fuel consumption question

[chris285]

got a 1.4 99 plate, APQ engine and had the car for just over 3 years now and caused me no problems

but recently i have noticed that my fuel consumption has been very poor, i know fuel prices have gone up but i don't think thats the cause

i used to be able to get over 200 miles on £20 worth of petrol, and that was when i was getting about 22-25 litres for that price. now i am lucky if i get 150 miles for the same price which is not just down to increasing prices, and had a full tank which is not normal for me and i am going to be lucky if i manage 300miles from this

spark plugs are fairly new, air filter again about 6 months old and lambda sensor was replaced about 6 months ago.

i have had 2 mot fails in 3 years on emissions, one last year and one 3 years ago about 6 months after i had my car. now i keep my tyre pressures well monitored and i don't drive the car badly same as ever, but its seems to be a lot worse than it used to be

i was thinking do i have a more serious problem with the emissions failures, both times it was the cat which was the problem but i am wondering if there could be something else. no leaks or anything so anyone got any ideas what i could look for and check, got a service due in a couple of weeks so not sure if that could help

 

[Cupra Kid]

Dirty throttle body and injectors can cause poor mpg, but the car is getting on a bit now so i wouldn't be expecting as good mpg as when you first had it.

The price of fuel has risen a lot so much so that your probably getting between 10 and 15p per litre less than you were when you bought it. meaning you've probably lost a couple of litres worth on a £20 fillup

 

[CraigW]

I have the same engine in my car as yours and i get a quite a good mpg from it, and that is with quite a heavy right foot. I do put some redex in every month or so.

 

[Fl@pper]

lets say £0.80 a litre = 25 litres for your £20

200 miles to £20 = 10p a mile = 8 miles per litre


now with crap prices lately

£1.05 a litre = 19 litres for your £20

150 miles to £20 = 13.33p a mile = 7.89 miles per litre

doesnt look far off to me ?

thats 0.11 of a mile = 0.18km roughly = 18metres per mile

you could lose that having a heater on in cold weather and runnign headlights to drive in the dark quite easily

 

[CraigW]

you could lose that having a heater on in cold weather and runnign headlights to drive in the dark quite easily

I have been thinking that. My mpg hasnt been as good as it usually is in the summer. But it must be because of those reasons above.

 

[chris285]

heater isn't used overly, price is about £1.01 a litre round me atm and i am looking at about 30mpg when last summer i was getting better than that

not sure when the fuel filter was last changed so will get that done, throttle body was clean last time i checked but think i will have a good going over my car over the weekend

 

[Fl@pper]

all little bits add up so wont do it any harm to give it a good spring clean and check over

personally on a 1.4 i'd check the ingition system fully especially the rotor arm and (if fitted) those silly metal plug caps

just be glad its not a 16v

regular town driving and various short drives will see you get 200 miles but at £48 instead

its horrid sat still in traffic watching the MFA show you the mpg is heading for hell

 

[chris285]

will check thottle body and stuff on sat i think, due a clean as well so as said will check all these things

tbh i think its time i seriously thought about replacing the old girl which is a shame, over 30k of trouble free motoring so far

need something with more power tbh, may be an ibiza tdi for my next motor i think but with very little disposable income at the moment its easier said than done

 

[Fl@pper]

drive it till it blows a head gasket - keep driving til the head warps too far to save (about another 10 miles) so watch your temp gauge - then keep a great car and stick a tdi motor in it (scrap toledo)

even a standard early 110bhp diesel compared to 60bhp AEX will be a right kick up in power and importantly torque

i know what a diesel gearbox/diff does to a petrol but the other way round - mmmm

note with tdi - usually hydraulic clutch too but golf 4/16v bits can convert em other to cable - wish i'd tried to go the other way on mine - hydraulic is heaven

 

[Fl@pper]

if i ever get time to do a clean engine bay/euro car i;d like i'm doing an old diesel or tdi

mpg - bonus

simpler layout - bonus

go for ever - bonus

and if driveforwards old cordie is anything to go by they aint slow either

 

[Cupra Kid]

if i ever get time to do a clean engine bay/euro car i;d like i'm doing an old diesel or tdi

mpg - bonus

simpler layout - bonus

go for ever - bonus

and if driveforwards old cordie is anything to go by they aint slow either

Thats what i'm thinking also, but due to petrol costing a F**king fortune big petrol engined cars are shooting down in price and cheap economical diesel ones are going the other way!

In an ideal world i'd be able to make my 16v run on diesel

 

[Fl@pper]

big petrol engined cars are shooting down in price

if it keeps going like it is the bmw 740SC or 540 i have always wanted is going to get to reality stakes they were nearly 48k new and at 7yrs old popping up at less than 4-5k im tempted already and before you say mpg mpg - screw it - i'm lucky to get 200 miles to a tank in the 16v and averaged at most 2000 miles a year over the last 4 years so tell me in the same scenario yuo'd choose a clio/pug diesel shopping basket ?

i have the advantage of being able to drive simply for its pleasure - sorry

 

[Cupra Kid]

Maybe one of these soon for me then by current trends......

............... it'd be worth cycling to work all week to blow my £25.00 weekly fuel budget in my M5 at the weekend

 

[Fl@pper]

M's will always hold Mega money - just check out how much and older one will cost ya

save ya money and stick a blower on old V8

 

[rich.h44]

Not a bmw fan but been look at an audi rs4 estate,they have come down in price,saw a 51 plate a 8k,keep tellin the wife its an idel family car!she says its not idel running costs!so i said get an lpg conversion!

 

[Fl@pper]

audi rs4 estate,saw a 51 plate a 8k

8k? more like 18k that is unless it comes without keys mind

 

[chris285]

well no oil on my dipstick and low water levels in the res will not help,

time to go and get some me thinks

 

[rich.h44]

Honaslty mate thats cheapest iv seen,it ad 152k on clock tho,but iv seen others between 10-15k on a 51 plate

 

[chris285]

well gunky residue on the oil cap when topping up, dosen't bode well by the looks of it as i am doing 10 miles or so to work so journeys aint short so may be head gasket

 

[CraigW]

well gunky residue on the oil cap when topping up, dosen't bode well by the looks of it as i am doing 10 miles or so to work so journeys aint short so may be head gasket

Dont jump staight to the idea that the headgasket is the problem. It could just be condensation with the cold weather that is causing the gunky residue.