2001 S-10 gas mileage

stenner · 02-27-2008, 05:50 PM

I have a 2001 Chevy S-10 2WD with 4.3 and 4L60E tranny. Prior to going to 10% ethanol, I used to get around 22.5 MPG. Now the best I can get is no more than 19.5 MPG. Believe me, with gas prices at over $3.50/gallon, a 3 MPG loss is noticeable. The truck currently has 92,000 miles on it and is in excellent running condition and has been very well maintained. I have been running Mobil oil in it for about 4 years now. Tires are kept inflated to 35 PSI. What can I do to recover some gas mileage? It currently has 3.42 gears. I am very good at doing rearend work and have contemplated changing the rearend gear ratio. Will a ratio change to 3.23 or 3.08 make a noticeable difference? Or will it put the engine out of it's torque range and actually hurt MPG? The legal highway speed limit here is 50 MPH. I drive as though there's an egg under my right foot.

**qldit** · 02-28-2008, 03:53 AM

Good Evening stenner, the problem with trucks is often dependent on their application as far as efficiency is concerned, in essence it takes X amount of energy to to a specific amount of work, if the vehicle were predominantly on highway for long level runs there could be benefit but could produce losses under loads in hilly places so it is a gamble to take to see if there might be any benefit.

As far as losses using ethanol blends is concerned that is pretty normal, those blended fuels do not have equivalent energy content.

More often the blended fuels may not be as specified as to the ratio of ethanol etc.

I would be inclined to leave it alone.

But nothing ventured nothing gained.

Others will have different ideas.

Cheers, qldit.

BUDFAN8 · 02-28-2008, 05:57 PM

stenner i too have tried the ethanol, i quickly stopped useing it because of my fuel mileage dropped also.

as far as the rear end ratio, my 98 s10 had the 3.08 and i got 19mpg almost all the time.

stenner · 02-29-2008, 12:19 AM

Hey thanks for your replies guys. I know that gas watered down with ethanol makes less BTU's than straight gas. Everything they sell here is 10% ethanol. You can't get straight gas anymore. What a bummer. Thats all part of Uncle Sam's plan to make us less dependent on the Arabs. Doesn't make sense. they water the gas down with ethanol, our gas mileage goes out the window so we use more gas. Go figure.

02-27-2008, 05:50 PM	#1 (permalink)
stenner Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Hawaii Posts: 2 OS: XP	2001 S-10 gas mileage I have a 2001 Chevy S-10 2WD with 4.3 and 4L60E tranny. Prior to going to 10% ethanol, I used to get around 22.5 MPG. Now the best I can get is no more than 19.5 MPG. Believe me, with gas prices at over $3.50/gallon, a 3 MPG loss is noticeable. The truck currently has 92,000 miles on it and is in excellent running condition and has been very well maintained. I have been running Mobil oil in it for about 4 years now. Tires are kept inflated to 35 PSI. What can I do to recover some gas mileage? It currently has 3.42 gears. I am very good at doing rearend work and have contemplated changing the rearend gear ratio. Will a ratio change to 3.23 or 3.08 make a noticeable difference? Or will it put the engine out of it's torque range and actually hurt MPG? The legal highway speed limit here is 50 MPH. I drive as though there's an egg under my right foot.

02-28-2008, 03:53 AM	#2 (permalink)
qldit TSF Gearhead Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Brisbane Australia. Posts: 592 OS: All Systems, mainly Linux	Re: 2001 S-10 gas mileage Good Evening stenner, the problem with trucks is often dependent on their application as far as efficiency is concerned, in essence it takes X amount of energy to to a specific amount of work, if the vehicle were predominantly on highway for long level runs there could be benefit but could produce losses under loads in hilly places so it is a gamble to take to see if there might be any benefit. As far as losses using ethanol blends is concerned that is pretty normal, those blended fuels do not have equivalent energy content. More often the blended fuels may not be as specified as to the ratio of ethanol etc. I would be inclined to leave it alone. But nothing ventured nothing gained. Others will have different ideas. Cheers, qldit.

02-28-2008, 05:57 PM	#3 (permalink)
BUDFAN8 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 205 OS: XP	Re: 2001 S-10 gas mileage stenner i too have tried the ethanol, i quickly stopped useing it because of my fuel mileage dropped also. as far as the rear end ratio, my 98 s10 had the 3.08 and i got 19mpg almost all the time.

02-29-2008, 12:19 AM	#4 (permalink)
stenner Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Hawaii Posts: 2 OS: XP	Re: 2001 S-10 gas mileage Hey thanks for your replies guys. I know that gas watered down with ethanol makes less BTU's than straight gas. Everything they sell here is 10% ethanol. You can't get straight gas anymore. What a bummer. Thats all part of Uncle Sam's plan to make us less dependent on the Arabs. Doesn't make sense. they water the gas down with ethanol, our gas mileage goes out the window so we use more gas. Go figure.