2004.5 Fuel mileage

[Wray]

I have a 2004. 5 3500 SLT SRW 4 Door 8' bed 48RE 373-1 Gino's 3 gage with A post mt. Alcoa, factory hitch with 8K miles. What kind of fuel milage are you getting? I am getting about 17. 3 MPG. empty. I read on the TDR websight about owners having there ECU flashed, what does this fix?

 

[CPG]

Wray,



You never mentioned if the 17. 3 mileage was local or highway. If this is local, its about average. If highway, its somewhat low. Also if you drive over 70 MPH or 2000 RPM your mileage goes down. The overhead readings and speedo can make a marginal difference. Never had mine flashed so I cannot help you here.

On mine, I get a most consistent 20-21 on the hwy. not going over 70. Best mileage is @ 65-70. Depends on terrain,wind and your driveing habits. These HO engines will drink the fuel if you have a heavy right foot.



Chuck

 

[klenger]

See http://www.klenger.net/dodge/3rd-gen-reference/tsb-18-037-04_pg1.pdf for the TSB

 

[Bow66tie]

I only have 765 miles on my truck so I've only filled up once. Hand calculated mileage was 17. 1. Mostly highway mileage. My wife and I pulled our 32' Airstream to a local campground, half an hour away, and the overhead is still reading 16. 5 after our short trip. I think I've read somewhere that we should expect our best mileage to establish itself after 10,000 miles.

 

[JPereira]

I typically get between low 18's to low 19's for my usual driving. Approx. 50% highway and 50% around town. Last tank was 726 miles on 38. 01 gallons. I think this tank was more like 75% highway and 25% around town. I agree that 65-70 is definately the best range for mileage. Closer to 65 helps more than closer to 70. I am hoping to get a true highway mileage on our next vacation as it it very hard to drive 700 plus miles on just highway for me. The truck is my daily driver to and from work.



Jeff

 

[viper700]

I have about 25K on my 04. 5 dually now. We traveled from Anch to Yuma this last October and pulled a 36' 5er around Arizona and in March we drove back to Anch. Most of the time on the highway was 65/70. We averaged 18. 4 mpg. I agree 65 is more friendly than 70 on fuel consumption. Around town here and a bit on the hwy it will be in the 16's. The only mod I have done so far was last January was to put the AFE air filter on. I also had the reflash done last fall on the computer, That helped in my case. Pulling the 36'er was another story as it is close to 15K. The mileage then around AZ would very from 9. 5 to 12. 4 depending on the hills. When flat ground I would run about 65/70 in OD and when I would feel a grade change and look down and see 1100 on Egt's drop into Tow haul and they would drop to 800/850. I would also let speed down just a tad to keep RPM'S down. At the same time keeping an eye on the transmission temps and never had a problem. The 04. 5 and up will take a lot more temps that the older generations. Yesterday I installed a Quadzilla DXZT2 for towing and will find out what that will do. Later I will look at a straight thru muffler and resonator.

 

[BStoecker]

'04. 5 3500 SRW w/AFE Stage 2



I have topped out at 21. 3mpg on about 95% highway miles and doing my best to keep my foot out of it. This truck loves the AFE. My mileage has definitely increased with the better air flow. I'm at 46,000 miles now as well. If the motor isn't broken in by now, it is just broken.

 

[SHancock]

I have an 04. 5 4x4 LWB with approx. 16K miles & tow a 30' tag along. I go from Lubbock to Dallas (800 miles roundtrip) once a month to get furniture. I get 11. 5 outbound and 10 on the return trip. Around town I get about 12. On a recent camping trip, with no trailer, about 400 miles I got 16 - 17. This was all hand calculated. I have no mods on the truck. This really ticks me off when I hear of other people getting 17 with a trailer. I would love to get a straight answer from my dealer as to why my mileage is so bad. I would gladly spend a $1000 to improve my mileage if I could get an idea what to buy. I did try the Juice w/Attitude when it first came out and while I did see a performance improvement, my mileage stayed the same. My primary concern is mpg not performance so I sent it back to the vendor. I would welcome a discussion on how to improve mpg on 04. 5's.

 

[JPereira]

SHancock,

What are you running for gear ratio? Speed that you travel when on the Highway?

I have 3. 73 gears and definately see the best mileage 60-70. Anything over 70 and mileage quickly goes down. I try to drive as close to 65 as possible as it seems to help. 60 is even better but is real hard to do. Hell driving 65 is hard because the truck wants to go 70 but also likes to drink the fuel the faster it goes...

Jeff

 

[JasonCzerak]

Wray,



You never mentioned if the 17. 3 mileage was local or highway. If this is local, its about average. If highway, its somewhat low. Also if you drive over 70 MPH or 2000 RPM your mileage goes down. The overhead readings and speedo can make a marginal difference. Never had mine flashed so I cannot help you here.

On mine, I get a most consistent 20-21 on the hwy. not going over 70. Best mileage is @ 65-70. Depends on terrain,wind and your driveing habits. These HO engines will drink the fuel if you have a heavy right foot.



Chuck

Edge juice + attitude on 5/5. . I can dump a 1/4 tank REAL quick say, less then 50 miles playing around on the cruise/race areas.

 

[jwduke]

I'm getting 18. 8 (Empty/highway speeds close to 65), when towing my 5er (9,000 lbs. ), I get 11. 5-12 mpg running around 60 on 2 lanes, and 11-11. 5 @ 65 mph on the interstate. I have 7,000 miles on mine. Hopefully it will get better.

 

[viper700]

SHancock

First try the reflash from Dodge, 18-037-04, I think that is what it was. That helped me with mileage and reset the fuel comp so it was more accurate. Last week I installed a Quadzilla DXZT2 for more towing Hp. Last weekend with just a short trip on the 4 lane going north I jumped from a 18. 4 to the low 20's. This next Tuesday I will be running down to Homer and it will be a 480 mile round trip through the mountains and some flat so I will get better idea where I am at. So far I am impressed with the better fuel mileage and when getting onto the pedal it does spool up faster. Quad says about 65 HP and 165 ft lbs torque gain. It is one setting and nothing to switch . I wanted better towing power and better mileage. Right now I am pleased with the increase and won't be towing till November when I get down to Yuma. I am already at a disadvantage with 4WD and a dually and a 48RE, that is a lot to overcome for better fuel mileage.

 

[CTD 600]

I got 22. 3 mpg going 63 mph for 360 miles on cruise control. I have 37,000 mi on mine.

 

[KennethS]

I don't get that good pulling a car trailer 14

My truck only has 3000 miles went on Its first trip pulling a car trailer with a Model T Inside, I got 14 but I was running 70 to 75 most of the time. The overhead mileage reading Is a bit goofy I have found. I use the pensel way number of gallons Into how many miles I have driven. Only way for sure. I love my diesel's got 2 and would not trade them for anything did have 3 but sold one darn shame should have kept It also.

 

[SHancock]

I am running 3. 73 gears with an automatic. When pulling the trailer I run between 55 & 65. Without the trailer I run between 65 & 70.



Does anyone have any recommendation on mods to improve mileage? What type/brand of chip gives the best mileage? Does a big air filter improve mileage?

 

[FJfonda]

We just clocked 500+ miles at 75 mph with just the dogs and us. Average for the trip was 14. 5 mpg..... which is what I get more or less on my 30 mile commute at 60-65mph. Towing the boat, 12,000 lbs, at 65 - 70mph we get 9 mpg. The truck just turned 26,000 miles and both of these numbers are up one or two MPG from new. The reflash has been done and injector #6 was replaced due to falure. None of these significantly changed the fuel milage. I too am looking for an aftermarket solution to both spool up and poor mpg's... ...

 

[Scooby]

My dually has been getting a consistant 16. 2 mixed driving. With my Lance on board, I drop to the high 13's (mostly highway).

 

[SHancock]

I had the flash done in December and it did improve mileage but, I am still getting 10 towing, 12 in town & 17 highway. MPG really sucked before the flash. I also tried the Edge Juice w/Attitude in Jan. I did see the performance increase but didn't see any increase in mileage. I sent it back for a refund I hated to see the performance go but my justification for buying was to improve MPG. I would like to see if there is any consensus as to what mods do the most to improve MPG.

 

[SHyans]

I had the flash done in December and it did improve mileage but, I am still getting 10 towing, 12 in town & 17 highway. MPG really sucked before the flash. I also tried the Edge Juice w/Attitude in Jan. I did see the performance increase but didn't see any increase in mileage. I sent it back for a refund I hated to see the performance go but my justification for buying was to improve MPG. I would like to see if there is any consensus as to what mods do the most to improve MPG.

I've had the reflash and from my sig you can see what I have going on.

I'm getting about 12. 5 around town driving like a granny, 17-18 Hwy empty, got 12. 5 towing 6000# trailer 1200 miles last week on vacation at 65-72 on cruise control. 12,000 miles

 

[Van Blom]

Have you fellas noticed that almost all of there complaints about poor mileage come from 2004. 5 trucks? My truck is having the same problem. I had the flash and gained 1 mpg, so I'm up to a whopping 14 mpg mixed driving.

So what the hell is going on with this year truck?