Drop in MPG after belt change

[The Ginge]

I had my timing/cam (Or whatever it is called!!) belt changed in July as per standard for 55K car and since then my MPG has dropped by about 3 MPG.

Now only managing 46-48 MPG for the same driving as I was when I was getting 48-52 MPG. Also I can no longer cruise easily at 30MPH in 4th gear as the revs are too low. Never a problem before hand.

Has anyone had this experience and could they be related??

 

[craig-pd130]

Have you only just noticed the MPG drop in the last couple of months, or did the MPG drop immediately after the belt was done?

If you've just noticed it now, it's more likely to be the cold weather, this does knock up to 10% off your mpg.

However, if the MPG drop happened straight after the belt change, it could be because the dealer didn't "dial in" the camshaft pulley to accurately reset the injector timing.

The pulley can be adjusted relative to the camshaft to get the timing spot on, and this could also be your problem.

 

[The Ginge]

I keep records of my MPG at fill up and it has dropped away since I had it changed in July. Maybe it could be because we had quite a cold summer. It is about 2 MPG down from where it was this time last year.

It is due for a service soon anyway so I will get them to take a look at it then. I guess that would affect the change of being able to cruise in 4th at 30Mph easily which I no longer can.

 

[CrispDust]

yeah sounds like a timing belt issue. Even if the tension isn't set correctly it can put the timimg out which will affect both mpg and power.