hey all. picked up an 01 ram 1500 5.9 auto. that was sitting for a few years and was chewed to all hell by mice. To get it up and running i put in a new crank sensor, coil, cap, plugs and wires. runs great now got it all legal and registered last tues. noticed that it was taking me 20-25 bucks a day to get to work and back. which after i calculated comes out to 8 mpg. the truck is all stock. for now. but 8 mpg is unexceptable. there is no bogging down or accelerating/power issues. nothing shows up on the scanner, so theres no bad sensors. truck only has 93k on it so the engine isnt tired or worn out. so im at a loss right now as to where to turn. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated....

thanks guys
B

 

I would suggest reading the thread at the top of the main page about the plenum gasket in these trucks, and change your pre-cat oxygen sensor.

 

And make sure cat is not clogged as well.

 

thanks guys. i loaded up the area around the plenum and nothing was spraying up so it appeared its not leaking and the 02 sensor was next on my list just wanted to see if i was missing so
mething before i start dumping money into sensors and cats........

 

What is your commute to work like? How long? Lots of city driving?

8 mpg isn't as far out of whack as you might think.

For this truck the MPG rating was 11 city, 16 hwy, 13 combined.

Here is a site that shows this:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymake/Dodge2001.shtml

However, this was before the 2008 crackdown in EPA regulations for how vehicles were to be rated. The car companies used to go by ideal conditions, but the EPA in 2008 made regulation changes so that the MPG estimates were morely closely aligned with real world conditions.

In short, if your commute to work involves a lot of city driving, a lot of stopping and starting, and if you are like me and have a bit of a lead foot, well 8 mpg might be all you can expect.

 

And for those that doubt that what I am saying is true, here is an article that suggests that the old MPG ratings were as high as 30% too high.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116852698135573876.html

 

You can stop with the gloom and doom now.


You are making my wallet hurt.

 

id be happy with a steady 8 mpgs in the city

 

LOL

Hey, Dodge Rams are tough. They are bad to the bone. They are performance monsters.

As my dad used to say, you have to feed those horses.

 

I just wish the horses wouldn't make such pigs of themselves.