1995 4.3 – What would cause really bad mileage like 5-8 miles per gallon and an indescribable exhaust smell? Thanks!

 

i would say that your cats or your exhaust is plugged up

 

Do you have to hit the gas pedal harder then ever to get going?
Either a clogged Cat or maybe a bad Fuel Pressure regulator... A bad regulator will dump gas in the intake.

 

x2 or 3 on the exhaust being plugged

the longer you run it like this, the worse it will get.
rich exhaust = un-used fuel....
that means everything is being hit with added juice.

drop under her and tap on the cat. does it sound like "stuff" is in there? then its plugged up. if its plugged up it can cause other stuff (muffler for example) to plug up as it takes a dump on the rest of the system.
this can also smoke your O2 sensors, and may be gumming up your plugs...

check the cat.

 

Don’t have to hit hard to start moving but most of the time you have to give it gas to start the truck. Where is the FPR located, my Haynes manual sucks it doesn’t even mention it.

Just went under with a hammer and no noise, nothing loose in the cat.

 

No one can tell me where the fpr is on a 95 out of all the people that have read this post?

 

The search tool can... So can the CPI FPR replacement thread in the Tech Article (DIY) section.

You might as well burn that Haynes manual for extra heat or try to sell it off putting the money towards a real manual (FSM).

 

Would a leaking FPR cause the problems I have? I saw the article in the DIY section on replacing the FPR and when I viewed into the plenum from the top as the article says to do it looked just like the pictures in the article clean on the passenger side and black on the drivers.
If it would not cause the problem I don’t want to spend the time and money to replace it at this time. Thanks!

 

Could be a problem. A fuel pressure and leak down test would answer that relatively easily. Search will give the relevant information required.

 

It could be the cause, sure. Extra gas just dumping into the Intake and finding it's way to the Cylinders will cause a rich condition. Bad Mileage. and the extra rich condition will effect the Cat converter. I hope you didn't toast the Cat.