cigman1st

??? Ok, I read all the great things about 17 MPG...when is it my turn. I have about 2600 miles on my new '04 and my MPG is staying around 13.3. I drive a mix of highway and city and keep it under 70 mph and under 2000 rpm. Suggestions???

Lightman

I too have been a bit disappointed. If I drove how I wanted to, I'd be in the 14 range all the time, however when I baby it, I'm 15.2-15.8. I hope it's really true what people have been saying about mpg improving as the truck breaks in...I've got about 5k now and it hasn't made a noticeable jump yet... Although I haven't been able to get any weight behind it either yet. Hopefully it will improve with age!

Dr. Evil

Your milage will improve...at least it did on the previous model years.

Shovelhead

Due to the lower RPM and the fact that the Cummins is "Loafing" pulling the lightweight Dodge around, it won't be considered "broken-in" until 15-20,000 miles.
Be patient.

cp

Don't rely soley on what the overhead computer says. Crank the numbers by hand. My overhead (which I haven't reset since I got it) says 19 and slowly climbing. A manual check of the last tank showed 21+.

Nevada

Ditto what cp said. Hand calculation ALWAYS revals better mileage than the computer indicates. I had about 15,000 on before I started getting 17+ mpg.

Lightman

My last two tanks I sat there like a moron and filled all the way to the cap so I would have exact mpg figures. The overhead computer was off, but not by much. First tank the computer said 15.2 and real mpg was 15.9, second time it said 15.8 and real mpg was 16.5. I guess the 4wd and newness really sucks a few extra mpg. I am very very easy on it and have no hills to speak of around here to suck extra fuel.. I dunno. I'm just gonna hope for improvement and keep on truckin'

Ram04

Lightman,

I am getting about the same mileage is you on my overhead and I have about 2700 miles on her so far. I am guessing the people with 2 wheel drive fair a little better. I do know I get way better mileage than the poeple with big gasser v-8 and v-10's.

Can anyone tell me the optimum rpm range for mileage driving around unloaded? I thought i had heard that lower rpms wasn't neccessarily better for mileage on the diesels.

Randy.

Patrick Campbell

If you baby it, it'll take longer to break in!!!

FiverBob

My mileage is definitely improving. My computer is very close to actual every time I checked, so I sort of rely on it. I have less than 10,000 miles, but about 5,000 of that is towing about 16,000#. I reset the computer the other day when I came in from a towing trip. I have about 400 miles since reset, about 50/50 town and 55 mph highway. Peeuutter reads 19.8. It would read about 17.5 mpg about 5000 miles ago doing the same driving.

crobtex

I get about 19 city/hwy mix when I keep it a little below 2000 RPM (65 MPH) on the hwy. If I get over the 2000, it drops to about 17 MPG. My city/hwy mix is about the same all the time.

CR

bulabula

My mileage per tank rose @18k but was simultaneous with Amsoil'ing the diffs, tranny and xfer case so I can't say for sure I've seen the magical moment that CTDs gain improved fuel mileage. Went from 16.8 overall (fifty some tanks worth) to 18.4 mpg (last 3 tanks).

My best AND worst tankful mileage both occured before I had 2600 miles on the clock: 14.3 & 20.2. I do drive fast (typical traffic here) on the superslab, and that takes a hit out of mileage with 4.10's. I can watch the computer readout rise if I can maintain 2000 rpm (~62 mph).

cigman1st

Thank you to all that responded. I will be patient and hopefully watch the MPG rise.

mymaur

Well, I'd say ya got a problem. Ive had 2 03's and I don't baby them and don't try and eek out milage. My first truck was a six shooter with 3.73 gear, long bed 4 door. 17 mpg in town out of the box and 22 on the highway. I usually push around 80 mph on the highway. With the 6 shooter the actuall top gear ratio with a 3.73, IE in 6th gear is 2.72

My 2nd truck currently has 4000 miles on it, is identical to #1 except it has a 48RE. It also gets 17 in town and it gets 23 on the road. With the auto and a 3.73 top gear ratio works out to 2.57. So mileage is a bit better.

I never tow and have been driving rams with CTD's for 12 years now and logged nearly a million miles on them. All this baloney about these motors need to be worked, broken in and bla, bla bla is bunk. All engines will improve slightly with wear in, but, your not going to go from 13 mpg to 17 or 18 with break in. Something is not working. You may have a blockage in your air intake, clogged fuel filter, bad injector or anyone of a 100 other things wrong.

Every CTD Ram I ever owned got at least 16 mpg out of the box in town. Problem is, the dealer will tell you nothin is wrong, unless they can find a code that has tripped. Take your entire air induction system, from the air filter to the turbo, apart and check for a blockage, leaves, a rag anything. DO NOT UNPLUG THE WIRE ON TOP OF THE INTAKE HOSE. If you forget to plug it back in and start the motor you will trip code.

Check all the injectors for leaks, check all the induction plumbing for tightness at the fittings and that all the fittings are actually connected.

Your rear wheels should break loose if you floor it from a dead stop and if they don't you may have a turbo problem. The list goes on and on. But, the dealer, in all likeliness, will be of no help.

Good luck

mymaur

Ah, I see you have 4x4. So your MPG will be down, but 13 is still way low. You should be seeing around 15-16 with 4x4 in town, 20-21 on the road.