Don't count out the battery being bad as not having an effect, not a big
effect, but an effect. Mine started going bad last week, and the truck ran
terrible. It got to the point that below about 1500rpm when the alt output
would drop off, the truck would start to miss and even stall. Not enough
voltage to keep the ignition system firing right. Plus, when the rpm's are
up, the alt ends up putting out a lot of amps to try and keep the battery
up, and that takes HP/ fuel. Do a quick test, turn the key on without
starting the truck. The volt gauge should be about 12-12.8 volts with no
load. Now put your headlights on. If it drops to the 8-9 volt range the
battery should be replaced. A good battery should be able to hold at least
10 volt under a load like that. My truck seemed to show the at 9 volts or
lower, the ignition system starts to puke, which loads up the plugs, causes
miss-fires.... death spiral.
Mark
""Jon"" <jonsdak@midmaine.com> wrote in message
news:at13ku$lm5$1@bent.twistedbits.net...
>
> I filled my Dak today, and was dismayed to find after running the
> calculations twice, that I've just run through my worst mileage ever on a
> tank! 1781 miles on nearly 18 gallons, or 12.24 MPG!
> That's with mostly city driving (on tanks of which I usually get 14-15
MPG,
> 15-16 MPG mixed, and 17 MPG highway only)
> It has been really cold here (hasn't gotten above the teens in days), but
> other than that, no difference. My battery does seem to be on it's last
> legs though, but I don't think that would do anything to the mileage. It
> has been really windy, but a 2.5 MPG drop for wind?
> --
> -Jon
> jonsdak@midmaine.com
> http://jonsdakota.tripod.com
> 1996 Dodge Dakota Sport 4X4, 3.9L V6, 42RE, 3.92:1 8.25 axle, "BackRack"
> Headache Rack, Dodge Motorsports decals, steering wheel cover, and front
> license plate, diamond-plate bedrail covers, Lund VentVisors, Lund
> BugShield, Jensen MP-3310 CD/MP3 Receiver, Pioneer TS-G1347's in front,
> TS-A5713's in rear
>
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Feb 06 2004 - 11:48:14 EST