Fuel Mileage

My truck is stock with no add on other then a useless running board that doesn't help you get in or out of the truck. When Stock small mirrors. I bought the truck 3 months ago they changed all the filters, fuel, air, trans, and oil. When I bought the truck from the dealer, I had then service everything. Oil change, transmission flush, radiator flush. My Cousin has the same truck with a service body on his and he get better MPG then I do.

Check the simple things first. Diesels flow a lot of air thru the air cleaner.

Have you pulled it and looked at it ? If it's the original, that could be a major contributor to bad mpg.

I remember years back working at Ford Dealership in the service dept.
They actually had an write up on what things cost you MPG , started out #1 was driver and went from there.
But remember on the testing they did was using a stock 2 wheel drive reg cab long bed truck ,several runs to get a base MPG at a certain speed 58 MPH.
Then they added a bug shield , dropped .5 MPG , then towing mirrors dropped another 1. MPG , then running boards dropped another 1.5MPG , a sun-visor above the windshield another 1.2 MPG side window visors .3 MPG and so on.
By the time they had all the add-ons it was costing close to 6 MPG !

If you're paranoid about fuel consumption, maybe RVing isn't for you. Fill it up when it gets low and don't even compute your mileage. The only alternative to low gas mileage is to quit the lifestyle.

lanerd wrote:
Actually using cruise control is NOT the best way to get good mpg as it will try to keep the speed constant regardless of the terrain, wind, or road conditions. This, of course, means that the throttle is being constantly manipulated which in turn means more fuel is being added during hills, overpasses, head winds, etc. Better to keep the throttle at a constant position and letting the speed decrease when needed.

Ron

Thank You, I agree and have found that is how I get my best mileage. You have to learn to read the road, the conditions and, drive accordingly

Thanks for the help. It is strange that the same truck can get widely different MPG.

I would take it to Chevy and have it diagnosed. For a couple of years after that engine came out, it had some reoccurring issues that Chevy was fixing for free.

Buster52 wrote:
I am a conservative driver, not a lead foot. I have done all my calculation by hand, not using the one on my dash board. I also used the cruise control when doing my calculation too. I just bought the 2006 Chevy 2500HD diesel 3 months ago and it had 72,000 miles on. And all my tires are inflated properly.

Need to have turbo checked for stuck vane and/or if CAT is clogging up

Both issues will cut mileage drastically

Need to also check for any error codes that are stored

Actually using cruise control is NOT the best way to get good mpg as it will try to keep the speed constant regardless of the terrain, wind, or road conditions. This, of course, means that the throttle is being constantly manipulated which in turn means more fuel is being added during hills, overpasses, head winds, etc. Better to keep the throttle at a constant position and letting the speed decrease when needed.

Ron

On my motorhome, I found the sweet spot (57-62) and that is what I drive. Terrain has a lot to do with MPG.