Ford, 2006 E450 30' Class C, 6.8L V10 MPG

[duce05]

I Installed a Vacum Gauge to help driving habits, Have driven seperate trips both in overdrive and also out of overdrive. Either way can only get 6.0 mpg. Would like to increase by at least 2 - 4 mpg if at all possible. Have been reviewing the Banks Power Pack System. Looks like a very good system but still only advertises up to 7% mpg increase. That might get me to 6.42 mph. Any Help or Suggestions would be appreciated

[wildebill308]

How fast were you driving? Speed cost fuel mileage. You might like to read this thread.

http://community.fmca.com/topic/3324-ford-v10-gas-mileage/

Bill

[manholt]

Also, do you tow? If so, what?

As Bill say's. Speed, your driving habits, like trying to leave a stop like a car ( tromp on gas & burn money)!

Carl

[evolvingpowercat]

I have a 2008 Itasca Cambria 29H, 30 feet long and 13,000 lbs weight as I use it with 2007 model year E450 chassis with the 306 HP V10 engine. I also tow a 2400 pound Fiat 500C behind it. My model year used a 3 valve per cylinder design, not sure if your model year used that or the older 2 valve per cylinder design.

I get between 8 and 9 MPG driving 60 MPH on mine, it has about 34,000 miles on it.

The basic things I do to maximize fuel economy are:

• Drive 60 MPH even if speed limit is over that
• Run with recommended oil weight, but using synthetic
• Run a couple of bottles of fuel injector treatment thru the gas tank every 10,000 miles or so
• Make sure the tires are fully inflated
• When possible buy fuel with the lowest percentage of Ethanol possible, if its priced same as fuel with Ethanol. Ethanol blend fuel will cause lower MPG than pure gasoline fuel.

Some things that cost in time and money I have done are:

• I bought a engine control module "RV tune" from 5 Star Tuning, this helps hold the automatic transmission in 5 th Gear ( overdrive ) more of the time vs. the Ford OEM tune. This mainly improves the driving experience as the transmission does not "hunt" between 5 th and 4 th gears. It may slightly improve the fuel economy but not by much.
• Installed AirTabs to improve air flow around the motor coach and to improve handling when hit by truck blast. You can google air tabs and look at their web site.

[jleamont]

I Installed a Vacum Gauge to help driving habits, Have driven seperate trips both in overdrive and also out of overdrive. Either way can only get 6.0 mpg. Would like to increase by at least 2 - 4 mpg if at all possible. Have been reviewing the Banks Power Pack System. Looks like a very good system but still only advertises up to 7% mpg increase. That might get me to 6.42 mph. Any Help or Suggestions would be appreciated

Duce05,

I recall these days and with our old class c we got rid of last year. Depending on the year of the chassis there are some things you can do to help like evolvingpowercat recommended. I installed the Banks power pack onto our old coach, low rolling resistant tires and removed the belt driven fan and replaced it with a dual electric fan kit, it ran much better and if I gained any MPG it was less than .5mpg.

We had the 6.8Lv10, 2 valve with the 4 speed automatic and 4.63 gears on 16" wheels, 31' body on the E-450 chassis. I have been told the 3 valve version was better on fuel plus it has the 5 speed automatic. I found wind resistance and fuel quality were the two biggest factors with MPG. The Triton line up from Ford loves high RPM's to build the power it takes to push that large of a vehicle through the wind and that will hurt your MPG. Just an FYI I have a friend with a Ford Excursion SUV with a V10 he only gets 9 mpg no trailer, so either way you might be able to squeak a little more out of it but probably not too much. I would love to see statistics for Air Tabs, I hear mixed reports on them.

[manholt]

Air tabs...in the old days, they had "Snake oil Salesmen" and apparently still do! LOL.

They advertise that truckers use them, well I have never seen them yet! I'm on the road for about 14,000 miles a year, all over the US.

You would think that I would see them, all the time...like UFO's!!

My take on Air Tabs...there is a sucker born every 12 seconds, and to improve noticeable MPG on a box, is darn near impossible. Even Banks aren't advertising the old % anymore! Gear splitters, also have dropped any mention of % increase in mpg. Duh, wonder why?

Carl

[desertdeals69]

As mentioned the addition of gadgets that claim increases in mpg usually don't deliver. I have tried various modifications with extremely limited increases on about 9 different coaches since mid 70's. I changed to a diesel pusher 16 years ago and increased my mpg to around 9. Still not happy I did some research. Since my engine was a mechanical 5.9 liter Cummins I tried an advertised high performance injector pump and injectors. The increase in power was large however the mpg was not as good as before. Other problems were that the transmission and rear end ratios were not correct and the engine overheated. I then decided to change engines to a ISB electronic and a 6 speed Allison transmission and the matching radiator and cac. I finally got what I wanted, 10 to 11 mpg while towing a 1/2 ton Silverado coast to coast.

[duce05]

I very much appreciate the feed back so far. I do have 3 valves per cylinder. I don't take off fast I watch the vacuum gage and try to keep it in the green as best I can. I changed to pressing the OD button as soon as I start the engine which keep every gear in a lower range, keeping engine RPMs higher and vacuum gage in green thru all gears. Even in flat Florida if I don't take it out of OD (by not pressing OD button) it will change between 4th & 5th gears at any slight incline. I'll try all the suggestions received so far. I'll look into the tuner devices. I can't believe that an intake and exhaust package wouldn't help mpg more than they advertise.

[evolvingpowercat]

5 Star Tuning is north of you in South Carolina, you might give them a call to discuss their engine tune product. I don't think you are helping your fuel economy by forcing the transmission down to a lower gear, even with the Ford OEM tune.

Also, higher RPM equals fuel injectors pulsing more times per second, with more gasoline being injected into the engine per second, so a higher vacuum at higher RPM may not equal better gas mileage.

I agree that opening up the exhaust and the air intake is more about getting a few more peak HP out of a given size engine and won't pay back in fuel savings.

http://5startuning.com/

5 Star Tuning # 1 Main Location

1820 Trade St.

Florence, SC 29501

(843) 536-1244

Exit 164 off I-95 interstate

[sundancev]

Hi, I posted on another thread prior to finding this one on Google.  We have a 2007 Itasca Spirit on a 2006 E450 chassis.  Can anyone tell me if the 5 Star tuner really makes a difference on mpg.  We got 6.7 at 65 mph on trip and backed off to 55 mph and got 7.7 mpg.  We thought our ISC Cummins 350HP was bad but now find it was great in comparison.  I am willing to fork of the $450 for 5 Star tuner if it actually improves mpg by even 1 mpg.  Thanks in advance.  Paul

[wildebill308]

I have never had one but the people I have talked to that have one liked it. One of the main improvements is it keeps it from downshifting as often.

Bill

[txiceman]

We had a 1999 Minnie Winnie, 31 foot, no slides.  I added the banks Power Pak and their Transcommand.  While we did not see a seat of the pants acceleration increase, the RV had much better mid-range performance and not nearly as much down shifting.  Driving 65 mpg and towing a 2800# dinghy, we generally got 8 to 8.5 mpg.  Push to a higher speed and the fuel economy dropped.

The fellow we sold the unit to complained that he could not get 8 mpg just with the RV.  Turns out he was driving 75 mph plus and getting 6 mpg.

Moral of the story, you will not do much better than 6 mpg running 75 mph.

Ken

Edited July 15, 2021 by txiceman

[sundancev]

Thanks Bill and Ken.  I guess I will bite the bullet.  Going on 8,000 mile excursion this summer and every little bit helps.  As one of the writers early on said, even in flat Florida simply going up inclines of overpasses the engine drops to lower gear and even ac cuts out until we are on downslopes.  I miss that big Cummins now.  Alas losing your sight is a pain more ways than one.  Paul

[ramseypk]

We purchased the 5-Star Tuner also put in a K&N Air Cleaner system. Last month we traveled from Wasilla, AK to Valdez, AK many mountain ranges! Once we returned back to the barn and added up fuel receipts and mileage MPG 9.8. That’s pulling a 2008 Jeep Wrangler. I can say that installing both has played a significant roll in performance and fuel mileage, we are retired so we use the 1 vehicle rule, if we are holding up 1 vehicle we slow down enough so they can pass. 

The Tuner does refine the shifting pattern also advances timing, our experience is that the MH uses H/P instead of down shifting and RPMs. The K&N was a Bit%$ installing and when you put your foot in it you can tell a difference, a bit more throaty. The K&N has many differences of opinions but I can contest that it was well worth the money and time. 

2015 Thor Axis: Upgraded bumper to bumper.  

 

[rikadoo]

Hey Duce the V-10 was a great engine however my old coach had the 2 valve version in a 30 ft class A I too suffered with a 6MPG however I was towing my F-150, if Ieft the truck home I would get almost 7 mpg. from there I started using a fuel system cleaner and MPG extender (Lucas upper cylinder cleaner) A few  things I noticed right away, first was how smooth the engine ran at upper RPM, the other was HOW SMOOTH the generator ran and how easy they both would now start, plus my MPG went up almost a 1/2 gallon per mile, Being a retired mechanic I always opposed any type of additives however I know what we call Gasoline is no longer the same stuff. (especially if it sits for a few months) I got to a point I used it with every fill up, it also cleaned the fuel system.

I since sold my old gasser and bought a 2003 DP with a Cummins diesel which was NOT designed to run ultra low diesel fuel so I use a fuel additive (Diesel Kleen) to combat the smell that comes from running the B20 fuel at truck stops, not only does it change the smell but IT REALLY MAKES THE ENGINE RUN SMOOTHER AT IDEL, and much improved start ups, again with the main engine AND the genny. 

I travel mostly out in Nevada and Arizona flat out thru the desert