I have a 2003 Elegance Estate and I manage to achieve an average fuel economy of around 42mpg. I've owned it since August 2008, and it's now done 148,000 miles. I've fitted a new air filter, air flow sensor, coolant temp sensor, fuel filter and had the cambelt done since I've had it. My drives it more than me and to be fair she only does about 25 miles a day.

A workmate has a 2002 Elegance saloon model with 56,000 miles on the clock. He manages a consistent 53mpg. His wife also uses it mostly, and she never goes very far either. So much so he suspects he has the dreaded sticky turbo problem, but his wife never drives fast enough for the turbo vanes to move anyway.

The question is why is mine so much worse on fuel than his, or am I simply expecting too much? The only thing I can think of is that my wife may drive my harder than his wife does, but I can't average anywhere near what he gets either.

Mine runs very smoothly and quickly. As far as I can see the exhaust smoke is normal. I don't have VAGCOM (yet), but if anyone has any ideas I'd be very grateful.....

I assume it is the 110 engine not the 130. I get 50+mpg (real not trip computer) from mine but I do a fair bit on the motorway.

If you have the dreaded gummy turbo problem you'll know about it, you hit 3,000rpm and then it feels like your towing an anchor and all the power is gone. It isn't constant and happens intermittantly and you can get rid of limp mode by restarting the engine.

It could be that the EGR valve and intake is cacked up reducing air flow and reducing performance, the effect of feeding the crankcase breather oily muck into the intake and recirculating exhaust gas into it too gives a fantastic build up of horrible tarry muck. Given the mileage on yours it has had a good amount of time to build up and it won't help air flow into engine at all. Mines done nearly 70k and it looks like someone has poured creosote into the EGR valve.

Or it could just be driving style, I can get a good bit more mpg out of my wifes petrol leon than she does, mainly through changing up gears sooner.

there are quite big variations although yours does seem low.

My previous 110 TDi estate (85000 Y reg) did an average of 58.7mpg and that's with a boot full of vet kit doing mainly A and B roads.

However my current one (same engine and body but 127000 52 reg) does 52mpg with the same kit in it.

not sure why there's a difference, presume because the current one has more miles and the engine might be a little less efficient

Mine is a 110BHP engine, and I did clean out the EGR valve yesterday. Whilst it was caked up it wasn't as bad as I'd expected it to be. I would imagine that the previous owner did mainly motorway miles, otherwise how could he have clocked up so many so quickly?

I'm seriously running out ideas now.....

Get hold of VAGCOM and see if that throws any light on the matter. Look in the diagnostics forum and see if there is anyone near you who could check the car for a few beer tokens.

Could just be driving style though.

I do want to buy VAGCOM, but with the GBPound so weak against the USDollar at the moment now doesn't seem to be the right time.......

you could take a chance and buy a cable off fleabay (puts on fireproof suit) and use that with the free version of vagcom to check for error codes, worth a punt for under £20.

I'd be interested to know if you find anything wrong, a friend has the 110tdi estate with 115,000 and is only getting about 38-39mpg, its due a service in 3k, but wouldn't expect mpg to be that low.... car is driven pretty steadily on two 17mile trips a day. in comparison mine does 50+mpg ever time with mixed driving and some 'brisk' driving.

1) you need to provide a full fault scan and have the static timing checked in vag-com. Find someone near you that can do it.

2) remove the case pressure relief valve in the IP and press it back together if it's failing. Posts floating around on how to do this, keep it CLEAN. If it falls apart you can't get proper timing but it won't cause a fault code.

3) at that miles I'd expect the intake/ports to be pretty well gunged up. Have the intake manifold and ports manually cleaned fully & a the EGR blanked off. Then run a carton of POWERBOOST or similar intake cleaner through after the MAF to clean the intake & intercooler.

4) check your intercooler for bent/blocked fins and missing surrounds/underbody covers. Check the engine undertray is fitted, your tyre pressures (try 34pi all round) and the brakes don't bind at all. Have the tracking checked, tracking far out scrubs off speed and mpg.

5) your injectors are past the recomended 80k for being at their best. Your enine will still work and may not smoke with old injectors but won't perform like it should. £25 each can get them rebuilt. Make sure they are rebuilt with GENUINE Bosch nozzles and that the 1st/2nd stage pressures are SET to 220/300 bar respectively. If the shop can only test 1st stage pressures, go elsewhere.

6) drain & renew your trans fluid.

That should have fixed it up nicely, in my book the above is more or less 'servicing' of an older vehicle. Presuming you haven't got pressurising cooling system and combustion gasses in the coolant tank this should do you nicely.

Greg.

I have a 2003 Elegance Estate and I manage to achieve an average fuel economy of around 42mpg. I've owned it since August 2008, and it's now done 148,000 miles. I've fitted a new air filter, air flow sensor, coolant temp sensor, fuel filter and had the cambelt done since I've had it. My drives it more than me and to be fair she only does about 25 miles a day.

A workmate has a 2002 Elegance saloon model with 56,000 miles on the clock. He manages a consistent 53mpg. His wife also uses it mostly, and she never goes very far either. So much so he suspects he has the dreaded sticky turbo problem, but his wife never drives fast enough for the turbo vanes to move anyway.

The question is why is mine so much worse on fuel than his, or am I simply expecting too much? The only thing I can think of is that my wife may drive my harder than his wife does, but I can't average anywhere near what he gets either.

Mine runs very smoothly and quickly. As far as I can see the exhaust smoke is normal. I don't have VAGCOM (yet), but if anyone has any ideas I'd be very grateful.....

1) you need to provide a full fault scan and have the static timing checked in vag-com.

I know how to do a full fault scan, but how do you do the static timing check? and what sort of figures should one be looking for? I might have a play over Christmas.

Cheers,

Matt

You need the engine to be hot before you begin. Ideally you want it to be touching the upper limit line. If it's a bit over the upper limit line, don't worry, it's okay. If below the mid line - I'd adjust it. These pumps have issues if not advanced enough, but will start just fine a bit over advanced. Also this 'offset' allows the pump to reach max advance dynamically as the dynamic range is poor and if starting from a point too retarded, it can't reach the timing that you need at higher rpm.

See here.

TDIGraph - TDI Timing Checker

To check the case pressure valve do this:

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/500/VE_Pressure_regulator_Repair.pdf

You do NOT need to remove pump or the top cover, just be a bit creative with the spnner or use some vice grips virtically to begin with. Clean it down WELL with solvent and a brush before you begin and again when it is one turn out. Put it back once pressed together having solvent cleand it again and then lightly oiled the threads/o-rings.

Greg.

I know how to do a full fault scan, but how do you do the static timing check? and what sort of figures should one be looking for? I might have a play over Christmas.

Cheers,

Matt

I have had mine since new and it has been remapped since 20000 miles now coming up to 100000 miles.

Economy has been fairly staedy at 45mpg for my driving style although was a litlle lower in earlier days.

Work is 35 miles each way with a few longer trips.

I drive at the speed limits (on GPS) and will floor it to overtake people. Pull off roundabouts, junction etc around average with other traffic.

I perosnally find its best cruising at about 60 on the speedo in whcih case I can got 53mpg but get bored.

Intretsingly in traffic moving around 45mph, mpg drops to about 40 whichis probably because of a less smooth throttle input and more braking.

I went to Bournemouth last night to see Status Quo. It's a 30 mile journey each way, and most of it's dual carriageway. At a steady 70mph I managed to achieve 46.7mpg on the way there, and 50.2mpg on the way home. That's a overall average of 48.4mpg for the round trip.

Also that's driving with the intention of trying to achieve good economy. If I wanted to start going silly I'd easily lose 5-10mpg, and I do have bags of power to spare.

Simonsheil, it sounds like your car is pretty similar to mine........

Those sound like PD figures, on a 70mph steady run we generally see breaking into the 60's if it's a decent VE 110tdi. The last one i had in that wouldn't ended up having a blown head gasket! Of course the state of the VNT, injectors, tyres (& pressures), timing, MAF etc all play parts.

Greg.

Interestingly the best I have had on a longish run was 73mpg. That was in a passat 110tdi with 173k miles on the clock. I was using the absolute minimum throttle to do 50mph and other than 2 short bits t was dual carriageway/mway (with roadworks).

Great motor!

Greg.

Those sound like PD figures, on a 70mph steady run we generally see breaking into the 60's if it's a decent VE 110tdi. The last one i had in that wouldn't ended up having a blown head gasket! Of course the state of the VNT, injectors, tyres (& pressures), timing, MAF etc all play parts.

Greg.

That's what I find so strange. If the injector nozzles were worn I'd expect to see a smoky exhaust or even a loss of performance. It doesn't smoke, and goes like a rocket. That leads me to believe there's not much wrong with the turbo either. Incidentally the MOT smoke test just a few weeks ago showed minimal exhaust smoke, and I watched the test, as I did MOTs myself for 10 years. It was well within the legal limit at the first attempt. Many diesels are far worse than mine, even brand new ones.

I did replace the fuel injectors on my Astra 17DTL, and even though it had done well over 170,000 miles at the time (and 218,000 when I sold it) the difference it made was minimal, if any at all. They were genuine Bosch injectors, and I'm therefore a bit reluctant to do them on this car unless I know it'll make an improvement.

I did look to check he pump case relief valve, but I cannot remove it in situ with a 10mm spanner because of the position of the flats. I didn't want to use a pair of grips and chew it up, so it I can find a suitable tool I'll look at it.

I've booked it into a diesel injection specialist in the new year to have it plugged in and to see if anything's obviously amiss, and I guess I'll take it from there.

As I've already said, if it ran poorly I'd understand, but I can't figure out how it can run so well yet return comparatively poor fuel economy. It doesn't make sense to me.....

My 110 tdi elegance estate, 52 reg, 64k, without fail averages 52-55 mpg every tankful. My car covers 500 miles a week, and is driven on a mixture of A, B roads, 2 junctions of the M5 and lots of winding country lanes. I make sure at least once every journey i give it a full throttle blast out - dont want sticky vanes in my turbo! lol

On a very long steady planned run, it can get as high as 58mpg.

Those figures are calculated the correct way (ie brim to brim figures) as since i had mine re-mapped, the fuel computers about as accurate as gordon brown!

To check the case pressure valve do this:

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/500/VE_Pressure_regulator_Repair.pdf

You do NOT need to remove pump or the top cover, just be a bit creative with the spnner or use some vice grips virtically to begin with. Clean it down WELL with solvent and a brush before you begin and again when it is one turn out. Put it back once pressed together having solvent cleand it again and then lightly oiled the threads/o-rings.

Greg.

Cheers for that Greg. I removed the pressure relief valve, and the circular retaining clip was proud of the body by about ⅛". I don't know if this was enough to make a difference but I gently tapped it back so it was flush. I checked to see if the plunger moved freely and it does.

I then took it for a 25 drive, including both up and down gradients, though my home town centre, and a ten mile stretch of motorway, where at one point I absolutely ragged it uphill and revved it to the red line. It averaged 57.5mpg for the whole trip, and at one point showed 60.3mpg. I have never seen it do this good. One point to bear in mind though is that the outside air temperature only reached a maximum of 4°C, and so the air conditioning wasn't on. One other thing I noticed was that the instant fuel consumption never went lower than 12.1mpg, and that was when I was giving it some serious beans uphill. I used to regularly see the instant reading down to single figures.

It may have cured my concern, but time will tell........