Graphite600

Tonight I went on a short 35 min. trip to home depot to get 1400 lbs. of flooring with the 600, on the way up i had the cruise set at 60, and was getting 19.7, and loaded on the way home got a high of 21! Truck only has 1910 miles on it! It is also a very early build of 1/26/04 on the engine valve cover.

RobG

That's sickening to me.

My '03 3500 dually 4x4 auto gets at best 13 mpg on the highway and 9-10 around town. Dealer has repeatedly refused to even try to see if there's a problem anywhere. BTW, these figures are both with and without a lead foot... I've tried it both ways... same result. Heck, it actually seems to be slightly better with a lead foot than without.

Mileage is up .5 to 1 mpg over the last couple thousand miles (now at 16,500) but that isn't saying much.

I really, really hate this truck.

Rob

Learjockey

Do not feel bad Rob, mine is about the same as yours I see a lot of 13.8 on the overhead at around 70 mph. Hand calculated mixed interstate and more local I am getting 11.8 mph actual.

BigBlue

That's odd for an 03. Most of them I've seen are cracking 15+. I'd go find a different dealer.

i6DZUL

What he said. It's time to find a competent dealer. I get 16.5-17 hand calculated.

sawood

These trucks auto tranny's will never get better than 14-15 mpg! Period end of sentence. They should have been a 5 speed auto tranny. The six speed trannies may because they have two more gears than Auto tranny. When i drive on hwy. iit is MUCH WORSE 13+ without hauling at 75mph, the speed limit. At 80 hauling a lightweight trailer with quads its down to 11mpg. Don't expect more cause it wont happen. I am disappointed as well. Everyone going on about 18+ is full of bullhockey. I got 16.8 before i had 2K on it but now steady as she goes at 14.6 mpg all day long, heavy foot or not. Actually just as good if not better with heavier foot, at least i can enjoy gulping the fuel down its gullit. 'O3's should get much better cause they have less HP and TORQ. More Horsepower = more fuel usage...............let's not kid ourselves any longer. that is just the way it is. Dodge always does something to sabatoge itself. WHY dont they leave well enough alone, i love speed and HP like the next guy but not at a loss of 25% in MPG. If any of you find a fix - let us know.

I bet in the next they will come out with the Mercedes 5 speed in these babies. They already got them in some DC vehicle i read about in Road and Track.

DRIVE FAST - might as well, your paying for it anyway!!!

el jefe

The six speed may have more gears, but the overdrive ratio in the auto is higher than in the six speed. Your arguement over the number of gears doesn't really make sense as far as mileage goes. I bet both the torqueshift and the allison have O.D. ratios similar to the 48re. I'll believe it if someone gets 18 plus with an auto.

gsdog1

Hhhmm, can't say that for my auto. 04.5 with around 3,000 and getting better than 16.5 hand calculated, 50/50 city /highway, no towing. Each tank gets better.

Looking forward to hitting the lottery though and BOMBing the snot out of the tranny though!

Matt

cquestad

On the highway with no wind (or these numbers could be higher/lower):

90 mph = 13 mpg
85 mph = 14 mpg
80 mph = 16 mpg

I don't drive any slower than that.

Weight does not matter...aerodynamics does.

Mopardan

I got 19.1 mpg hand check last week, 18.7 on overhead. Trip meter was showing 558 mi, and still had some fuel ( about 5 gal ) but I do have the 555.

BPD239

I've had mine for a little over a week. The first tank full was about 15.5 miles per gallon. The second tank was about 16.5. Now I have about 1200 miles on the truck and the over head is reading about 18 miles per gallon average. I have reset it a couple of times to make sure that it isn't a malfunction!! The overhead computer was pretty close when checked with a calculator. I think that I am going to be pretty close to 20 when the motor finally breaks in. I'm not that upset, I figured that with the auto and the new fuel injection I'd be lucky to pass a diesel fuel pump .

tp4whlr

with better than 3600 miles on the odometer, I'm averaging 16.5 MPG hand calculated and 14.3 indicated on overhead(as of last tank). So far on current tank overhead is hovering around 15.0, so I think hand calculated will be somewhere above 17 MPG. I have about 300 miles on current tank and still indicating better than half full on gauge (34 gal. tank). This is empty, combination of rural roads and city driving, very little to no interstate driving.


Ted

bdramsey

The rpms are the same on this 04.5 minus about 200 from my 01.5, I'll have to wait and see. I could get 495 miles to a tank with my 01.5 495 was as close as I would push it, this was on the highway. City sucked ...... period end of sentence. My 01.5 was a 5 spd, how does diesel burn? If I remember correctly, then it is basically compressed until it explodes, right? If the comression happens more rapidly (rpms), then there would be more heat left in the chamber to have the chamber warmer when the next injection gets blown up. just my dos centavos.

Graphite3500

I must have got a good one then, I get @17.5 on overhead and @18.2 hand calculated. I have the auto and i am not afraid to get on it. the truck has 2400 miles on it i am very pleased with it so far

bdramsey

When I drove my 04.5 off the lot, the overhead showed 12-14, 700miles on it and the overhead shows about 16 on the highway. Got 700 miles on it, now it's time to haul my boat around for a while. Hopfully get everything seated and sealed efficiently. That what I did to my last truck, gave a baby period, then stuck my foot in it, it's a cummins, as much as I paid for it I should at least try to get the engine to break while still under warrenty. Might as well get the defective parts replaced early in the game, when I go on a 3000 mile trip I want to have confidence that my truck is mechanically sound.
Also, I have towing and car rental added to my insurance, so that I can have it towed wherever I want, not to the dealership that dc demands.