Car is running as it should but the fuel consumption is crazy. 13p a mile up to 17p a mile . Was always good on fuel , around 13p a mile. Glow plug warning light has come on once but doubt that is anything to do with this. Any ideas guys?

10 minutes ago, albertz10 said:

Glow plug warning light has come on once but doubt that is anything to do with this. Any ideas guys?

 

The first rule of diagnosing problems is to listen to your car and check obvious things first. If you have had the glow plug light flashing there is a good chance there will be a code stored for something which may steer you in the right direction.

Edited 24 December, 20178 yr by SuperbTWM

Glow light never flashed, cameon for a couple of minutes  (solid) then went off again ...that was weeks ago.  Being told there is an "exhaust"  kind of smell coming into the car sometimes ?????

So has it been serviced recently, and did 'The Fix' get done or have you declined that?

 

How do you work out your pence per mile?

Does it allow for the price rise at the pumps?   & the rather cold weather for the passed 2 weeks.

4.546 litres @ 120 pence a litre (£5.45 a gallon) divided by 42 miles =12.97 pence a mile.

4.546 litres @ 120 pence a litre (£5.45 a gallon) divided by 32 miles = 17.03 pence a mile.

 

4.546 litres @ 117 pence a litre (£5.32 a gallon) divided by 42 miles = 12.6 pence a mile.

Edited 24 December, 20178 yr by AwaoffSki

9 minutes ago, AwaoffSki said:

So has it been serviced recently, and did 'The Fix' get done or have you declined that?

 

Judging by the 'exhaust' smell it does look like its had the fix and is now doing a lot more regens hence the poor mpg

No , the Fix was declined. AND we have never had this "Cold " weather issue before.  I've been working out mileage figures for the past 16 years...Taxi trade, yes we allow for increases. The last time fuel was way up at £1.30 a litre we still returned 14 p a mile....... we are averaging 30 -38 mpg.....6 weeks ago that figure was nearer 50 mpg.  And yes serviced regularly.

It take it not serviced at Skoda Specialist cars (John Clark Group) then, and maybe done even if declined, or by anyone else that would?

 

Winter Spec Diesel was delivered in your area from Mid October.

 

?

How many miles more has the car done than last winters cold weather. 

You had on or below freezing for 1 week did you not, nearly 2?   

 

7 days cold weather payment was paid anyway for PH20,  but from Aviemore Weather Station. 

£25 to those that get it. 7th-14th Dec. & 1 week missed by 1 day.

 

.....................

When it was 130 pence a litre so £5.91 a gallon you were getting near 42 mpg if it was costing 14 pence a mile.

Edited 24 December, 20178 yr by AwaoffSki

The car gets serviced by mechanics who are far better than John Clark group I can assure you. ALL VAG trained and use the latest VAG diagnostics etc.  Where it gets  serviced makes no difference to where it was serviced a year ago.....I am not in PH20  I am PH 1 . Last winter we had similar cold snaps for similar length of time.....we did not get any changes in fuel consumption. The coldest up here so far this winter has been -7, which is normal for us....not cold at all. Last winter's mileage is similar to this year give or take a couple of hundred miles....Because it is a taxi the engine / car in general rarely cools down .

 

 

 

Edited 24 December, 20178 yr by albertz10

LOL,  not hard to be better than SSC Perths Technicians.

 

It makes all the difference a years more mileage if the same DPF and you are getting more regens, ask the trained mechanics.

 

PS

I fill up at Tesco Scone.

I drive daily or nightly where you are as well.  & i am getting over 10 miles to the litre minimum when not going up the A9.

Last 2 weeks per tank, 730 miles for 63 litres,  so i know the weather.

PH1 got 1 payment, Strathallan gives the temperatures.

Edited 24 December, 20178 yr by AwaoffSki

I know what you are saying , but I have had octavia's doing 300,000 and the fuel usage never changed......

1 hour ago, albertz10 said:

The car gets serviced by mechanics who are far better than John Clark group I can assure you. ALL VAG trained and use the latest VAG diagnostics etc. 

I think you've just answered your own question. 

AND what do you mean by that comment ?

5 hours ago, albertz10 said:

AND what do you mean by that comment ?

That you take it to your mechanics with the diagnostic equipment and they read the fault code registered when thre 'glow light' came on, and act upon it. If no fault registered, maybe look at wheels/brakes for issues (I've just had to replace both OS calipers for this reason).

 

Nice to see you're full of the Xmas spirit with your response. 

1 hour ago, Fin69 said:

That you take it to your mechanics with the diagnostic equipment and they read the fault code registered when thre 'glow light' came on, and act upon it. If no fault registered, maybe look at wheels/brakes for issues (I've just had to replace both OS calipers for this reason).

 

Nice to see you're full of the Xmas spirit with your response. 

 

What exactly do you mean ? Where are you getting this ?

18 minutes ago, albertz10 said:

What exactly do you mean ?

 

I think he means you've declined all responses so the next step should be to get it on your mechanics diagnostics to check any faults that may have been recorded.

 

Pete

Well why the comment re Christmas spirit?   

Nothing on a diagnostic read out.....This is totally baffling.  Car is running as well as it should. Someone else said remember the price has gone up !!! It would not matter if it was £50  a gallon ....that would not alter the MPG figures .lucky if we are getting 30 mpg. No apparent signs of leaks, no smoke, engine running and sounding normal.  Could this be to do with  the MAF  or air flow meter or along those lines. someone suggested a stuck injector BUT would that not cause the car to smoke ? And surel ythat would show up on a diagnostic. At wits end with this.

Tyre Pressures good? Tyre brand/tread changed? Winter tyres? Slightly sticky brakes? Different engine oil? Winter Diesel?

 

I've had all the above affect my MPG to some extent or another. Engine oil was the most surprising though! Sticky brake calipers was the most dramatic.

 

You need a proper diagnostic with someone who knows how to use VCDS sitting in the car with you on a drive where you can do some hard accelerations and constant speeds. You can measure MAF values given/expected as well as boost pressure given/expected. Also injector deviation though this would affect consumption mostly on idle as at higher RPM the leaky injector values would become less and less.  I had a badly leaking injector for a couple of years. Lots of smoke on start-up in the mornings with a lumpy idle for a minute or so, After that it drove fine and would give over 56mpg on a 400 mile drive. It got worse recently so swapped it out. No change in MPG so I doubt that is your problem.

 

Try a couple of tanks with a Cetane booster to see if that improves things which might point to Winter Diesel being the issue.

 

Hope you get to the bottom of this as I find problems like this drive me mad.

albertz10, is it only you that drives this Taxi or are there other drivers?

If so is their habits different like sitting with the engine running for long periods.

 

Is the only difference from last year the extra miles the car has now done since last winter?

& is the car doing more regens and in thew past and last winter as the DPF is more loaded with ash?

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/443230-dpf 

Edited 16 January, 20188 yr by AwaoffSki

On 16/01/2018 at 10:14, Golf-Fiend said:

Tyre Pressures good? Tyre brand/tread changed? Winter tyres? Slightly sticky brakes? Different engine oil? Winter Diesel?

 

I've had all the above affect my MPG to some extent or another. Engine oil was the most surprising though! Sticky brake calipers was the most dramatic.

 

You need a proper diagnostic with someone who knows how to use VCDS sitting in the car with you on a drive where you can do some hard accelerations and constant speeds. You can measure MAF values given/expected as well as boost pressure given/expected. Also injector deviation though this would affect consumption mostly on idle as at higher RPM the leaky injector values would become less and less.  I had a badly leaking injector for a couple of years. Lots of smoke on start-up in the mornings with a lumpy idle for a minute or so, After that it drove fine and would give over 56mpg on a 400 mile drive. It got worse recently so swapped it out. No change in MPG so I doubt that is your problem.

 

Try a couple of tanks with a Cetane booster to see if that improves things which might point to Winter Diesel being the issue.

 

Hope you get to the bottom of this as I find problems like this drive me mad.

Tyre pressures good...have changed brand because my last supplier closed shop. But same tyres on my other three cars and no fuel changes there. As far as I know brakes are fine, engine oil the usual brand. As I say engine runs great, no smoke, even on a cold winters morning or under load. This problem started way back long before winter came. Driving me nuts. 

Edited 23 January, 20188 yr by albertz10

On 16/01/2018 at 10:22, AwaoffSki said:

albertz10, is it only you that drives this Taxi or are there other drivers?

If so is their habits different like sitting with the engine running for long periods.

 

Is the only difference from last year the extra miles the car has now done since last winter?

& is the car doing more regens and in thew past and last winter as the DPF is more loaded with ash?

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/443230-dpf 

I do not drive the car but it is the same two drivers who have been on the car for the past year. Fuel consumption got worse about six months ago and has progressively deteriorated.  Only changes since las twinter is the mileage. How do we clean the DPF ?

Before cleaning or changing the DPF, find someone local with VCDS who can read the ash load to confirm it needs cleaning/changing. There is map of members who will do this in one of the sticky posts.

Are you sure the drivers, like the taxi drivers in my area, are not sat in the car with the engine running to keep warm?

I'm inclined to think this might be down to carbon build up on injectors and blocking or altering spray patterns. Try an injector cleaner, or my favourite additive Millers diesel ecomax.

On 23/01/2018 at 06:49, pikpilot said:

Before cleaning or changing the DPF, find someone local with VCDS who can read the ash load to confirm it needs cleaning/changing. There is map of members who will do this in one of the sticky posts.

Are you sure the drivers, like the taxi drivers in my area, are not sat in the car with the engine running to keep warm?

 

Sitting in the car with the engine running is something they have done for years......this is not the problem. Wish it was.

On 23/01/2018 at 12:15, xman said:

I'm inclined to think this might be down to carbon build up on injectors and blocking or altering spray patterns. Try an injector cleaner, or my favourite additive Millers diesel ecomax.

Would carbon build up in an engine that is more  or less running 12 hours a day? Is this Millers ecomas good ?