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Car Forum / Dodge / Dodge Trucks / June 20085.9L, 2002 Ram 1500
Has anyone experimented with reprogramming the ECM to improve gas mileage? My truck gets 9 - 10 MPG city (with air) and about 15 on the highway, which I feel is a bit low, especially with gas prices today. I've purchased the OBD software and interface for my laptop, and I believe that the included software allows limited reprogramming. I've already installed K&N filter, made sure it's in tune, and checked tire pressures. Any other hints? Thanks, John BTW, I'm located around New Orleans where it's hot and humid. js > Has anyone experimented with reprogramming the ECM to improve gas mileage? > My truck gets 9 - 10 MPG city (with air) and about 15 on the highway, [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > John > BTW, I'm located around New Orleans where it's hot and humid. js Look at the size and weight of the vehicle. What do you really expect it to do? The best way to save fuel with it is to keep the tire pressure up and take it easy on the gas. It was not designed to be an economy car and there is not much that you can do to change that.  SignatureIf at first you don't succeed, you're not cut out for skydiving > Has anyone experimented with reprogramming the ECM to improve gas mileage? > My truck gets 9 - 10 MPG city (with air) and about 15 on the highway, [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > John > BTW, I'm located around New Orleans where it's hot and humid. js You pretty much have what your gonna get. It is a truck, with the aero of a brick. > Has anyone experimented with reprogramming the ECM to improve gas mileage? > My truck gets 9 - 10 MPG city (with air) and about 15 on the highway, which If you lean out the mixture, it'll burn up. Like TBone said, keep the tires inflated. I put a Flowmaster Truck and SUV series muffler on my Dakota 5.9 and it seemed to make a little improvement. I still wondered if there was a hole in the tank and fuel was just leaking out. Luckily I sold that thing when gas was $2.50/gal. I miss that truck but it was just too thirsty. > Has anyone experimented with reprogramming the ECM to improve gas > mileage? My truck gets 9 - 10 MPG city (with air) and about 15 on the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > John > BTW, I'm located around New Orleans where it's hot and humid. js drive like you've got an egg on the accelerator thats about all you can do for a truck. aside from keeping the tires inflated. SignatureChris >> Has anyone experimented with reprogramming the ECM to improve gas >> mileage? My truck gets 9 - 10 MPG city (with air) and about 15 on the [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > drive like you've got an egg on the accelerator thats about all you can > do for a truck. aside from keeping the tires inflated. Same items apply to any vehicle. Keep the tires properly inflated. Make sure the brakes are working properly to avoid brake drag. Have the alignment checked and make sure you don't have any bad bearings. Synthetic oils in the gearboxes can help some, they stay at about the same viscosity regardless of temperature (no waiting for them to warm up in the winter). Make sure your engine is in proper tune. Plan your trips so you can avoid backtracking. Drive intelligently, no rapid starts, coast to a stop when possible. Track your vehicles mileage. SLOW DOWN. One thing that is pounded into anyone who runs emergency vehicles is that for most trips the extra speed works against you a LOT. SignatureSteve W. >Has anyone experimented with reprogramming the ECM to improve gas mileage? >My truck gets 9 - 10 MPG city (with air) and about 15 on the highway, which [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >John >BTW, I'm located around New Orleans where it's hot and humid. js That's pretty much what our stock 99 ram gets with 5.9, auto, 3.5 gears and QQ.. We have slightly oversized tires and know that we lose a bit of low end, but it still only gets 14 - 15 mpg on freeway trips.. Our 01 Dakota with 4.7L gets 19 - 20 on trips but can't tow or hold what the ram does... Life is full of choices, I guess.. mac Please remove splinters before emailing I have a '96 with an '01 5.9 with 3.55 gears and I get 16-17 on rural roads (45 mph) 14-15 around town and 15 highway (60-65), but I have a 5 speed, not an automatic. Steve > Has anyone experimented with reprogramming the ECM to improve gas mileage? > My truck gets 9 - 10 MPG city (with air) and about 15 on the highway, [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > John > BTW, I'm located around New Orleans where it's hot and humid. js > Has anyone experimented with reprogramming the > ECM to improve gas [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > BTW, I'm located around New Orleans where it's > hot and humid. js SignatureI have not done it with the Ram, or my Dakota. But I have done it with other vehicles. The potential is there to make some significant improvements. The factory tune is fairly conservative, and not always that accurate. If you can go in an individually tune your specific engie for your specific conditions, you can make improvements in mileage and performance. But, you definatly need a way to evaluate your tuning. You shouldn't just go in and change a fuel or timing map. What if it's already lean, and you make it worse? At the very least, you need a wide band O2 sensor. I use the LM-1 with pretty good results. Optimally, you want the truck on a chassis dyno, and a tuner that knows what he's doing. That's a little expensive, but you'll get the best results. -------- .boB 2006 FXDI hot rod 2008 Mustang Coupe 2001 Dodge Dakota QC 5.9/4x4/3.92 1965 FFR Cobra - 427W EFI, Damn Fast. >> Has anyone experimented with reprogramming the ECM to improve gas >> mileage? My truck gets 9 - 10 MPG city (with air) and about 15 on the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >> pressures. Any other hints? Thanks, >> John i have a 4x4 ram with a 360 and when i want to increase my fuel economy i park it and drive my dakota with a v-6. i have five trucks of varying size. we match each task to the correct size truck for the job. i commute in my 360 (its about 6 miles from home to work) and if i have to do any trip over 20 miles that doesn't require hauling a big load i drive one of the dakotas. if the load is really big i use the cummins powered 2500. my wife is going to an out of state wedding this weekend and instead of driving the diesel she is taking the 5 speed dakota. if i have to do a trip of any substantial mileage that is not work related and it is not actively raining i drive my motorcycle. even my hot rodded harley gets 43 mpg. buy yourself a dodge neon or some other vehicle that is miserly on fuel and only use the truck when it is actually needed. you will never convince a goat with a 360 into acting like a honda civic at the fuel pump. save your mod money and buy a scooter with it instead. michael |
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