Poor mileage on the 1997 F150 4.2L V6

[Jimbo]

I was hearing about the 4.2Ls getting about 20 mpg.

I've had two 4.2 trucks and I never got close to 20mph in either. In fact, the one 4.6 truck I had got better hwy miles.

[03trubluGT]

Thanks for the input guys.

I'll try to get ahold of Greenbullit and see how much it will cost me.

[greenbullitt]

pm sent, i say 3.55

[sig239]

I was hearing about the 4.2Ls getting about 20 mpg.

I can pull 20 21 on highway, city 17 is good. have 4.2 mine came with 3.55 in the rear.

[10sec302]

A lot of people think a V6 in a truck gets better mpg, but that motor is working harder and most V6s in trucks actually get about 1 mpg worse than a V8. Plus your truck is a LWB, so its even heavier which means worse mpg.

Be careful how much you spend trying to get better gas mileage cause in the long run it could cost you more, meaning if you spend say $300-$500 to get 1-2 mpg better, an extra $300-$500 in gas could be cheaper.

Just my .02

[Tannerm]

I have a 5.0 Mountaineer w/177k on it w/3.73's and I get avg. 17mpg. I've heard the 6cyl motors work a little harder in the trucks.

This. My 99 5.0 exploder w/ 145k and 3.73 gets 15.6mpg city and 17.5 highway. Not great, but I assume it's a bit better then those v6 explorers.