Help, california is insane, mpg mods needed

[BlackCoffee]

I can tell you that my 2003 5.4L Eddie Bauer, which means I am running a 4x4 with a Borg Warner Transfer case, can get 14.5 MPG in the city and 17.5 MPG on the highway. You just need to rebuild the engine, bring the valves and heads up to new condition, and make sure your Torque Converter and Transmission are in acceptable shape. My brand new front wheel drive Explorer only averages 5 MPG more than the 16 year old Expy. Don't sell the old guy short.

 

[Dorzak]

Couple of things - there are many in California who live and grew up in rural areas. However, since both houses of the state legislature are based on population we are outnumbered on everything. Hence things like the State of Jefferson. Last week I paid $3.79 at Costco, and will get $0.20 of that back through reward programs. Paradise, CA that burned last fall was a rural, generally conservative area. All the areas threatened by Oroville Dam 2 years ago are conservative, rural areas with the exception of the college towns.

 

[Dorzak]

California has 2 major factors that affect its gas prices. It as higher than most states, maybe even all states, in state taxes on fuel. However, that alone does not account for the difference.

The other difference is CARB Rules (California Air Resource Board) which also affects some cross state Air Resource Districts (Tahoe/Reno for example). It is a different formulation that is supposed to burn cleaner. However, there is some argument to made because it cause a small impact on MPG its gains may be wasted by burning more of it.

If a state like Oklahoma has a supply problem, you can just ship in gas from other states. California a limited number of refineries make the formulation. There is also a different formulation from I think May 1 to October 1. Refineries shutdown, do maintenance and make the change over. They try to estimate demand before doing so, but sometimes are off. That can lead to one seasons fuel being available, while stocks on the other season run low. (EDIT: And can't legally sell the gas being made for the next season) A few years ago that happened and Governor Moonbeam signed an executive order letting the summer gas be sold early.

 

[Tbaker]

I have a 1997 Ford Expedition XLT with 4x4 and the 5.4L
I did find that the extra $$$'s I was spending on gasoline would buy me a beater for a $1000.00 which got me many more MPG
I Love my Expedition and I Love living in Los Angeles so I had no choice to figure out how to get more MPG out of my Expedition when I did drive it.
Removing the 3rd row seat if you can store it somewhere is not a bad option. No way in hell would I ever remove my tow package or spare tire because the few pounds are not going to get the mileage up as much as the way you drive will. I keep the tank less then half way full (fuel is very heavy) most of the time. I keep my tires inflated to 40lbs unless off roading or in the snow. I immediately air back up once I'm back on pavement. If I'm stopped at a light more then 10 seconds I turn the motor off. I never accelerate quickly from a red light. I try to keep my highway speed in the City to 60mph. If in traffic I glide and lightly accelerate as much as possible. I have fairly aggressive off-road tires and I consistently obtain 13.5-14.5 mpg every time I check. Also I don't run the air conditioning unless I absolutely have to (over a 100 degrees out) as the fan with outside air or windows down usually will keep me cool enough. I also offset my drive time slightly to avoid the heaviest of traffic. All these things are simple to do and still be able to drive your Expedition. I would consider a 2nd old beater Honda, Toyota, Nissan to supplement your driving though. In the long run you save years of use of the Expedition and before long the gas savings have pair for the 2nd vehicle and extra insurance.

Good Luck

 

[Dorzak]

3, how much you you guys normally spend on gas each month?

I spend about $300-$350 month. I can go about 10 days between fill-ups. In Sacramento, and I commute 23 miles each way. I don't need all three rows most of the time, but don't have space to park a commute beater.

 

[Dorzak]

My older sister who's now 72, lives in Washington, Utah. It averages 100 degrees all summer from late June till October. It's desert, and probably at one time had nice air. Didn't know that about Salt lake City, but doesn't surprise me. One of the things I love about living in a windy area like San Francisco is the wind blows so much pollution out to the central, and south valley's, away from us. San Francisco only has about 1 million people, but that # swells to 2 million or more during the commute into the city. One of the things that Ford was doing to offset the horrible pollution fines that all large corporate companies accrue, is to offset it with bicycle rentals, and in my case driving a shuttle van using a 14 passenger Ford Transit. Sadly, my company Chariot screwed the pooch on the latter last February. We cancelled all service March 5th. What's next Robbie Robot driving your Ford Van, Circa 2025? By then, they'll be all electric, or at least hybrid. Complaints will mean Robbie gets deactivated, same as being fired!

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

Yep, most of the air quality issues in Sacramento come from Bay area winds. The Delta breeze in the summer lowers temperatures but wrecks air quality.

 

[David Kuchler]

cheap mods, coast a lot, never push accelerator down further than the speed you hope to reach, never go over 60, and let off the gas a mile before you plan to stop, plan your trips in advanced to the detail, take straightest route possible, travel at night, when possible.
expys don't get gas mileage, but highway you should be able to get 15 plus if you drive like anything but a Californian (20 possible, but you can never touch the gas, cruise control everywhere ya go over 30 mph)
a bad cat will kill mileage, and cause other damage
increasing air pressure in tires could help 40+ even 55
car pool, sell your soul, think outside the box
there is not one mod that can help a lead foot get better mileage, and very few if any that will help even the best driver get more than they could factory stock, reducing weight included, mine is over 6000 lbs (2006), even if I cut everything but the drivers seat off, im gonna improve my mileage by much, its a v8

 

[Yupster Dog]

I am so glad I am on the east coast.....I mean wow it sucks worse over here you all better stay put your better off. Our air quality is clean fresh.....I mean checked daily for pollen don't come here very bad pollenated air. The pollen gets in the air filter And makes our mpg's worse. And when that doesn't work it piles up on your vehicle to slow it down. (I had a lady try to hail me because my truck was so yellow) To top it off the gas prices jumped in the past month from $2.20 all the way up to $2.60 unbelievable! It takes $60 to fill up now.

 

[Sgt Darkness]

Have you registered for the draft?

 

[Gumbyalso]

Mine is a 2000 Eddie Bauer 5.4 4WD with 310K on it. Engine and tranny haven't had a failure other than the intake manifold at about 210K. The only thing non-stock is the K&N air filter and the 20% Lucas Engine Oil Stop Leak I mix with synthetic 10w30. I get about 15 mixed highway/city (mostly hwy, this is rural NC) and about 17 straight hwy doing no more than 70 (without the a/c on). The K&N adds some fractional mileage as does the Lucas. I change the plugs every 100K and finally changed the COPs at 300K when it was starting to miss. The new COPs helped the mileage another fraction. And our 2011 EB (XLT plus) 5.4 4WD with 165K on it gets about 2 mpg better than the 2000. It has a K&N as well, but the rest is stock. Gas here is running about $2.59-2.69 now. We have the highest state gas tax in the south at just over $.36/gal - thanks to a Republican legislature who raised it in 2015. Just when gas taxes were about to fall under the old formula, the Republican legislature passed a new gas tax formula that increased the tax and has done so every year since then. The 2015 state law implemented a new tax formula that adjusts annually. The tax takes into consideration state population and energy cost inflation and only goes up. Taken to it's logical conclusion, at some point in NC we'll be paying more in tax than we will for the actual gas. SC is $.25 a gallon cheaper at present and you can expect that split to widen. High gas taxes hurt those in rural areas the most who have to drive to get anywhere. There is no public transportation out here. No, I'm not a Democrat. I'm a pissed off independent.