fuel mileage

[tradr1]

i have a 1997 sub 6.5 turbo diesel with 4.1 rear end i drive from work to home not heavy foot and its a 2500 series what should i get with a full tank its 160 litre tank and can i do to improve my mileage

[sturgeon-phish]

Drive reasonable, accelerate moderatly, anticipate stops, limit ideling. Clean air filter, open cat, modify air intake at turn signal. The mechanical mods are less than $50. I've done this and I get ~ 20 mpg regularly.

[jonflies]

Jim, could you expand on the "modify air intake at turn signal" mod?

How did your Amsoil air filter fit in the box? I thinking of buying one.

[trbankii]

Otello should notice that he has 4.10 while Jim has 3.73 gears in the rear end. That will make a difference.

[sturgeon-phish]

I've had two amsoil air filters. I got one for the original 96 air box which was a plate style filter, which I'm no longer using. I recently switched to a 97 air box which uses a cylindical shape. Still collecting data on improvment. The air intake mod is replacing the turnsignal lens with a perferated cover to allow more air flow to the air intake. I posted pics a while back, I'll look for it.

[sturgeon-phish]

Do a search on "Anyone tried this yet" dated 0-19-04 for pictures. Tried to copy over but didn't know how.

[meanchev]

I want plans for that. looks awsome will go good with the other mods on mine.

[Hansh]

Run synthetic oils in the engine, transmission, and rearend.

[sturgeon-phish]

The covers are sheet aluminum from an old electronic componet case cut down to fit the opening and rounded the corners. Bought two amber turn signals from Advance Auto parts. Made a bracket out of sheetmetal and mounted a lamp and bracket on each side. I put a bulb in the now free light bulb on each side and wiretied it out of the way. This keeps the turn signals from flickering fast due to a bunt out bulb. I then took 1/4" tubing and cut a piece 3/8" long to act as spacers to flush the covers with the grill. Bend the cover slightly to match the contour. Screw the covers into the existing holes with the original screws.

Already paid for itself several times over. I've driven inhard rain and the hole size is large enugh to let plenty of air in and keep water out. The mod also lowered engine temps!

[moondoggie]

Anyone tried this yet (http://forum.thedieselpage.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=007239) (Click in colored text)

[Aryeh Levy]

Jim are you running a manual transmission?

I've got an automatic, and my TC locks up (had in second, and put in D - noticed 3 piece lowering of RPM.

Somebody said watch out for transmission function in these engines for low mpg. should i get it flushed?

Could that help?

Its between my transmission flushed and my injectors tested. I found a shop that'll pop test em fo $15 for the set.
I know flusing costs $200 :-/

[sturgeon-phish]

I have an auto. If you have many miles or tow I'd flush the trans. There are lots of posts on the how to. It is very easy. As you can see by my sig line, I use amsoil and would highly reccomend it. You can do it yourself for way less than $200, and you'll know it is completly flushed.

[jbell]

I added 1.5mpg with a front air dam on both my pickup as well as my 3/4 ton sub with 4.10's. On a 3/4 ton, the body is way up in the air. And good aero is the key to good mpg.

Good rule of thumb, measure from gound to the bottom of the rear axle tube. That's the height that the bottom of the air dam should be at. And if you think my air dam's must be really 'aerodynamic' to gain 1.5mpg.... they are 3/4" redneck plywood.....

[Aryeh Levy]

Originally posted by Jim Sturgeon:
I have an auto. If you have many miles or tow I'd flush the trans. There are lots of posts on the how to. It is very easy. As you can see by my sig line, I use amsoil and would highly reccomend it. You can do it yourself for way less than $200, and you'll know it is completly flushed. How do you flush your own auto transmission completely - i'm interested in using synthetic trans fluid- royal purple, redline mobil 1 or amsoil... flushjing with the BD flush - but the techs at the junkyard said you need a circulating machine to do it right.

My fav mechanic said he double flushes with regular trans fluid before synthetic - said theres so much gum deposits, you need to drive a few miles and get the trany nice and hot before flushing the second time to get all the gum deposits you can.

[DmaxMaverick]

There should be NO gum in your tranny. ATF, if kept healthy will prevent it. There may be some sediment in the pan, but you will surely clean that up when you drop it.


Redneck flush:

Do a normal service, like you normally would, drop and clean the pan, replace the filter, and button up the pan. Set E-brake.

Fill the pan, and go about 2 qts over. Disconnect the "from cooler" line from the tranny, and install a clear hose onto the line. Leave the connector at the tranny open, don't worry about it.

Place the clear hose into a suitable container. Start the engine. Watch the fluid running out of the clear hose. As soon as it starts to slow down, or you see bubbles in the fluid, shut off the engine. Refill the pan, + 2 qts. Start the engine and cycle through P, R, N, D, at least 5 seconds each, at least 3 or 4 times. Watch the fluid.

Repeat this cycle until you've cycled through the capacity of your tranny, + another 3 or 4 qts. You should notice a color change in the fluid coming out of the clear hose, old to new.

Remove the clear hose and connect the cooler line. Top off ATF to below the full hot mark, and take a short drive to warm it up. Check the level again, then bring it up to full hot.

Get 'er done!

[sturgeon-phish]

Just a few opinions in addition to the above instructions. I disconnected the line to the trans cooler at the radiator to discharge the fluid. Much easier to get to. As the truck is running fluid will come out the clear line, as the fluid is coming out, add fluid via the fill tube. As soon as the the trans fluid color changes to bright red turn off the truck. recconect lines, drive measure add. While you have the pan off you may want to add a drain plug if you don't have one already.

[Aryeh Levy]

we've got transmission filters?

I bet thats plugged up in mine.

- when i got this truck the fuel filter was black.

[fastcat800]

All AT's have a filter inside the pan.

[JTodd]

What does a hood mounted bug deflector do for mileage? As far as that goes, what does it do, period?

[DChristie]

JTodd

As for mileage I don't know, but as a bug deflector it changes the airflow over the vehicle which thrusts throws bugs rain etc over the top. I had one on my first car. It helped with bugs( big bugs on suicide missions weren't deterred) and was great in light rains. water didn't hit the windsheild at all and I didn't have to use my wipers. I liked it, but haven't gotten another one, ever.

DChristie

[TurboDiverArt]

Originally posted by jbell:
I added 1.5mpg with a front air dam on both my pickup as well as my 3/4 ton sub with 4.10's. On a 3/4 ton, the body is way up in the air. And good aero is the key to good mpg.

Good rule of thumb, measure from gound to the bottom of the rear axle tube. That's the height that the bottom of the air dam should be at. And if you think my air dam's must be really 'aerodynamic' to gain 1.5mpg.... they are 3/4" redneck plywood..... Does anyone make a non-redneck one? Us Yankees can't go around with plywood on our trucks, the neighbors will talk! :D

Wondering if one can be used off another truck? Aftermarket maybe?

Art.

[TurboDiverArt]

Oops, just saw there is another thread on this, sorry!

Art.

[jdmetcalf57]

I had a bug deflector on my truck and decided to take it off and see what mileage did. I figure it gained about 1/4 to 1/2 mpg. Any thing you can do to decrease air turbulence around your truck will help. A bug deflector adds some turbulence right behind the deflector.

Anyone out there use COSMOS FlowWorks or some other CFD program? I would love to model my truck and camper and work on the aerodynamics.

[TurboDiverArt]

Originally posted by jdmetcalf57:
I had a bug deflector on my truck and decided to take it off and see what mileage did. I figure it gained about 1/4 to 1/2 mpg. Any thing you can do to decrease air turbulence around your truck will help. A bug deflector adds some turbulence right behind the deflector.

Anyone out there use COSMOS FlowWorks or some other CFD program? I would love to model my truck and camper and work on the aerodynamics. Huh, I had mine off for a month or so when it broke. I watch my mileage pretty close, I didn't see any change at all with it off. I did look because I thought it might either hurt or help having it off. Maybe because it's a Suburban and not a pick-up like yours that there was no difference? Just my experience. If you are worried about turbulence but want to have a deflector, the aftermarket ones are much lower profile than the factory one. I also didn

[ANXIOUS-SUBMAN]

When I took mine off I actually found a couple small pebbles got in between the deflector and the front edge of my hood. They must have been there a long time cuz they rubbed right through the paint and into the bare metal.