Hello everyone. Haven't posted for quit a while. I finally have a story and a question to share.
I own a '97 Ranger with a 3.0L V and 5-spd manual transmission. I purchased it used a couple of years ago when it only had 56,000km on it. Now I've got 80,000. As long as I've owned it the engine surges/stumbles when running at a low throttle opening and constant speed (50km/h or so). I didn't notice much at highway speed (larger throttle opening). But the 'Check Engine' light recently came on so I did what any good vehicle owner would do, I took it to the local Ford dealership to see what was wrong. They said the EGR sensor wasn't working right and was allowing too much exhaust gas into the engine causing it to run rough and stumble. They happily replaced the sensor for me and the truck runs fine now. Nice and smooth. $100 to just check the code. $160 for the sensor. $80 labour. With taxes and shop supplies the total was $380. That's life. If I wanted to complain about paying too much I would tell myself to become a mechanic. So I'm not complaining about the $380.
What I am interested in knowing is will the fuel economy will improve?. Ever since I got the truck, I have been consistantly getting in the mid 20's for mpg (imperial). I thought that was a bit low considering newer full sized trucks can get in the low 20's on the highway (my son's '08 Silverado, for example). Logic says that when the Ranger was stumbling, in order to maitain my speed I opened the throttle to give the engine more power, more air, and more fuel. Will I see an increase in my mpg now that it's not stumbling and I don't need to use more throttle?
