I recently purchased a 2008 Ram 2500 with the cummins motor, it has 76000 miles on it. My first fill up was about 230 miles, mainly two lane hwy, interstate and a little city. I got 12.63 mpg. The next trip was pulling my camper in the wind, and also some city driving with the camper, and some slow dirt road driving, and some idle time. With that I got about 8 mpg. With the towing it was a little lower then what expected for what I did, but with the unloaded driving it was way low. I was hopping expecting 15 -16 or better. It also appears to be getting about 1 mpg lower then what the average says it is. Since it has about 2 months of engine warranty left on it I am hesitant to get a programer. Is their any thing a person can do to improve gas mileage with a stock unit? Or do I bite the bullet and get an intake, exhaust, egr delete and a programer? If so what do you recommend. I live in a state that doesn't do emissions testings, so if I get an exhaust, I would like to get one with the dpf delete. I do have one other issue, the wipers stopped working, unless you use the washer and they work fine, any quick fixes. Might save me a trip to the dealership where I bought it, unless it is price. Is their any other bugs I might have to keep my eye out for?

 

I'd be removing all the emissions stuff I could get away with.
Secondly, if you haven't already, take a look at your air cleaner to make sure it's not clogged.

 

If you bought it with that many miles on it I would go through and do a full tune up. All fluids and filters and see what that does. I bet that fuel filter needs changing

 

+1 on filters and fluids. Fuel filter needs changed every 15k

 

today's diesel sucks.. the sulfur has been reduced to 15ppm from 500ppm, and with it, the fuel's ability to protect itself from bacteria growths.. guess where that crap likes to live? guess what it restricts?

makers suggest fuel filters changed every 15k.. I change mine no later than 10k.. I also installed an AirDog150 lift pump, to remove air from infiltrating the HPFP and the injectors, but also to do a better job of removing water from the system...

my 6.4PSD, on a crew cab 4wd 250 gets around 17MPG's no matter what I'm doing.. I pulled a 5k# boat a few weeks ago nearing 300 miles and averaged 18MPG (all highway).. I'm sure that would drop with significant weight behind me, like up to the rating of 16k#ish, but your CTD should get better than mine..

and not that our animals are very similar, but they are in this regard: DPF's suck donkey nads... it's just a stupid idea to wash the cylinders on the exhaust stroke to ignite the regeneration cycle- 76k miles, especially if driving mostly stop and go or not for long stretches is a long time on a DPF.. Mine mysteriously fell off one evening, and my mileage picked up no less than 5MPG's.. the difference in power is unbelievable, too..

diesels are pretty easy- the more fuel the more power... the more balanced the fuel is with proper air, the cleaner the burn and quicker the spool... are you smokey? If so, you def need to look at air... a bigger intake helps, and it helps hugely in reducing exhaust gas temperatures, which also improves economy..

you've got a good rig, dude... get it in shape and treat it nicely, and you'll have purchased your last vehicle..

good luck!

edited to add: for the love of God, don't introduce an oiled filter on that rig... only use a dry air filter.

 

I was planning on getting a dry air filter, I have been considering the cold air intake system or something similar. I remember back with the ctd 5.9's people were having issues with the k&N air filters on them. I am hoping that my dpf happens to fall off one evening.

I am not smokey, but I do live at a higher elevation, and the smoke could be sucked up through the dpf, causing more restriction....

 

Hi, how to change the fuel filters in a 2002 dodge ram 4.7 slt? And where is the fuel filter?

 

This post is in regards to the Cummins Turbo Diesel in which the fuel filter is right in the engine bay for easy changing. In our gas engines though the fuel filter is near the fuel pump and gas tank and is quite hard to change but I'm pretty sure they last a long time