was thinking of putting performance parts on my engine to try and increase mpg. Does anyone have any suggestions for what parts can help me out? I was thinking of a throttle body spacer, intake system and some sort of engine management system, as well as fixing the leaking gasket that connects the block to the transmission.
Third, if i do modify the engine, what kind of gas mileage can i expect?

Thanks!


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Hi and welcome to the forum.

First thing I'd recommend that you do is read through the posts here and do specific searches on types of mods you are looking into.

The hardest thing to accept about these trucks is that they are HEAVY and will not get very good fuel mileage. I get 10 to 12 max, 8 when pulling my camper. Now on to some of the ideas you mentioned.

1) Do not waste your money on a throttle body spacer. They do not work with our multi-port fuel injected engines. They are designed for throttle body injected engines and are a waste of your hard earned money for the Dodge Magnum Engines.
2) Intake System. I assume that you are talking about a Cold Air Intake or something similar. Yes you can get performance and fuel economy enhancements from the different options available to you. K&N CAI is a good option as are some others. Do a search here in the forum and you'll find tons of info.
3)Engine Mangement System. ? Kind of at a loss here as our Dodge Magnum engines (5.2 and 5.9) are fully computer controlled. The PCM controls fuel injection timing, spark advance, spark timng, and pretty much everything. If you're running a stock system, or one with very few mods, there are some options such as the Hypertech Programmer that might help.
4) Gasket that connects the block to the transmission. The only gasket between the block and transmission is the rear main seal for the crankshaft or maybe your oil pan gasket. Any other leaks are occurring from your head or intake gaskets.

In order to get the best out of your fuel mileage I would recommend a good tune-up with Champion Spark Plugs (or Autolite 3923's which are 1 heat range cooler but more expensive), 8 mm or larger spark plug wires, new copper contact cap and rotor, new PCV valve, and new air cleaner. There is no timing adjustment that you can do to the distributor so no use checking the timing.

Hope this helps. Like I said though, do some searching in the forum here and you'll pick up a wealth of knowledge.

 

Check the air in your tires. Most of the tires on these trucks should have at least 35 psi in each tire. I was getting crappy gas mileage after I got new tires on my trucks, because the deuchebags at the shop only put 30 psi in, when the tires were supposed to have 38!

 

Give your truck a good tuneup. A fresh distributor cap and rotor from NAPA, some good low resistance spark plug cables, and 16 copper electrode autolite or champion spark plugs for indexing will go a long way.

Indexing plugs is good for around 5 extra horsepower plus a boost to volumetric efficiency. Idea is to have the open end of the sparkplug opposite the ground electrode point towards the center of the engine. When installing the plugs, just mark your socket extention and align the open end of the plug towards the mark so that you can see where the open end is when you torque everything down. The reason for the extra plugs is so that you'll be able to randomly find the plugs that best fit your engine for indexing. The indexing doesn't have to be perfect, just try to get everything to line up as close as possible to 12 oclock.

Make sure your aircleaner is still clean, and consider your choices for aftermarket/performance setups. There is a lot of stuff out there for a lot of cash. Think about cost effectiveness. Best thing I've seen for the cash is the round air filter setup with an S bolt from common autoparts stores for around $30 or do it yourself ram air induction systems like the one I made.

Remove your clutch fan for around 10 extra horsepower and give your engine less weight it's got to overcome in order to rotate. You can call the local junkyards or go on the internet for deals on electric fans for around $15 dollars a fan. Then all you would need is a thermostatic relay to control your fans so that they are fully automatic.

Put Amsoil or Royal Purple oil in the motor, a good synthetic oil like the ones suggested will last 4 to 8 times as long as cheap conventional oil so long as you use the recommended oil filter and setup. Amsoil is guaranteed for 25,000 miles with their filter setup and maintenance schedule and Royal Purple is good for at least 12000 miles or more if the right setup is used. Those oils cost about 3 times more then regular oil but since they last 4-8 times longer, it's cheaper in the longrun, reduces friction, increases horsepower and torque, reduces engine temperature, makes the engine last longer, and who knows what else. Same thing applies to the inside of everything else. Differential, transfer case, and if you have a manual tranny, the gearbox too. Synthetic in the diff, gearbox, transfer case and motor will be good for an extra 10 horsepower and 10 ft/lbs of torque.

Check your tire pressure. Fill your tires to the max pressure they are designed to run with. This will allow for lower rolling resistance.

If your plenum pan gasket is leaking and causing your engine to burn oil, replace it with a APS or Hughes kit that you can find here on the forum's links to their sites or just ask where you can find one... This will help your engine stop burning oil, stay cleaner, produce more power and also help your catalyctic converter and O2 sensors last longer if they haven't already gone bad. If your Cat is bad, replace it with a good highflow cat. I got mine for $70 which I think was a steal as some cost as much as $3-400. And if the Cat is bad, chances are the 02 sensors can be bad, thus you could look into replacing them.

Get a good low flow High performance muffler. That will eliminate some of the backpressure in the exhaust which allows your engine to breath easier and make more power.

That's a start for getting more mileage... The next step is a little more complicated though. It involves better vaporization of fuel to instigate more complete combustion. Long story though.

 

I once got 14mpg on highway...god i was in heaven! better driving habits do wonders also..too bad i don't have those!

 

try building one of these. theoretically it's a cheap effective Fuel vaporization device.

http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/fogerator.htm

 

That webpage smells strangely like snake oil.

 

if it burns, it's good for something right?