I use to have a 1976 Dodge Van with a stock 318 2bbl that I added dual exhaust to (I will post a picture as soon as I can upload to my photobucket account) but gas was cheap back in 1988 and I can't remember what kind of mileage I use to get.

I'm going to buy another Dodge Van in the near future, something around 1999-2002. I'm hoping to score one with a 5.3L which I think is a 318 but don't these vans have TBI?

Kind of was wonder what kind of mileage a short-mid size 150 would get with a 5.3L auto trans, dual exhaust or cat back into dual pipes off the converter.

If you have a Dodge Van like this, please post the kind of mileage you get.

Does anyone make an aluminum intake for a 5.3L with a spread bore carb mount? I'm thinking a Q-Jet might get better gas mileage over the TB injection, any thoughts, has anyone done this before?

Thanxs

Putting a carb in place of fuel injection will lower mileage, it can't compete, the newer engines are designed for the fine mist fuel injection.
My 99 E-350 ext 5.4 V-8 gets 10 MPG city, 13 HWY lately, I've lost 2 MPG somehow, no codes, so I've no clue other than it has 140,000 miles on it.

BTW my 99 Dakota 318 had a throttle body, but fuel was injected in the runners thats not a TBI.

My '89 b250 will get 9 to 11 city, and 14.5 to 17.5 highway averaging low 16's at no more than 68mph.

318 TBI. After 93 or '4 they went with multiport fuel injection. these engines have higher power ratings but I have not heard of them getting much better mileage than I experience. Doesn't mean they can't though.

I carry a bunch of extra weight in tools, and other gear and have a raised fiberglass roof.

the 318 is a 5.2 i think is how it goes. fuel injection is always better i would think, more precise. i have a 75 shorty 318, AT, headers, dual exhaust, 4 barrel and i get 14 mpg. thats my everyday driving, in town and highway mix. not thinkin your gonna get much better with a newer van whether its a longer one or not, however.

My 87 lwb van with a /6 is only getting 11-12, but i have seen as good as 17-18 out of some of the dodges if driven nicely. Good to see another person interested in vans in central Fl! Welcome!

I sure would like to put an O/D in my shorty behind the 3.9, as i only get 14.7 at Best.

My old 78 w/ 318 carb would get 10-12 mpg

I used to have a 90 with 3.9 v6 FI 22mpg

When running, my 85 w/ 225 1barel carb was getting 18-22mpg but slow as hell.

Some how going and coming home from the Beverly beach van in I got 21.5 out of my 90 Ford hi top.But the average is 15 - 17.5 mpg

Back when I owned my 78 Dodge 318, I put a Holly Ecconomaster two barrel carb on it and got it to 19 mpg and still had plenty of power. It was a 3/4 ton so had no catalytic converter and I disconnected the air conditioner (hey, I was younger then and didn't care about the cool, wanted the power. A newer one will not be the same though with the injection instead of carb.

Thanks for the replies.

I'm thinking my shorty got around 13-14mpg City very light on the gas petal and timing my speed to hit the traffic lights when turning green and maybe 18-20mpg highway going 55 mph.

Gas was only about .88 cents a gallon in 1988 too so it could of been worse and I didn't feel it in my wallet.

Here's a pic, I'll try to upload a couple more in the next few days.



I plan on duplicating the van above but without the silver stripes and I plan to airbrush a mural on both sides.

I recently swapped a factory spreadbore and qjet on my 79 318 and the mileage was about the same 13-15mpg But the performance difference was huge!

The 318 (5.2L) went to MPFI "Magnum" engine beginning in 1992, replacing the TBI design from 1988. Much more power...235HP vs 150HP from the old "LA" engines.

You'll be happy with the performance of the Magnum 5.2L. My '94 has the this engine and I've been very happy with the performance and reliability. I don't really know my mileage, but with the OD transmission I would guess around 14-15 on the highway. Granted I carry camp supplies in the van under a queen size bed.

The cool thing about Q-Jets is the primaries are alot smaller than the stock 2bbl so you get better mileage and the secondaries are like Holley Dominator sized so I would think it would help performance.

Man, the way gas prices are I'm starting to think I might have to give up that great 318 sound and look for a V6 model with a OD trans.

Thanxs guys.

Only other pic I can find of the old 76 van.

My 92 5.2 Dakota was walking off and leaving the 5.4 V-8 97 F-150 trucks from a 45 MPH drop, I'm talking hard pull away tire smoking from downshifting it too far, from a stop, I couldn't get it to hook up, even with 1200 LB of bricks in the back. Dad talked to his buddies with identical trucks ext cab, wedge topper, with the 3.9 V-6, they got the same mileage, yet had no power, wish I had it back, was bone stock, 12 city, 15 hwy at reasonable speeds.

My van was getting 7 mpg when I bought it. Worked on it some and we now get 11.9 in the city. We've never done a full tank of hwy but our last trip (where we made a point to avg 55 mph) we were on schedule for about 16 - 17 hwy.

I found the topic where MotorJunkie did the intake swap with a Q-Jet carb on it, never knew Dodge used a Quadajet carb on their stuff, that was a good read.

I didn't realize until lastnight after looking at Vans online that the newer Dodge Vans don't have the vent windows on the doors, total bummer. I like the looks of the new side mirrors but no vent windows, what were they thinking?

The thermo-quad Chrysler used sat on the same intake, similar designed carb, but the thermo sure would pour in the gas.

Yup...98-03 had no vent winders. 97 was weird year on that subject. Had the vent winder glass, but they were sealed shut! Duh! What was up with that???

Small things make a big diff in mileage. Size of your pipes make a big diff. Any time you can an engine breath in and out better, improves power and gas mileage. BUT if you go to big with your pipes you lose power and mileage do to loss of back pressure.

I think the Moon Disc helped fuel mileage at speeds above 50mph and I didn't have wide tires either which helped. I used tall tires too, think front were 225/75/15 and the back tires were 255/70/15 if I remember right.

The exhaust was 2 1/4" with glass pack bullet mufflers, sounded good.

It wasn't real heavy, just two captain seats up front and the back was typical cargo van with carpet and paneling on side walls.

I hope I come across a decent van with a blown motor because I'm thinking I could stick a Dodge 4 cylinder with an over drive trans in it and get some really good gas mileage.

Has anyone seen a van that has been modified in the front and rear of the body to clean up aerodynamics for better gas mileage?

There could be a big market out there for someone who designs a front clip that looks futuristic and adds to the over all looks of a van and of course improves gas mileage.

I'm just saying.

Would a Dodge 4 cylinder really move a full size van?

The biggest 4-banger that Dodge built was the old 2.5L they put in the minivans and K-cars.

I highly doubt this engine would have enough HP to move a full-size van. Even turbo-charged I just don't think there'd be enough low end torque.

V6 or Slant six at a minimum.

That's what I was thinking.You would end up over working the motor,defeating the gas savings.I really liked the 3.9 v6 that was in my old Dodge.More power then my 3.7 225 and it was fuel injected.Both get great mpgs for a full size van.

I'm gonna put a 4bt/3.9l cummins diesel in my Dodge. just lookig for the right bread truck to pull it from. These are a turbo 4 cylinder.

Bread trucks are pretty big,so I guess it would work in a van.Here is one on Ebay

There you go, I bet you'll get 30mpg.

Just think, if you do some research I bet you could even run that engine on used deep fry oil/bio diesel and have the best smelling van in the neighborhood.

I was thinking of using a 4 banger out of one those little D-something mini pickup's that were around in the early 80s. It was a rear drive truck so I'm hoping it would bolt up to an over drive automatic transmission from a newer car.

I would sacrifice high performance for good gas mileage, don't need a Van that runs 0 to 60 in 6 seconds, if it gets there in 10 to 12 seconds, that will be fine with me. I live in FL so I don't need mountain climbing power, a Van going down the road 55-65mph only needs around 60 horsepower max. 75 if the A/C is on.

The 5-cyl Mercedes-Benz diesel in the old Sprinters moved those big boxes around pretty good. I wonder how one of those would work.???

the 4bt is awesome. It would make an excellent swap. I saw one in a full size 69 f100 and a classic wagoneer.. Both HEAVY and both could squeeze 30 mpg. In the box trucks they are coupled to a GM TH400 so the conversion would really just require rear crossmember and ujoin/driveshaft work. The other SUPER COOL part is that they are completely mechanical. No wiring except to glow plugs! The only down side is the cost of entry. Good used pullouts are usually 2500+.

ive really considered this swap myself. If anybody does one, please post pics!

Check out a 5cyl diesel mercedes engine and trans... Most are only four speeds but theyll definitely move a full size van. i have an 84 benz 300sd and its not quick but it would certainly move a full size... Best part is i get 32mpg

I had a 318 in a 75 that got 15 with a high performance rebuild. I have a crate engine from Mopar now in Phoenix and it gets ten. Pulling a camper it gets ten and with a tail wind it gets ten & 1/4. TBI or EFI STAY with it or you'll pay dearly for it. If you don't have a good job and your wife does'nt either stay with the fuel injection it will save you enough to make an extra event every year. If I had the extra 3500 dollars I would change over my crate engine NOW, No questions asked. forget carbs

Phoenix, I just read the Avenger EFI install in Car Craft or Hot Rod (not sure which) and it was reasonably priced at $2k for a setup that will bolt exactly where a carb goes and got a nice little improvement in mileage vs. what the magazine guys could milk out of the carb they had (usually better than I could ever do! haha). Might be worth checkin out down the road

Thanks I might just google that . My wife is going to kill me if I don't stop working on the drive train and start working on the interior. I am more mechanic than interior decorator...

You and me both!!

As for MPG, I get pretty horrible with my van (its tuned for power, never been tuned for economy, lol) at about 7.5 to 8 mpg around town and upwards of 9 mpg on the freeway! She got 10mpg on the freeway a little while ago when my brother retarded the total timing a bit (was different heads than what I have now though, and was due to those heads sucking in oil a bit, lol) Having to spin 2900 rpm to go 60 hurts (the wallet) sometimes, lol.

I have stopped even thinking about the mileage my van gets. If I want to go some where and I have money to get there I will go, if not I don't! Until the engine starts running on just air or water it needs gas. We have been paying between $1.20 to $1.30 per litre(about 1 US quart/=$5.00gal) which is crazy but at least we can still buy it. lol!

ADRENALIN BY THE GALLON


Not much else matters!!

If your Dakota's 318 had a throttle body, it had TBI
(Throttle Body Injection).

CNG dual fuel kits are avail now. You can compress regular consumer piped in natural gas with a wall mounted unit in your garage or you can refill at stations. Commercial refill venues sell 1 GGE (gallon gas equiv) at half the price of gasoline - or less. The system uses a pressure reducing valve and supply fuel to your carb or EFI. a tank in the back holds say 12 GGE CNG. Burns clean too. Probably give up 5% HP, that's ok, I have more foot.

Natural gas is abundant and does not have to come from the middle east.

I am thinking miles per dollar, not miles per gallon.

Not true. If it was multi port injected, that means there is a throttle body to control air flow via the butterflies in the bottom of it (like on a modern hemi for example) and then fuel injectors at each runner individually, separate from the throttle body. Throttle body injected means the fuel injectors are mounted on the throttle body itself, basically a "smarter" carburetor that ran a wet manifold (fuel and air in manifold) and why MPI is preferred (individual injectors, but not necessarily individually fired injectors, aka batch fire, but a dry manifold mostly), and SMPI (sequential multi port injection) is even more desired as it truly runs a dry manifold and allows individual cylinder tuning per injector. Hope that clears that up for some and that I got it right, haha!

Thanks for the education! Everytime I think I've covered them all, I find a new way to showcase my stupidity

lol happens to the best of us, not to sweat it! I just did it on another forum yesterday as well!! lol

I'm planning on an OD tranny for the Night Train, i figure 16-18, maybe even 20 mpg should be obtainable with a 3.21 final drive ratio.

Can't say I don't worry about it but it is not my daily driver and I plan on spending money when I use it to go to an event etc. I drive a F-150 4x4 as a daily driver getting on average 11-15 so I normally do not notice the difference.

My 86 B250 was getting 3.2 MPG when I bought it. It was running alright (not great) but the carb was leaking a bit which I figured out by looking down into the front two barrels on my quadrant and could see the drips splashing onto the plate. I let it sit in the carb bucket for a few days and rebuilt it. I'm sitting at about 13 right now. Not bad since I carry hundreds of pounds of music gear in it every day. I wondered if replacing my wheel bearings prematurely might help a bit more as well as replacing my rear end oil and fixing my front Universal, which is giving it a tiny shake right now.

This is an old thread to have bounced back. But for giggles I'll note that my 1991 B250 (Mid-height raised roof) with 318TBI, stock cam, but with lightly ported heads, stock exhaust manifolds and 2.25" single exhaust gets 13-17mpg. I've gotten 18 on one tank where we drove flat out on a state highway, 45-55 the whole time. It brings in 14-15 on the interstate going 70-80. With the head and valve work I've got way more power than it did before that work was done. Maybe as much as a stock Magnum, at any rate it has plenty of juice to get me and a full crew of people and gear going. It's also worth noting I've never been one to lay off the gas pedal for fuel economy. If I want to hold speed up a grade I stomp on it, that is to say I have a bit of a lead foot and give no second thoughts about it. :-)

- Rich