I checked my fuel mileage today I did some real light hauling some furniture then a couple days ago some scrap aluminum. I was kinda disapointed to see 9.5 mpg I will check it again next time I fill up . What I have been told is becoming true these 95-97 F-450s with the PSD are pigs on fuel and the guys that own 6.0 F-450s are having the same complaint. If I'am only getting 9.5 mpg with light loads what I'am I going to get with a full max gvw load which I havent had yet if it drops below 9 mpg its gonna be expensive to run this truck My 89 F-450 IDI would get 11 mpg loaded it really didn't matter if it was 2000lbs to 7000lbs the truck got 12.5-13 mpg unloaded. I hope I didn't make a mistake and buying a PSD Is this normal for a F-Superduty (F-450) with PSD power to get bad mileage geez 9.5 mpg thats disgusting I had a 88 F-Superduty with 460 power would get 8mpg and the that truck weighed 8300lbs the 95 weighs 8400. The 460 was bad it would eat up 1/2 the profits in fuel hauling sand and gravel and that was 3.5-4 years ago when regular gas was considered cheap. The 460 liked the fuel when the truck was grossing 16,000lbs you could litterally watch the needle drop the engine screamed feed me I'am thinking about going to a 1 ton again and put a 11x8 dumping flatdeck on it if it will net me better fuel mileage and I mean better something like 14 mpg empty and 12mpg loaded. If a 350 won't net me better mileage then I will just suffer with my current trucks bad fuel mileage I will just have to squeeze the customer for more money if they squeal tough tar paper. What do you think should I raise my trucking rate to 60 dollars per hour I'am currently 50 dollars per hour I may even make a minimum chage 100 dollars for a hauling job plus labour if involved. I currently paying $4.15 per US gallon for diesel fuel.
Have you considered High performance Accel or Taylor 8mm spark plug wires, perhaps a high performance cap and rotor AND a high performance (high voltage output) ignition coil, in addition to double platinum spark plugs? Does it have dual exhaust? If so, does it have headers? How about a high air-flow / high performance air filter assembly? Anything you can do to increase air flow or spark will help, anything to increase fuel will not. And, learn to always coast to a stop. .000000000002
Yup diesels don't need no stinking spark plugs My question is it normal for a PSD to be that piggy I know you guys run mason dumps etc what do you get for fuel mileage. Heres the thing if I do go for a F-350 4x4 its going to weigh around 7500lbs with a dumping flatdeck with 4:10 gears I'am wondering if its going to just as piggy. I used to grumble that the old 7.3 IDI was a little underpowered for highway travel but atleast it got good fuel mileage.
Hey Gravel Rat, have you tried unplugging your map sensor and ICP sensor to see if the truck runs any better? Does the engine seem a little sluggish off idle? I'd be willing to bet you have a sensor that's not at 100%, especially if they are original.
The truck is actually running a little better than it did before. The truck when I bought it supposidly it has a rebuilt engine. I don't know what is original and what is not. I'am going to check the mileage again the next time I fill up. If its the same then I will start investigating the problem as I checked a few times before and it was around 12mpg.
An F-450 is gonna have at least 4:10's & maybe even 4.88's in it. Thats where your losing mileage most likely. The lowest gears you can get in a 550 is 4.30's I believe.
I know I have 4:63s my F-450 with 7.3 IDI N/A had 5:13s it used to be topped out at 50 mph my 95 PSD 450 will do 68 my first F-450 a 88 with 460 gas 4:63s 69 mph. Tare weights 88 F-450 11' dump box 8300lbs 89 F-450 12' flatdeck 7800lbs 95 F-450 12' Flatdeck 8400lbs I really don't know why the 95 weighs 500lbs heavier than the 89 both diesels both the same wheelbase with the same sized deck. Its got to be the deck on the 95 is slightly heavier. The 88 was a a dump and it weighed 8300lbs I imagine by the time I get a dump on the 95 it will be in the 9000lb range The 460 weighs 720lbs a 7.3 PSD your looking at 950lbs about 230lbs off your payload with a diesel. The 88 would haul great put 8000lbs of gravel on that truck it had lots of power I wish I kept a better fuel mileage log on the truck. It used to get around 6-8mpg per gallon at todays prices it would cost. 88 460 gas 8 mpg 18 dollars in fuel per hour at todays prices 89 7.3 IDI 11 mpg 14 dollars " " " " " " 95 PSD 9.5 mpg 17 dollars " " " " " " A gallon of regular gas is 3.63 a gallon of diesel is 4.10 Back when I had the 88 which was about 4-5 years ago the truck then cost me 12 dollars per hour to run when gas was cheap when fuel used to be 2.54 a gallon or 68.9 cents a litre now its 98.9 cents per litre. The way the PSD is running now if I charge the truck out at 50 dollars per hour subract the fuel the truck is making a profit of 33 dollars per hour subract my wage the truck is making 13 dollars per hour. Back when I had the 88 I used to charge 35 dollars per hour truck used make 23 dollars after fuel take my wage at that time truck was making 8 bucks per hour. So by far the cheapest truck to run was the IDI it burned less fuel it cost less to repair but it was the slowest truck I owned.
When we ran '91 thru '97 F Super duty's, we were hard pressed to hit 11MPG. The last one we had/are trying to sell is/was an 02 with a 7.3 PSD, hard pressed to see 12MPG. Our 4500 series are getting 13-14, and 6500 series are pushing 13-14 loaded or empty. Can't offer too much advice to better that, you have a low gear ration and an inefficient engine combo. What's weird is basically, the 6.9's were very close to the 7.3 naturally aspirated. Those would hit 15-17 easy, then the 7.3's came out and they were pigs.
