Fuel Consumption

[bluegibbo]

hi,

im new to site and diy servicing so please excuse my lack of knowledge. i recently serviced my 2003 galaxy 1.9 tdi not done the oil and filter yet but replaced the air,cabin and fuel filter car seems to be running better but fuel consumption has gone down slightly not sure if i have done something wrong was expecting a slight increase(wishful thinking) getting between 34-35 mpg around town maybe this is ok not sure what i should be expecting but was slightly higher before. again excuse my dumbness thank you in advance for any replies.

[edatelder]

Welcome to the site. You should not have done anything "wrongly" resulting in increased fuel consumption. It's hard to judge mpg around town. You may have more or less traffic, queueing, traffic lights, etc. 35 is not bad. I get 54 mpg but that includes all types of driving. The oil and filter are easy to do. Buy the right type of filter. Probably a paper element, not a twist on canisiter type. The plastic cover (found under the removable engine cover) should be able to be removed by hand or use a cloth or rubber gloves. Do not overtighten it when putting it back. The sump plug is a hex nut facing backwards at the back of the sump. You may need to jack the car up to remove the engine undertray and to have easier access to the sump plug.

[bluegibbo]

Welcome to the site. You should not have done anything "wrongly" resulting in increased fuel consumption. It's hard to judge mpg around town. You may have more or less traffic, queueing, traffic lights, etc. 35 is not bad. I get 54 mpg but that includes all types of driving. The oil and filter are easy to do. Buy the right type of filter. Probably a paper element, not a twist on canisiter type. The plastic cover (found under the removable engine cover) should be able to be removed by hand or use a cloth or rubber gloves. Do not overtighten it when putting it back. The sump plug is a hex nut facing backwards at the back of the sump. You may need to jack the car up to remove the engine undertray and to have easier access to the sump plug.

 

many thanks for the quick response. dont really get on the motorway much so hard to judge. was thinking about using an oil extractor for the oil change would you recommend this method thanks again

[insider]

It might just be that your DIY service coincided with the colder weather at this time of year.

Your fuel consumption will be worse in winter than summer as more fuel is required to heat the engine and passenger compartment. Combined with short trips / around town driving and there would be a noticeable difference.

[Saif Rehman]

many thanks for the quick response. dont really get on the motorway much so hard to judge. was thinking about using an oil extractor for the oil change would you recommend this method thanks again

 

Ahh, oil extractor! Read this recent interesting debate regarding oil extractors.

 

P.S. If you do go down this route, then there is a eBay seller by the name of 'a1plantsales' that sells the 'silverline' brand which extracts 4ltrs at a time for

[big_kev]

Oil extractor.......diesel engine.......Noooo!

 

Diesel oils contains detergents which will stick to all the burnt crap that makes it past the pistons into the engine.

Most of this crap will be contained in the oil but a substantial amount will form a nice thick sludge at the bottom of the sump.

It will be very difficult to lift this out using an oil extractor and hence it will accumulate.

 

Take out the sump plug and drain the crap out of the engine.

[sparky Paul]

This probably won't apply to the VW engine in the Galaxy, but on many newer cars the preferred way of removing the oil is by suction. The sumps are designed so that the lowest point is at the dipstick tube, rather than the sump plug.

 

This is due to the handling issues with waste oil. There is at least one main dealer who already uses a system which removes the waste oil via suction, and replaces it with new oil via the same tube, automatically adding the correct volume of oil without any intervention by the mechanic.

 

Whether this is a good thing or not, I'm not so sure.

[big_kev]

This probably won't apply to the VW engine in the Galaxy, but on many newer cars the preferred way of removing the oil is by suction. The sumps are designed so that the lowest point is at the dipstick tube, rather than the sump plug.

 

Yep....shows my ignorance again....probably because I usually drive old bangers and am always 10 years at least behind the times.

 

Does sound a good idea if its designed for this....save my dodgy back getting under the car.

[Bigjeeze]

I have a Pela 6000 Oil extractor and have used it for the last 5 oil changes ( I change mine every 5- 8K) except thelast where I decided as a change to use the sump plug - It's easier with the extractor!! Also on mine as the oil filter is up on top and really easy to get to I change that at the same time as I do the oil - So far so good - I have 153K on the engine and it seems fine to me.

[gregers]

imo,the most important thing to do is change the oil and filter.

going by a thread on here about changing the fuel filter (seatkids opinion)and the 1 i went with,why change it every year?

 

dont forget its now getting colder so no doubt if its working then your booster heater may have started kicking in and this will use a bit more fuel.

 

i too can only get 35-40 mpg round town,but have had it up to 59 mpg on a motorway @65 mph.

 

the link saif gave is the seller i bought my oil extractor from,even though it took me an age to do the oil change,think that was more to do with confidence then anything else,i did seem to get the same ammount of oil out as what i ended up putting in.

 

point to remember if you do get 1 make sure you unravel the pipes 1st before using or as like me your be sucking a lot of bloody air out lol and no oil.

Edited November 12, 2009 by gregers
weeeee 4000th post

[sparky Paul]

I usually drive old bangers and am always 10 years at least behind the times.

 

Same here... B)

 

I've got one of these pumps, and when they work, they work very well. However, the damn thing won't work at all with the 2.3 petrol engine, something stops you getting to the bottom of the sump. B)