pet05

Just bought my 2006 Ram 2500. I was kind of sad to see the mileage at 11.5MPG on the highway (65MPH). I KNOW these are not fuel efficient trucks BUT I read that 18-20 MPG on the highway was possible.

Now, my factory 6 disc radio buttons do not all light-up at night. The MODE, 1 and the DIN button do not glow.

I am kind if bummed out. Maybe because its late...

I will try and get the dealer to flash the computer with that TSB #18-003-06. I hope that helps my MPG....

Probably should do the radio thing at the same time as the flash, Hopefully it is a bad bulb and NOT a bad radio....

HorseHauler

don't get your panties in a wad just yet. You have to give these trucks time. 99% of these trucks have that same mileage newfor the first 5-10k miles. It will get better with miles trust me. take it to the dealer for the radio, shouldn't be a problem to get it fixed. good luck, don't get too bummed out about the mileage just yet, give it time

eric

Hounddog

A good friend of mine has a 2006 4x4 auto 3.73 geared.Mileage was as yours.Kept comminting about it being kinda gutless.Ran ok.EVERYONE said let it break in.He towed his cargo trailer to Kentucky last week and got 10.5.Old 03 2500 2wd would have been near 14 etc.He called me and said FOUND my problem.Said he pulled fuel filter,was ok and then pulled his air filter(mind you 2800 miles on it) The AIR FILTER was collasped in the center and trying to suck in.He said it looked like it had been STEPPED on,crushed .Got new one and mileage jumped to 13.2 towing home and said LOTS of zip now.Makes you wonder.

mikmaze

sig doesn't list tranny choice, my bet is ya got an auto, them higher mpg numbers are mostly from folks that do their own shifting,,,,,,,

tacook

I dont know about that........I have the auto QC 4X4 and get around 18-19 on the highway.

bbhzx12

I didn't start getting decent milage untill I did the Banks kit, it made a huge difference. Most aftermarket tuning products will give you more power and quite a few MPG's... though I agree you shouldn't need tham to get decent MPG's.

Patriot2500

My truck didn't show 15mpg until after 10,000 miles. Give it a chance to break in and monitor your filters. Mine now has 46k and I get about 17 average with a mix of city/highway driving. That is with the auto tranny, 35's, and 4.10's in the back.

Don't give up on the truck yet man. I know you waited a long time for the truck and looked long and hard for it, it will be worth it in the end. Good luck with the new truck Pete.

EDIT: Just realized you are the other of the other thread I posted in about the radio. Sorry....

Geico266

My mileage didn't peak until 50K miles.

PapaPerk

Not to boast....but my truck got 19.2 mpg the first time I drove it on my 50 mile commute to work. And 20 miles of that is semi city driving. My point is...I don't think these trucks are created equal. It seems guys either get 19 to 20 or get 13 to 14. Its really kinda weird. My truck get around 20.5 now...after 26,000 miles. 5,000 miles of that pulling a 8,000 lbs trailer. So break-in effect is minimal in my opinion on the improvment of fuel economy. Oh...did I mention my truck was reflashed for fuel mileage improvment? And yes that was after it posted 19.2 mpg on that first run. The reflash supposedly improve MPG by 1.0 mpg. So...maybe that is why it get 20.5 now! I wish I had some idea why everyones truck mileage is so different....but I don't.

bbhzx12

I've noticed alot of the guys (not all) with the best milage are in areas that have fewer hills and or less stop and go traffic. Like I said not all but many. How you drive has a huge impact on economy in these as well, 5 MPH on the highway can make 1 MPG or more difference easily, alot of skinny pedal off the line drops the MPG even faster.

rjm022

not to flame- but it is amazing the number of people thinking that diesel trucks should be getting 20mpg right off of the dealers lot! it takes 10,000 to 20,000 miles to break in these engines!! these newer diesel engines and newer type fuel and the weight of the trucks- be happy to see 19mpg on the highway.

v8440

Few points here-some from personal observation with my own trucks, some from reading these forums.


FIRST, PUMP YOUR FRONT TIRES TO 80 PSI. It is safe to do so-that's the max pressure printed on the sidewall of the tires. Put your rears at 50-70 or so, depending on how much you run loaded. The dealers normally put tire pressure to the specs listed on the door jamb of the truck. This is NOT AT ALL the best spec for mileage. All 4 of the ctd's I have bought new came with 45-55 psi in the tires. On the 04.5 4x4 dually I had, pumping JUST THE FRONTS to 80 gained me almost 3 mpg!

Second, get the reflash if it applies to your truck. It may not if yours was built fairly recently. My early '06 6 spd 2500 2wd gained a solid 2 mpg, hand calculated, just like everyone else seems to report.

Third, there has been some speculation about timing variance between different trucks stemming from loose tolerances in the tone ring crank trigger on the front of the crankshaft. I forget the exact details of what was said, but it amounted to some people noticing that there was a tiny bit of play in the tone ring, leading some to wonder if there might be slight timing differences between "identical" trucks off the assembly line. It seems that slight changes in timing can have a noticeable affect on mileage. Production tolerances are a fact of life-it could well be that this particular one accounts for mileage differences. If this is the case, the trucks with (relatively) retarded timing compared to others probably get worse mileage. The rokktech sensor, which advances timing 2 degrees, might very well get all the mileage back for these trucks. I put one on my '06 6 speed. It actually LOST a tiny bit of mileage. Sure enough, that truck was one that has always seemed to get really good mileage-maybe the timing ended up a tad too advanced. I'll probably try the sensor on our new '06 4x4 auto. This one also does very well, and I expect the sensor to either make no difference or hurt mileage a little.

Last but not least-driving style. You know the basics-accelerate slowly, let off for traffic lights early. Limit top speed to 65 or so, less if possible. If yours is an auto, try to get to 49 mph or so, where the converter locks. You can then slow down to about 43 mph before it'll unlock. Cruising like this makes a big difference in mileage-a couple mpg or so. If you can't reach those speeds, put it in tow/haul. That'll lock the converter in 3rd at 30 mph or so-nice gain there too.

If a manual-unloaded in town, shift at 1250 rpm. No kidding-I do it all the time in my 6 spd. The gears in the g56 are so close together that you won't lug it shifting that low. Now, if you're towing or hauling some real weight then you'll need to shift at a higher rpm to avoid lugging, but probably still lower than you might think.

I have gotten some truly amazing mileage results from my two 06's by driving the way I describe-both auto and manual trans. By the way, both trucks are STONE stock, down to the paper air filter element from the factory.

Loco.Breath

I just traded off my 05 6 spd. quad cab dually, for a mega cab dually with an auto. I barely have 100 miles on it now, and it is getting 18.4 mpg at 70 mph. The rpms at 70 mph are about 200 to 300 less than the 6 spd was, both trucks w. 3.73 gears. I dont think 20+ mpg will be a problem after it loosens up a little. My 05 would get 20+ mpg as long as I stayed around 65 mph, it would drop to 19mpg when running 70mph. The 05 would get 15 to 16mpg pulling 9k flatbed loads if driven right.

H BROWN

LOCO, i dont want to burst you bubble, but hand caculate your milage. I have exact same trk and it showed the same 18 plus mpg at 70, but hand caculated 10.23 on first fill up My best so far in 3400 miles is 13mpg all hwy miles on a long trip at 70 mph.

Loco.Breath

I'll check it on the first fill up and let you know. The overhead on my 05 was fairly accurate, and 90% of my driving is on the highway.