I read some threads here and there and it just seems odd. My truck gets on or off, over or under, top or bottom, anywhere on a road, dirt, pavement, grass. Long or short, parkway or town. 10 miles to the gallon. It does not matter how fast i drive or how slow i drive.



It seems odd because its as if there is a problem....? CONFUSION

163k miles. 1998 ram 1500 5.9. Should it be getting this or is there actually something different about it? what should i check or do?

 

yea try 163,000 i can bearly get 17 if im babying it i get 13 when i driving that thing like there no tomorrow.

 

Well, that mileage is a little low, city for some people might be about 2MPG more, give or take.

When was the last time you did a tune-up? (Plugs, wires, rotor, air filter, Seafoam cleaning). Oil, transmission and axle (and transfer case?) fluids?
You might try cleaning the O2 sensors. They might need to be replaced. I believe the O2 sensors are more-or-less recommended to be replaced at 80,000 or 100,000 miles. Or about that often.

My suggestion: drive like a bat out of hell. It's fun, and by your own admission, doesn't decrease your mileage!

 

My truck seems to get about 13.2 mpgs if I baby it and about 12.5 if I rag the hellout of it. The only reason I stopped ragging on it is because it started screwing s**t up and would eventually warp my heads im sure.

 

try a tune-up! lol I was getting 18mpg (highway) and about 15mpg(city) I've put about 45,000 miles on her since then and it's back down to 14mpg highway and 12-13mpg (city)

 

also try replacing your front 02 sensor.

 

I'm thinking my O2 sensors might be the issue. I have no cat on my truck anymore and that probably made a big influence. Should I replace the sensors, or mod it to fake em out?

 

on a non-california OBDII (96+) truck there should be 2 sensors. one pre-cat and one post-cat. the pre-cat one is the most important, as it provides emissions feedback to the pcm, which adjusts fuel trim between the extremes of rich and lean. the pcm has some default values that it start with, as well as its high and low limits. the pcm is constantly adjusting trim to meet a low amount of unburned fuel in the exhaust.

so you need the pre-cat one. the job of the post-cat is to check that post-cat emissions are less than the pre-cat level. this one can be replaced by a simulator. some people can successfully ignore this one, and not get a cel. others don't. i've not tried it yet.

 

i get 10 to 12mpg. and my trucked is tuned up well. but most of my driving is city and hilly conditions. and is very mechanically sound.

 

Wow. I am really bad then because normal driving for me I get about 8.5-9 city and if I baby it I can get about 11. Luckily I don't drive it much. LOL.