Fuel Economy

retirednak

retirednak

New member
Joined
Dec 12, 2009
Messages
9
Hi Guys,I'm new to the forum and have a question.
I have an '03 3500 4x4 CC,auto and the 250 HP engine. Its basically stock,except for the upgrades in my signature. I'm at 100K miles and have never had a lick of troubles. (except the death wobble I need to fix) What I'm after is fuel mileage above anything else since I don't tow. I've never seen 17mpg and 16mpg is a stretch. I usually average 14 mpg and under and now that winter is here I won't see the upper side of 13 till we get the summer blend. I have 373 gears and don't drive the truck hard at all. Last year I only put a tad less then 3K miles on it because of the poor mileage and our high fuel prices. I usually add Power Service each tank of fuel. I have a buddy with a V10 that does better then me with mileage. I'd love to start driving my truck again if I could improve the mileage. I keep hearing of people in the lower 48 getting up to 20 mpg. I figure I must have got "one of those" kind of trucks that will never get good mileage. I bought the truck because my last 3/4 ton Cummins was easy on the fuel.
So what can I do? Add 50 HP injectors and a Smarty? A new TC and VB with the injectors? I'm at the point that I don't enjoy driving the truck because it seems I can almost watch the fuel gauge move at hwy speeds. And hwy speeds are never over 65mph. Sorry about going on and on. If I can't afford to drive the truck,I might as well sell it and buy something else. But everything out there in my price range is a POS and not any where as clean as my truck. So help me out here guys.
 
retirednak said:
Sorry, yes stock tire size.
Click to expand...

I was thinking if you had a slightly larger diameter tire on there, your speedo would be off (and so would your odometer) which would result in a lower mileage reading than you were actually getting.

I don't have a CR so beyond that thought, I am at a loss.

Hopefully some CR guys can chime in and give you some help.
 
I thought my speedo might be off also,but my GPS says I'm right on the button. I know I need to run the valves now that I'm at 110K miles,I doubt that will have much effect on mileage.
I should mention that my shifts have been sloppy/lazy for 40K miles and I've tried power braking on wet pavement and couldn't spin a wheel if my life depended upon it. I'm a tad anal when it comes to servicing my trans,every 7500 miles,including band adjustment. I've heard of mileage increases with VB and TC upgrades,but I'd like to hear from more then one person about this.
 
A mild Smarty tune would certainly help your mileage. You can advance your timing which will increase efficiency. Smarty Jr might be your ticket :Cheer:
 
I've thought about a Smarty for a while now,can't decide if I want a JR or SR. I've heard people out grow the JR quickly. The only thing that has held me back so far is the noids about toasting my tranny. I know the 47 series is a weak link in the chain. As clean as my tranny looks inside with lots of adjustment left,I think I could throw a TC & VB and go for another 50K miles if I don't over power it. With 100K on the original injectors,wouldn't it be worth my while to upgrade with some Dynomite 50 hp injectors or another brand? Most claim mileage increase if you keep your foot out of it.

If I was to lose the training wheels and convert to SRW,any idea how much of a gain I might see? The only reason I got the DRW was because I got such a great deal on it. I'm willing to spend some money on this truck because I think it would be cheaper in the long run.
 
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