am i the only one who is getting somewhat crappy gas mileage on the dakota? i just purchased my first dodge last week and the first few days i was extremely happy with the power and i was joy riding everywhere so its expected that i would be using a lot more gas driving really fast everywhere. but then for the last couple days of the week i have been getting between 10-15mpg and about 240 miles to a tank. i have been seriously babying the crap out of the gas pedal and iam getting numbers like that. is there anything i can do or look at that might be giving me a lower mpg like that? i also have that rough idle and i plan on swapping my spark plugs to the autolite 3923's this weekend to see if that helps.

thanks in advance for any help you may be able to provide

 

First off, welcome to the forum! Second.....we like pics, so get some up, quick or you'll get one of these....

There is nothing like a good old tune up to start with. how many miles on it? V6 or V8? replace all the fluids and filters, fresh plugs, check the tire pressure, make sure the brakes arn't grabbing, a good old PCM reset never hurts either, then start checking your mileage. I get between 16-17 commuting back and forth to work 50 miles a day mixed highway/city driving. I have had one long trip so far that I saw 18 mpg. That's about the best I've managed to get. Some folks on here report up to 20 but I've never seen that, but then again, I'm using the overhead mpg readout and I'm not sure how accurate that one is....

 

I'll get around 10 mpg around town, that's with some nice hills, stop signs everywhere, and red lights not very far apart. On the highway I can get around 19mpg if I keep it steady at 70-75, but that doesn't happen!

I can't even look at the overhead display without laughing, especially when it's in the single digits after a few days or weeks of city driving.

 

its a v8 4.7l and its got 83k on it. whats the pcm and how do i reset it, i can follow directions pretty well.

ps im uploading some pics right now lol

edit: i also go by looking at the trip meter and overhead mpg. how accurate is that? is there a better way to gauge my mpg?

 

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/members...a-v8-4-7l.html

 

pcm=powertrain control module...the trucks "brain"...you reset it by disconnecting the battery positive terminal and leave it off for a couple of hours, or you can leave it off overnight. Nice truck btw.

 

To add to the list.
- Check and or replace air filter
- check the PCV its located on the oil fill neck. Its kinda a %itch to get off... to remove you have to pull the hose off and then turn the PCV 90 degrees to remove.
(if it rattles it should be good)

I have heard the over head display is not that accurate best to divide miles by gallons.

I have a 4.7L also. When I was stock I got around 14-15 city
My AEM CAI added about 2 MPG so I am about 16-17 city
Electric fan removing clutch fan, added about another 2 MPG so I am about 17-18 city

 

Eimer -
I cant wait to see your Efan setup. It may just tempt me in to getting one for myself. From the things Ive read, they are 100% worth it. Id like to see one in action first though.

 

would a 2004 4.7l dakota k&n cai system fit on a 2005?

 

in doing a quick search on k&n's website, they list different numbers for an 04 and an 05.