Lincoln LS getting terrible mileage

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Damn, spark plugs cost me some $15/ea (I got the iridium or platinum, can't remember), so $120 + $110 for install. Pricey to replace again, had them changed 3 months ago. If it's only been 3 months, you think I still should?
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You overpaid for the plugs.

You want to risk killing the $50 coils by not changing the $5 spark plug?

You could save the labor charge too. This is a pretty easy DIY job.
 
Not saying this is bad, but clogged cats will make you have terrible fuel mileage.. When mine were bad, I was getting 14. After them and a new exhaust, I was getting around 25-26.

Synthetic oil helps too..
 
BTW: LincolnLS_2013,
yours wouldn't by chance be dark grey in color that I've seen around a few times ?

Na, mines is just light gray. There's another light gray LS on my street too. In Ottawa I've also seen one maroon LS and one tan LS.

Motorcraft platinums are $4.99 each at Advance Auto. Add 8 to cart online and apply promo code A124 for $10 off $30. (that's around $30 for 8 OEM plugs). Sometimes, OEM is just what the Dr ordered.

Yeah, I wasn't sure which to buy. I'll look for those Motocraft Platinums. Thanks.

This is a pretty easy DIY job.

Replacing the spark plugs...? I would probably have to pick up some tools. Replacing the coils looks easy though.

Not saying this is bad, but clogged cats will make you have terrible fuel mileage.. When mine were bad, I was getting 14. After them and a new exhaust, I was getting around 25-26.

Synthetic oil helps too..

I got the synthetic oil.

What's a clogged cat -- a catalytic converter?
 
Just to follow up for LincolnLS_2013,

while I was out today for a little run, on some long straights for about 5min with one 4 way stop,
I averaged between 25-26.2Mpg but I babied it at 2100RPM doing around 62-65Mph

several stop and go's around in a little town nearby me, she was down to doing 18-20Mpg.
Only when I put my foot into a bit more she started coming down to 11-15Mpg.

after a few more long straights getting it to settle, I was back up to 24Mpg when I arrived in my drive way.

I'm sure I can get back on the highway, lock it in at Grandpa RPMs and get my 27Mpg back.
 
i can get 24mpg at 2100rpm with 19" wheels but that only lasts about 10 minutes then it's back to cruising at 79mph. I used to get 26mpg with the stock 16s.

Would a dirty MAF kill mpg a little?
 
I am getting 22 MPG average with my 2000 LS V8. Thats driving 80 MPH on the interstate and 70 mph on the state highways. In the summer time it averages 25 MPG.
 
Like I said, 27 is my best but I can only drive 62Mph for so long, for me the sweet spot with my current set up is right holding at 2100-2150Rpm on cruise, anything over 2200 and it starts to go down.

I'm still on my stocker 17's
 
Wow. After reading this thread and driving an estimated 44 hwy miles and 5 city miles, I only get 10.2 mpg on my v6.
 
Coils, plugs, downstream drivers o2 sensor is what I have on my list. Anything I'm missing?
 
Winter fuel yields fewer MPG. Do you let the car "warm-up"? That will absolutely KILL MPG. Was that all at once? My mileage has plummeted since I don't do much freeway driving anymore.

Also, the V6 is only ~1MPG better than the V8.
 
Yea I do. I'll usually let it warm up to about the first notch on the temp gauge before i take off. I thought driving with the engine cold was bad. It was 22 miles hwy to school, 22 miles hwy back to my gf's house and about 5 miles city back home.
 
Yea I do. I'll usually let it warm up to about the first notch on the temp gauge before i take off. I thought driving with the engine cold was bad. It was 22 miles hwy to school, 22 miles hwy back to my gf's house and about 5 miles city back home.

That was the old days. The engine will warm up much faster by driving it. Just don't drive it like a 1/4 mile dragster until it warms up.

My routine has been (since ~1986) start the car, drop it into neutral, wait for the RPM to drop down (~1K) and take off. Letting it idle that long will definitely kill your mileage. It's actually worse than driving in stop-n-go traffic. The engine runs much richer until it reaches operating temperature.
 
Had a 45min hwy drive home last night after the Hockey game, switched it to Mpg (usually drive Canadian L/100KM) and got 24.6 Mpg all cruise at exactly 2200RPM.
 
Yea I do. I'll usually let it warm up to about the first notch on the temp gauge before i take off. I thought driving with the engine cold was bad. It was 22 miles hwy to school, 22 miles hwy back to my gf's house and about 5 miles city back home.

Engines experience the most wear when they are cold. This is because all of the parts haven't yet expanded to their designed size. (They are designed for the sizes the parts expand to at normal operating temperatures.) What you are doing is maximizing the time that the engine spends operating at low temperature. This is shortening engine life, not helping it.

Get in, start it, and drive it in a reasonable manor. The engine will warm up much quicker under load, and so will have less wear.

In the old days, all of this was still true, but there was a difference then. With carburetors and chokes, you had to wait for the engine to warm up some or it might stall when you pressed on the gas pedal to pull out into traffic.
 
I'd assume the same goes for the transmission too? My mechanic put in a trans cooler during the rebuild and told me to warm the car up before driving. But reading what you told me, it sounds like he told me a bunch of bs. :D
 
My buddy mechanic, starts drinking beer again on a Sunday morning at 9:20AM, he don't know nothing either!
Everything he tells me I have to go double check. You gotta watch those guys!
 
I'd assume the same goes for the transmission too? My mechanic put in a trans cooler during the rebuild and told me to warm the car up before driving. But reading what you told me, it sounds like he told me a bunch of bs. :D

Yes.
I'm not sure about gen I, but gen II sport only have air to oil transmission coolers, and they are mounted in front of the radiator, behind the condenser. In cold weather, it would take forever idling to warm up the transmission.
 
How many 100lb dead bodies you guys hauling around.

On the interstate driving at 70 I can get around 30.

City driving I get about 15 to 20.

My average since I drive slow on gravels and then only drive about 20 miles after that I avg about 22.5
 

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