Mpg Getting Worse

[timwood2000]

I have seen many posts about how much MPG you can get from the diesel. My 115ps seems to be deteriating and I now get only around 30-35 mpg on mainly motorway and some town driving. It used to be 40+. Even trying really hard, it is tricky to get more than 40mpg driving at 55mph on a level dual carriageway.

 

I have 3 questions that I wouldbe grateful for some help with:

 

1) I saw some discussion about faulty MAF sensor - could this be the cause - how can I tell?

2) I have added some ICE recently, but I would not have thought it would have drained the power sufficiently to affect MPG - could it?

3) With the cold weather, could it be because I have had lights, heater, wipers etc all chundering away at the same time?

 

Many thanks for any advice

Tim

[Gadgetoid]

I understand that a faulty MAF makes the engine run a bit rough - previous posts suggest that if you disconect the wiring from the sensor and it makes no difference then Bob's your uncle, if even worse then something else to blame. There are plenty of posts on the topic if you do a search under MAF.

I wouldn't have thought that a high electrical load would make much difference to MPG - your engine will have bags of power to run the alternator without it requiring extra oomph and therefore extra fuel.

What is your acceleration like? stuck wastegates seem to be a problem on some diesel turbos.

With your new ICE did you do anything aggressive to the wiring loom. I wonder about a short, broken wire, or blown fuse/relay. Any electrical faults elsewhere?

Other unexciting causes might be binding brakes etc

I am impressed by your specification - was your recent ICE modification to receive Freeview and how did you do it?

[timwood2000]

Thanks for the advice.

 

Re the ICE install, I already had the factory fit DVD and 2x screens and added an Alpine head unit and TV tuner to be able to hear the sound through the speakers.

 

Then recently I changed the Alpine head unit for a Pioneer 6.5" screen / DVD / CD etc etc etc in the front. With regular TV tuners, it is almost impossible to get a really good signal and picture quality suffers as a result - and that is just when you are standing still.

 

The guys at the ICE shop have adapted a regular Freeview box (Panasonic) and suggested I'd get a better result with it - the answer is yes, even on the move and of course you get all the extra channels.

 

Everything is now controlled from the front head unit touch screen, including the iPod connection. The factory fit DVD player is not redundant as the kids can watch a DVD in the back with the headphones and I can watch something else in the front (not while driving along of course!).

 

I have also added a 200w Pioneer powered amp sub-woofer in the boot and replaced all the door speakers with JBL in the front and Pioneer in the rear doors, which gives watching movies the full cinema sound.