I just got an 02 F-150 Supercrew 2wd with the 5.4 V8. So far I've been getting somewhere around 9-11 mpg around town and thats only when i baby the crap out of the throttle... Is anyone else having this problem or know of any way to get the milage back up to where it should be? I previously owned a 2003 chevy silverado 1500 with a 6" lift and 35's and it got 13 mpg in town...i expected to get alot better when going to a truck thats 2wd and still at stock height.

 

How long has it been since you did any maintenance? air filter, o2 sensors, spark plugs, etc...?

 

That does not sound right. You should be getting better mpg than that. I have an '05 4x4 with the 5.4l, and I get consistent 15 to 16 mpg.

 

As soon as i got the truck i put a K&N Intake on it, and its already got dual exhaust. im assuming the O2 sensors are still good or it would throw a code and turn the check engine light on.

 

not really. they can be making you run rich and not throw a code. How many miles are on the truck?

 

92,500 miles. Like i said, i JUST got the truck and previously i had owned a chevy, so everything ford is new to me. All i know is i was hoping to get better gas milage out of this thing and is the only reason i got rid of my big 4x4. Hasnt worked out too well so far.

 

how is the acceleration? maybe the brakes dragging a little?

 

not bragging on either truck, but... you will never get as good a mileage from a 5.4 that you would a 5.3 ..Z71 or not. Unless you had the 6.0 chevy you would have been better off keeping it, MPG wise anyway.
You should be getting a little more than you are though. You would benefit from having the ball joints and alignment checked, complete transmission flush and filter, brake calilpers checked for releasing, O2 sensors, spark plugs, and possibly go for a tuner.
Thats a lot of money to drop at one time though just to pick up 2-3 mpg.

 

acceleration is fair, i know ford supercrew trucks arent the lightest weight vehicles out there but it gets going pretty good for only having an air intake and exhaust. id probably be able to tell some way if the brakes were dragging. thanks for the thought though

 

ive been looking into getting a programmer and doing more to the exhaust. i just didnt know if anyone else had heard of a stock height 2wd truck like this getting such horrible gas milage. a guy i work with has almost the exact same truck, just has the king ranch package is the only difference, and is getting 15mpg around town and 20 on the highway and has no aftermarket mods at all. its just a little irritating and getting quite costly

 

I think when the exhaust is opened up too much on these modular motors you lose out on some torque you need for the heavier trucks. It causes the throttle to have to be opened more to accomplish momemtum needed get up to cruise speed. Does it feel like the more granny you drive it the more it labors to get going? then you go ahead an make it talk with the sweet tones then it feels like it has more power, actually you are opening up the throttle more to accomplish the integral design flow characteristics of the engine.
Hope that makes sense, it is said hundreds of times in this forum in one way or another. So yeah, then comes the benefit of the tuner.. although I would still think the exhaust should have some restriction to keep the light throttle torque for better MPG>

 

I bought my 1998 F150 Screw 4x4 w/ 5.4 V8, last November and went right through it with 100% mait.
When I 1st bought it, it was getting 10-11 mpg's. since the mait. I get 13-14 mpg's and I live in Central NY, all hill country driving. I get 17-18 mpg's highway and I drive it, no babying allowed (no beating either).
Tune it up !!!!! plugs, cop's, air filter, good oil, possible O2's, (I replaced bank-2 downstream, causing CEL), have the cat's flow tested, new fuel filter, check gas pressure at the fuel rail, etc,etc.

Good luck, and enjoy your Ford.

(glad to see you left the "darkside" with that Chevy,,

 

why did you ditch the chevy?

anyways like other people said, do a complete tune up. spark plugs, cop's if you want, fuel filter, tranny/transfer case flush.

have fun with your ford, the only drawback to fords is that the motors are a lot harder to work on. i looked under the hood of my friends silverado with a 5.3 and it was startlingly basic compared to my 5.4 i saw an engine a couple hoses, distributor, alternator, etc and it was all nice and orderly with lots of space. my 5.4 looks like a jungle compared to it, so many hoses, wires, good lord theres a lot of stuff under there.

 

thanks for all the input guys. im guessing by "cop" yall mean the coil packs? im not really sure what cop means so if im wrong please fill me in. im pretty sure the trans was flushed about 4000 miles ago but with the dealerships around here you cant ever trust them...plannin on changin the oil tomorrow and maybe going to pick up some spark plugs if ive got the time. if anyone else has any ideas feel free to post them

 

COP = coil over plug. You should have 1 coil per plug.

Do not make the mistake I did. I used autolite plat.'s and after 4500 miles I'm pulling them and putting in the Motorcraft plugs. A $32.00 oops, 1/2 day of wasted labor and my truck is not happy.
I wasn't a member of this site when I did the tune-up and didn't know any better and used the Autolite's. Jbrew and the other Senior member's here will tell you, Motorcraft ONLY. Wish I knew this before hand.

I am also installing new COP's from Global Automotive on Ebay. I ordered them last night. You can put Motorcraft on @ 93.00 ea., NAPA's @ 56.00 ea.
or Gobal's @ 81.00 (incl. shipping) for ALL 8. Believe it or not 10.00 ea.

link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-I...mZ150284917869

Alot of ppl. on this site have used them and are happy. A few have had problems with them from what I read. I will be keeping my existing COP's in case there is a problem. I am replacing them because I have 6 Motorcrafts, (original's I think), and 2 aftermarkets that the previous owner put on.

I'm not throwing a CEL and all my monitor's are set on my puter but I feel that my truck is running a little sluggish and I feel a slight misfire now and then. Actually it feels almost the same as when I bought it last November.
I say almost, it was a real slug when I bought it.

I have a good friend that works at a Ford Dealership (service) and he said Motorcraft plugs only, and I would probably be ok with the aftermarket COP's.

I am having them do a Tranny Flush on Saturday. I havn't had it done yet, and only God knows if the previous owner had it done. Again, I'm doing this because there is alot of threads and post's on this site that suggest it be done and my friend highly recommends it.

Prevent & scheduled mait. will keep our trucks running great, improve the MPG's and run for alot more miles.

ps: If you do the COP's and plug's yourself, warning - cylinder's #4 & #8 are not fun to get at. You have to have the right tools and extensions or do what I did and pull the fuel rails.

Good Luck !!!

TJKinCNY