Poor Diesel Economy

[Guest jus]

I have a 1 year old 130bhp tdi with 19000 on the clock. Performance is good but economy poor compared to my previous 110bhp tdi. Only getting 35mpg average with 25 mpg in town and 40mpg on long runs. Brakes not binding etc, what to check? Ford dealer computer says its ok.

Also compared to my old model the number of rattles and squeaks is appalling (the engine is alot quieter though) Thanks

 

jus

[seatkid]

PD (poor diesel) Technology. Using the better performance can mean poorer economy - try using the accelerator pedal less or stick a foam brick under it or something. The latest EuroIV diesels from VAG are even worse for fuel consumption.

 

110 Tdi engine was VW's most thermodynamically efficient engine.

 

I've noticed a tendency for newer Shalaxy models to be less well built, thats why I bought a Skoda instead (well, sort of)

 

Check your tyre pressures and turn off the a/c.

[iainkirk]

I've done 43000 miles in mine in the last 14 months and averaged 35mpg.

 

Starting from cold it will go as low as 18mpg and I've managed 48mpg on single carriageway A-roads.

 

My driving style could not be described as "economic", but then I don't pay for any of my fuel...

[Guest jus]

I did notice that the old 110 bhp tdi took an age to heat up but would do 650 miles to the tank on a long run compared with 560 with the 130 bhp model ,driven 70-75 on m-ways. Any suggestions rev causes of poor economy and/or rattles?

 

jus

[GSMGuy]

Hmm, as a new Gal owner - Tdi 115 Auto 2002, with "chip" I was just about to comment... I thought my old 2003 Picasso 2.0HDi was a gas guzzler - trip comp averaged 34mpg, mostly town driving, and got about 480 miles per tank of

[Dally]

However, filled my Gal up on Fri with

[johnb80]

Hmm, as a new Gal owner - Tdi 115 Auto 2002, with "chip" I was just about to comment... I thought my old 2003 Picasso 2.0HDi was a gas guzzler - trip comp averaged 34mpg, mostly town driving, and got about 480 miles per tank of

[MrT]

If it were the auto v6, after consuming the first half tank, you would have been on about 110 miles and the second half would have given you about another 90!!

 

I get over 300 miles on the V6 Auto without the warning light coming on. Average consumption is about 25 mpg on long trips and about 22 in town. You can push it to 28mpg with slow driving, but you don't buy a V6 to drive like that. Mind you last week it sustained 8mpg for a few minutes or so, fully loaded with 4 bikes on the back, going a little above the speed limit on the long climb shortly after leaving Dover on the A20.

 

The Mk1 V6 Auto got around 16mpg in town and 21 on long trips, quite a bit more petrol with 25bhp less as well.

[GSMGuy]

Hmm, as a new Gal owner - Tdi 115 Auto 2002, with "chip" I was just about to comment... I thought my old 2003 Picasso 2.0HDi was a gas guzzler - trip comp averaged 34mpg, mostly town driving, and got about 480 miles per tank of

[Davetheref]

In my 130 ps I seem to get around 500 miles easily on each tank without the light coming on and that is mainly motorwayish driving. My 115 before that used to get around 600 miles per tank.

[Guest gritrash]

got 41mpg on the last tank (a real mixed bag of driving) in my 130ps manual, can get into the low 50's on a steady run. Have filled with bio-diesel this time and will compare mpg.

btw - the bio-diesel is the proper 5% stuff, not the leftovers from my local chippy :lol:

[Guest blatters]

115TDi 2003 Manual Box

Full to the neck with diesel and I get (you'll never believe this) 645 miles from the tank with, I reckon, about 5-6ltrs left in it. That means that I get the 'please fill me up' signal but not the 'fill-up or else' signal from the dashboard.

I try to drive with the aircon off and I'm light on the throttle etc. According to the dash computer, I average 48-50mpg over the tank. I've found I get better fuel tank range when it's warmer. I suspect the aux heater sipping my precious diesel and someone else said it gets its drink before the dash computer calculates the stuff - i.e. the dash computer just does the engine consumption not the total consumption.

My typical trip to work is 19miles each way. In the morning from the Border hills down into Edinburgh and then back up again (54mpg / 47mpg respectively)

Went to Austria with it this Summer. German autobahn doing about 105mph, five passengers, luggage and aircon on (35c outside) and still got avg of above 40mpg.

So I think the Galaxy TDi is great although perhaps I'm a sad person in that I like seeing the avg fuel ecomony get as high as possible - its hardly the car for Subaru driving style!

 

......Blatters.

 

PS. Just as well the fuel economy is good as I'm saving the pennies to pay for the predicted aircon failure. No probs (13mths old / 23,000 miles) yet but seems inevitable from this site.

[Guest nelse]

I've got a 115 tdi zetec, tend to get around 32- 34mpg, but i do lots of short journeys in trafic, I've had around 600 miles out of a tank the few times i've filled it up and almost drained it, but this is usually on holidays and breaks where the driving has been more motorway and fast a-road but heavily loaded, motorway at constant 70-80 tends to give me low 40's, well at least as close as i can gather, i don't take too much time or worry over exact figures. I agree you definately appear to clock up more miles when the needle is in the upper half of the gauge than the lower.

When i've done 600 miles on a tank, I've got 200+ miles from the first 1/4 drop from full, 150+ from the next 1/4 drop to half full, then less than 250 from the 1/2 full to fuel light on, but this also used to happen in my previous car, a Mondeo. not sure how much fuel is left when the light comes on. but if we assume it's something like a gallon 600 miles in this situation would be around 41-42 mpg. If i'm correct that the galaxy takes just under 15.5 gallons

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Hmmm, I get over 30mpg around town on short journeys. If you are getting less than this from a 130, then there is something wrong - either that, or the traffic is so bad that you should be walking instead! Any idea what you get on a long run at a steady speed of eg 65mph?

[iainkirk]

"not sure how much fuel is left when the light comes on"

 

...about 10 litres (or 2 and a bit gallons).

 

Tank capacity is 70L and I get 60 in if I refill then.

[Guest nelse]

"not sure how much fuel is left when the light comes on"

 

...about 10 litres (or 2 and a bit gallons).

 

Tank capacity is 70L and I get 60 in if I refill then.

well in that case it would mean 600 miles from full tank to fuel light on is 45-46 mpg.

The reason I didn't know was i've only ever had the light come on twice (i usually don't go below 1/4 tank and i've never filled the car up from this situation, suprised it's 10 litres, thats over 1/8 of a tank and my light usually comes on when the gauge is well under that

[GSMGuy]

Right - just got back from Sheffield, and brimmed the tank around the corner from my house, as I did on Mon - Have done 425 miles, and used a whopping 66.33 Litres of BP ultimate diesel, or 14.61 gallons - result? A disappointing 29.09 mpg :lol:

Half of the 425 miles was tiwn driving, and the rest 80-90 motorway, still seems poor to me, I thought my 2.0HDi Picasso drank the stuff @35mpg average - but this is worse...

 

Any comments?

 

Mike

[Guest jus]

Sounds as if the 110 & 115 bhp are a little more frugal than the 130 bhp. How much fuel does aircon use?? I leave mine on auto all the time as it is climate control & the manual recommends this. My previous Zetec had a simple aicon button which we only really used in summer for cold air.

 

Is there anything to check on the tdi which could be causing poor economy. It is all these people that say they get 50mpg on along run & never less than 40 around town!!

 

Jus

[seatkid]

It is all these people that say they get 50mpg on along run & never less than 40 around town!!

:lol: They're lying, or rather exagerating.

You got be real gentle and lucky with conditions to get those figures, and certainly not in a hurry. These people (including me) tend to forget the times when the consumption is not so good. A/C does use a fair bit.

 

GSM guy 80-90mph? No wonder your economy is pants.

 

For those with fuel computer, study as you drive and learn the technique...feel the force young luke...

[Guest blatters]

They're lying, or rather exagerating.

You got be real gentle and lucky with conditions to get those figures, and certainly not in a hurry. These people (including me) tend to forget the times when the consumption is not so good. A/C does use a fair bit.

 

My journey to work is single carriageway 'A' road. I'm lucky enough to be able to simply set the cruise control to 60mph most of the way, until I get nearer Edinburgh. 6th gear is fine above 50mph and with that combination, fuel economy of just over 50mpg is achievable. My first Galaxy was an 'X' plate, 115bhp Tdi just on the facelift. Just after getting it the fuel protests began and that's when I discovered just how far you could go on a tank of fuel if you adapted your driving style.

 

It's true that 80-90mph hits the fuel economy hard. The wind resistance is the killer as the effect is squared as your speed increases - I read that formula somewhere (didn't work it out!).

 

For those with fuel computer, study as you drive and learn the technique...feel the force young luke...

 

I've never been completely convinced that the on-board computer is totally truthful (had an Elegance Zafira on a 'Y' plate that lied to me about how much range was left in the tank and then it wouldn't start). However, it certainly does make you realise what a huge difference your driving style makes. In all fairness, if I drive it with some verve then fuel economy around 41/42mpg is all I can expect. But I've never had it below 40mpg.

 

And before you all start thinking I have a couple of cushions placed near the rear window, a flat cap and drive with my face slap bang against the windscreen i just want to say this. Had an Alfa where the throttle cable got stuck while overtaking a convoy of traffic, had a Vectra where the brakes completely failed and, for just a brief weekend, the fleet manager gave me a Subaru Impreza which was pure joy - but the wife wouldn't get in it, too fast. No speed cameras on most of the Scottish Borders' roads, you see. But pushing the Galaxy is just not fun unless you're on a motorway - it's a cruiser.

 

.........Blatters :lol:

[Guest nelse]

Sounds as if the 110 & 115 bhp are a little more frugal than the 130 bhp. How much fuel does aircon use?? I leave mine on auto all the time as it is climate control & the manual recommends this. My previous Zetec had a simple aicon button which we only really used in summer for cold air.

 

Is there anything to check on the tdi which could be causing poor economy. It is all these people that say they get 50mpg on along run & never less than 40 around town!!

 

Jus

All the figures suggest it's the other way round and you should get a very slightly better fuel economy from a 130 bhp engine, as for all those over 50mpg claims, i've only ever achieved this once to my knowlegde, on a trip down to the southwest, no traffic congestion, no aircon and a steady 55-60 mph all the way. 280+ miles on about 25 litres. only reason I know is I hadn't had the car long and was curious as to what sort of economy i was getting because it seemed fairly impressive to do such a distance on such a small amount of fuel, The gauge actually was still showing a fraction under 3/4 of a tank left. Thing is even going by the fuel cut off when filling up isn't that accurate as this can happen at different fuel levels and mean your a few litres out, only truely accurate way is to do it over a long period of time, keeping accurate records of fuel purchased. lifes to short thank you very much.

 

as a side note getting 50mpg would mean covering 670 miles on a full tank till the fuel light came on (assuming 2 gallons left is the level it comes on). wonder how many people have achieved this?

 

However i usually travel around 65-80 on motorways and return mid to lower 40's. going much above 80 really hammers the consuption

 

But as i've said before most of my driving is shorter distances around town half the time in congested traffic, i get around 35mpg at best, I console myself that even though this isn't exactly frugal it's probably way better than anything i could hope for in a pertol powered galaxy in similar conditions.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

as a side note getting 50mpg would mean covering 670 miles on a full tank till the fuel light came on (assuming 2 gallons left is the level it comes on). wonder how many people have achieved this?

Not quite - got about 630 miles when we went to Paris and back but didn't do more than 10 miles after the low fuel light came on. If I'd felt really brave, .........

[jkspoff]

My average fuel economy is about 36 to 39 mpg for urban driving, giving me between 400-500 miles per tank full. On a long run recently to Scotland I got 650+ miles and got it upto an average of 50mpg.

 

It makes a huge difference to economy if you have a roof rack or roof box. Also if the tyre pressures are in-correctly inflated this can severely affect the fuel economy, regular checks save on fuel and tyres ! In a recent survey by a well known break down company it showed that 7/10 drivers never check their tyre pressures for the duration of driving between tyre changes and services !!

 

I noticed that one reply had chipped his Galaxy, and the mentioned economy was poor, I am a firm believer that 'chipping' a vehicle does not do it any justice for fuel economy, only increases performance, that will always use more fuel.

 

The Galaxy weighs in at nearly 2 tonnes, and I think anything above 30mpg is impressive for a car of this size and weight, and no matter how hard I drive it I can never get it below 30mpg. :lol:

[Dally]

If it were the auto v6, after consuming the first half tank, you would have been on about 110 miles and the second half would have given you about another 90!!

 

I get over 300 miles on the V6 Auto without the warning light coming on.

On a long motorway run I can stretch it to about 300 out of tankful but on average home to work and local stuff, I will sruggle to get much over 200 miles.

Considering changing the plugs and coils!

[rwtomkins]

Presumably an auto box makes quite a difference. But I'm agog at all these stories of 50mpg from a 115 - I struggle to get 40mpg on long journeys of congested motorway driving at about 60-70mph.