I plan to purchase a new 2500 SLT, 4x4,SWB,CTD, auto trans, but it will be late summer or early fall before I can do it. I am hearing all the talk about the poor mileage on the 600 but by the time I am able to buy there probably will not be anything else available.

I have never owned a diesel and don't know much about them but I am reading everything I can. What did they do to the 600 to increase the power? I have seen shows about adding chips to increase the power of diesels. Is there any way to detune the 600 to previous levels to improve the mileage. Is that feasable? Several people have said it takes several miles for the mileage to stabilize. How many miles usually and is it really too early to judge the 600?

Presently driving a 97 Ford Ranger, 4L, 2WD, with 3.08 gears.
Won't pull squat but gets great mileage!

I am looking forward to driving a real truck.

Also everyone uses acronyms for shortcuts but being a rookie I don't understand them. Is there a site where I can see what all the abbreviations mean?

 

I haven't heard anything about poor mileage on the 600 yet but I can tell you that when these diesel engines are new the mileage may be a bit lower than you expect. As they break in the mileage will go up, especially around 10-12000 miles. At around 12000 miles mine jumped from 13-14 city and 16-17 hwy to 16-17 city and 19-22 hwy. This normal with these diesels.....

 

just as my HO gets a little worse MPG than a SO, the 6oo will get a little worse than mine.

that being said, my mileage didn`t increase untill at least 15,000 miles. I dont tow much at all , so thats why it took me a little bit longer. at first i couldn`t break 12 mpg. thats combined driving unloaded. now i`m at 16mpg, and i could get better, but i have a heavy foot. in the morning when i leave for work( 5:00- 5:30 AM) i take advantage of the open road and average 75-80 mph on my way home i hit that dreaded NY traffic..

if i did all the right things, i could easily get17- 18 mpg with my combined driving

the 600 is still new, i just hit 20,000 miles on my 2003. it will be a while till those 2004.5`s are broken in. dont get scared by the stories your hearing.....give it time. by the time your ready to buy, at the end of the summer, we will have some more accurate info

 

I posted this question a while ago.

Click on the 'Tech facts' at the top of the page and then to 'Definition of Terms'.

 

Joe, I'm in the same boat. We're buying a new house, and we'll see how much money is left after that. I'm not doing anything until then.

I keep seeing posts talking about issues with the "new" 600. But I've found few actuall issues with the 600. I wonder if there is more talk than real issues.

A few have had bad MPG off the lot, many have not had such issues. Also the trucks are brand new, and many running winter fuel...

Maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better, but I'm just not seeing any reason to make a bad life decision over a truck. I'll buy it later. I'm paying attention, but I'm not worried.

 

got my new 600 last week 15.5mpg on first tank mostly highway. trip computer is right on. no other problems, but my 99 got 23mpg right off the bat so I am a bit uneasy about the milage right now. has anyone tried to put in an auxillary transmission to increase milage by using all the power effectively?

 

I recently purchased a 2004 Dodge 2500 w/ the HO 600 engine and the 6 speed with 4.10s. If I drive right, i only pull 14.7 MPG and if i drive like a maniac i get about 11 MPG.. I did notice a differece in MPG when i got fuel from a different station. This hasn't been mentioned that i have seen. Most of my driving is in town. Fuel Economy was one reason I bought the Diesel and it isnt looking all that great right now but we will see. I am still glad I am Cummin and not Strokin' .

 

With my 03, in town, if I drive right I get 17, If I drive like a maniac I get 16. On the highway, If I stay below 70 I get 23 maybe 24, stay below 76 mph I get 22, go over 76 it drops to 18, go over 80, it drops to 16.

10K miles, has gotten the same mileage since new. 3.73 gear, 48RE.

Wouldn't have a 600 if they were giving them away. Not till I see some positive feedback that DC has resolved the mileage problem.

What mileage problem you ask? Read the 10 or 15 threads on the subject. Mileage on tha motor is really down.

2cents

 

I just fueled up my 04 4dr 4wd short box with 11,000 on the odometer

trip meter said 17.8 did the math it was 18.2mpg

I run it empty 110 miles a day sometimes up to 85mph and weekends around town

That is winter fuel mix

going from 7200 -5200- 7200' daily

That part that sucks ws paying $1.60 a gallon

 

What mileage problem you ask? Read the 10 or 15 threads on the subject. Mileage on tha motor is really down

That's what I'm looking for, the dozen threads on the subject. I've seen a few threads about pinging noise, many talking about "that mileage" issue. But not much about the mileage itself, maybe two? And that's with mostly the same people chiming in.

The threads that do talk about mileage have the same sort of feedback, everyone, everywhere, gets different mileage. I've been looking at these trucks for a long time, too long. And I've seen posts from people with 12V's getting 12-14, others getting 22-24. Some say their mileage was constant from new, others saw it rise drastically. 12V, 24V, and 555 were all the same in this regard, why would the 600 be any different? If you bought a 600 expecting 23MPG, you would be disappointed. But so were many others when they found out that their rig, their driving, their fuel resulted in lower MPG.

I went to look over at TDR, nope, nothing there either. There is a poll here, but the spread on it is pretty flat too.

I'm just trying to determine, is it the motor, or is it just normal. So far it seems normal to me. Just my .02.