2006 Superduty Powerstroke has poor gas mileage

Anyone else have a 6.0L superduty. My F-250 gets about 10 city and 14 highway. It has 11,000 miles now and it ain't getting no better. I talked w/ the dealership and they basically said Oh well. Sorry for ya. I don't understand how some can get almost twice those figures. My buddies gets about 15 city 21 highway! Any thoughts?

Tire pressure could be low, maybe? That's the only thing I can think of if your buddy didn't add any mods to his truck.

Most people who make claims of really high mileage aren't being totally honest. I haven't seen any large diesel trucks with those numbers however I have heard the claims. People tend to get better gas mileage with the chips but those can void your warranty if you have a problem and it can be traced back to the chip so I don't recommend them. The 6.0 doesn't get the worlds best mileage but what you are getting is very low. As the diesel breaks in you should realize better economy for sure but even still it shouldn't be that low. Obviously another thing to consider is driving habits when people get new powerful cars they tend to put their foot in it a bit more thus costing them in economy. What rear end does your truck have in it? If it has a 4:10 that will cost you too. Does it have a big lift and tires? At the end of the day you should really be averaging 14-15 MPG with that guy.

ours gets about 12 in the city. But that is with the superchips programmer that bumps it up with a extra 140 hp i think. Not sure how much torque...

Second the tire pressure. Check it monthly. I run 55 psi in my 2500HD.

Check the fuel filter. Bad diesel or water will hurt. Where do you fill up? Truck stops or the local quickie mart? Do they run winter blend in TX?

Also realize at 11000 miles your motor is only beginning to break in. Sounds lame but my mpg stopped improving around 20k.

There is also a 4.30 rearend option (only in the manuals trans). I've heard of people who have it getting about the same mileage you're claiming. My '04 is pretty much as broken in as it's going to get with about 100k miles on it. The last time I fueled up I checked the numbers and was getting just about 19 mpg and yes that is a totally honest number. That was combined city and highway with the balance being a little more towards highway. The truck belonged to my father before I had it and he said that it gradually kept getting better up until about 40 to 50k miles. Driving habits play a big role in it too. A bed cover or cap might give you a little extra as well.

21 on the highway my ass, unless you are driving 55mph with stock tires. On my 2000 F-250, best mileage on the HWY is 16 keeping it at 70 with 295 All Terrain tires. Most people have no idea to check mileage, they trust the little mileage computer.

As for the problem. Oil level is extremely important in a diesel, along with clean oil. Air and fuel are also important.

I have a 05 F350 chiped up and I get about 12 city and 15-17 highway

I've had 3 PSD's, an 02, an 03, and now an 06. The 06 only has 6K on it, so I'm seeing around 14 combined. My 03 was getting 17 combined (hand calculated), with a 4" lift and 35's. I drive my trucks pretty easy. My work truck, which is an 06 with 27K on the clock averages 14 (hand calculated). I drive that truck much harder than my personal truck.

I get an average of about 16.1mpg...calculated. The liar gauge says I get better (~16.7-17.0). Use it as a ballpark only. The best it ever said was 21.1 on a (highway) trip to/from Columbus last year, but I recently started hand calculating.

I do beat on mine a bit to try to work it harder than a 'daily driver', so it pulls my mileage down. However, this 'strategy' hasn't kept it out of the shop.

'04 Excursion...bone stock.

Just be glad you dont have a V10 like me. 14 on the hwy sounds nice! Luckily I only need to drive it one a week.

lol... V10's are MEAN!!!

I have a 2002 Ford Expedition and I am lucky to get 14 mpg on the freeway. I talked with the dealer when we first bought the Ford and they said that it wasn't broke in. Well, 60,000 later, I still don't get the mileage that Ford stated on the sticker....

Seems like most folks get around 15-17 highway depending on their driving habits and the direction the wind is blowing.

I noticed that for every 5 or so mph over 70 mph I averaged empty highway cruising, the mpg's seemed to drop about 1 mpg.

Intake and Exhaust man. Throw a Banks system on there as well and it will make a big difference as long as you're not a lead foot.

"lol... V10's are MEAN!!!"

Yes they are...I swear sometimes mine burns fuel just sitting there, parked. Everytime I jump in it I think, "damn, I thought I had more fuel in this pig."

Heard it said more than once that you don't exactly buy these trucks for fuel economy, you buy them for power, torque, and towing ability. The fuel economy is still better than a gasser, but driving habits, gearing, tire pressure, load, traffic, and wind can all play in pretty big on the fuel economy.

I am told that the stock intake is fine, but having a bigger exhaust will help and then you get into the world of tuners, they can also help the fuel economy. Many have tunes made for fuel economy and towing and then flat out power with no regard for anything. Just be careful with the aftermarket stuff, don't give Ford any reason to deny a warranty claim, because they just may do it, but alot depends on your service department's stance. Personally I won't mess with it until my warranty is gone, I simply can't afford the repairs.

Flux speaks the truth. Buy the diesel for towing this where the mileage does not suffer along with power, and you better believe the shiaaat about warranty.

"2006 Powerstroke has bad GAS mileage". Maybe you should try putting DIESEL in it.

J/K...good luck...

The real mean machine is the 496 it evaporates oil and gas parked in the garage.

Huge difference in mileage depending on how you drive. I pretty much drive my truck like I stole it all the time. 85+ is pretty regular on the highway. I noticed that if I stay around 70 the mileage stays around 18-19 mpg on fairly level surfaces. When I spool it up I get around 16. Around town I get between 12 and 14. My usual average is about 16. This last fill up I've been towing a fair amount and I've gotten my lowest ever average at 14.8 MPG.

It definitely tows great though. Towing our X-star over the Altimont pass and having it stay in overdrive was amazing. I wouldn't have believed it unless I saw it. 65 MPH and 1800 rpm's. I was impressed.

BTW... I've been thinking of doing some light mods to get better mileage and a bit more power. Anyone think it's worthwhile to do a CAT back exhaust. I'd prefer to keep the truck legal, but I also would like to see some improvements in performance.

Cat Back is the first place to start. I have the Banks Monster.

I have an 06 that is stock, except for nicer tires. I run the tires at about 70 psi in the front and 60 psi in the back, somewhat matching the sidewall bulge front to back. The engine wieghts down the front pretty hard when the bed is empty or there is not trailer.

My fuel economy varies pretty wildly. On a long empty highway cruise I can see 17 mpg if I am keeping it around 2000 RPM which is right around 70 mph. 16 at 75 mph etc. Around town it's kind of a joke, stop and start etc, usually brings it down to 14 and below. I took it up to Mammoth Mtn this winter and averaged about 14-15 in high winds, the truck is about as aerodynamic as a brick.

Trailering 5k worth of boat and a bed full of gear I usually average about 12 mpg, and that is with a grapevine climb thrown in there, and I like to haul ass up it just because I can. Last time up over the north side I held 70 mph with the boat on the back, but don't tell anyone, that's illegal. Doing that will squash the fuel economy though.

I run Diesel Kleen additive in it, the summer blend with Cetane boost. Also note that the new ULSD fuel has slightly less energy in it than the old LSD fuel. You may also be using the winter blend fuel which is also lower in power than the summer blend.

Cheers and don't despair, you have a great truck, what year is it and what rear end gears do you have??

11-14 in city.
18 highway at 65 to 70 (some state roads are 65).
As stated, starts to drop above 70 (at 75, I am getting 15 to 16 mpg).

Good news is, the mpg does not drop that much when I hook the X1 to it. Last week I towed a 15000 lb trailer/tractor and got 11mpg at 60mph.

My dealer told me to put the chip in it and go with the economy setting and it should bump it 2-4mpg.

I put a full 4in Bully Dog exhaust, aftermarket chip, and a K&N intake kit on a 2001 F450, 7.3 and it didnt help the gas milage one bit. Even when driving it easy. But it sounded alot better.

I tried my buddy's Bully Dog on my Duramax recently, mostly interested in economy improvements. It got increasingly worse on the 1, 2, and 3 power settings. It also made it noisy as hell, sounded like it was shredding the valve train. No thanks. The truck has plenty of power stock anyway.

Oh, and I've gotten as much as 18.5 on the highway keeping it at 65, which completely sucks. Normal driving 75+, I get a bit over 16. This is a long bed crew.

anything on a duramax and you have to take it slow on the power increases becuase the trans has to "learn" otherwise it will go into limp mode

Try this, www.thedieselstop.com, they have a good discussion about all PSD's, just like a WW, but for Ford trucks. Hope it helps

I get about 12.5 pulling and driving in town and 14 or 15 on the Highway. The best I've got is 18 mpg and I had to keep it at about 65 or less.

It a 04 stock. If you want better milage buy a Geo Metro

Dmax and Cummins get better milage.

How come no one mentioned a cummins? New 06 2500hd just turned 1k getting 21 HWY. I dont do much city driving with it but the two trips to and from the lake so far this year got 16.6 towing. about 200 miles total. We used to have a 00 excursion 7.3 never got more than 17 HWY even after 100k miles.

I have a '03 (7.3) Crew Cab, long bed, chip and seem to get 15 mpg regardless of city or highway...even with two four wheelers, coolers and gear in the bed it did not seem to vary much. My brother-in-law has an '01 Super Cab, short bed, chip and he claims 17-18 mpg.

Definitely under load is where you see the biggest plusses from the diesel. Around town and everyday driving I may be 1-2 MPG better than my old Chevy Tahoe, but when I make a trip to the mountains it's amazing the difference. On the same 26 Gallons of fuel I make it all the way to and from the mountains and drive around all weekend. My Tahoe used to get me there, make a couple trips to and from town, then have to be re-filled before heading home.

Not only that, but I noticed that there is very little, if any, power loss as high altitude. Love the diesel in the mountains.

Where I see the biggest pluses are not only in the extra towing power, but with the tow/haul feature that most of the diesels have. I can keep the truck and boat at about 60 going down the north side of the grapevine and only needing to tap the breaks here and there. Very nice knowing your brakes are cool and ready to go on the steepest of grades.

The towing power is awesome and it feels like the boat is not even there for the most part. Very fast up to speed when merging on the highway and you can get out of clusterfarks on the highway quickly as acceleration is still fine. Hauling up hill does not limit you that much, so you won't have people making stupid moves to get around you.

I have had an occasion to bring the whole thing to a sudden hault from 50+ mph. I am sure the trailer brakes helped, but I was totally in control the whole time, otherwise I might have killed the guy who pulled out in front of us.

I really wanted a new truck, and am very glad I bought the Diesel. Sure I get slightly better gas mileage, but that will not necessarily pay back the engine upgrade. The safety, power, and solid feel makes up for any doubts on the engine. I would suggest anyone looking into a new truck take a look at the diesel option on any brand.

I have the 4" Magna Flow turbo back exhaust on my 03 6.0 and I dind't really notice any increase in mileage. It claims to give you a few more horses and some more torque. I am on my 3rd turbo and so far have not had any issues with warranty covering claims, I think alot of that has to do with your dealer though. I have heard that chipping these motors is causing a big problem with stretching bolts on the crankshaft and heads.

liar gauge says 17 but i did it myself anywhere from 13 to 15 with the boat depending on speed 60 to 70.
bullydog exhaust, chip, and Banks. dont seem to help much on gas mileage.

Thanks guys,

Makes me feel better knowing that mine is about average. Seems like a lot of folks out there inflate their numbers a little. I going to probably try a chip or programmer and see about getting one w/ an economy setting to bump the gas mileage a bit.

I had an 03 with a 6.0 liter and my mpg progressively got worse with each recall and or flash. Before I sold it I was only averaging 13.5 which is down from about 16-17 avg.

my 96 7.3 4x4 got 13.5 average about 60% city
my 05 6.0 4x4 gets 15.0 average

05 cummins.. getting 18.5 mpg average. 14.5 towing. I drive mild, on the freeway at 70 always on cruise control. towing at 60-65 on cruise. true story.

hey I'd be happy with anything over 10 mpg that's all I can get out of my '01 suburban with the 8.1 towing or not! rumor has it the dura-max will be available in suburbans next year... it's
about time

03 F450....and I only get 6 towing or not, 14 sounds great to me...my high is 8 and my low is 4. and it's bone stock

Everyone with anything older than an '07 or '08 for the Fords will probably be happy with the mpg they're getting right now when those with new trucks start comparing numbers. The particulate filters on all of the new diesels is only going to make things worse. I bought my father's '04 F250 when he replaced it with an '08. The fuel mileage is the only thing he's had to complain about so far. It's bad enough that I've joked with him about trading even up if he's that unhappy about it and a couple of times he sounded like he was seriously considering it.