Ridiculous 14 MPG Help!!

[stilldesperate]

Hi bo-luke-duke,

Do you have a winter-pack on the Bongo (Twin batteries and exhaust valve)?

If so, now that the weathers turned cold, could the vallve be stuck?

SD

(Apologies if already mentioned, quick scan didn't see it!)

[scanner]

How many miles do you get from fill up to empty on the guage & how many litres to refill?

Filled up when just above empty with just over 56 litres. Just on empty & 335km (approx 208 miles)

Didnt count when towing the caravan in with the mpg as filled up day after towing.

Thanks for the link Kirsty

Yes the difference between empty and empty can be over 100 miles if the gauge is playing up.

You have to refill to get a true comparison, anything else is guesswork, pure guesswork.

[mister munkey]

How many miles do you get from fill up to empty on the guage & how many litres to refill?

Filled up when just above empty with just over 56 litres. Just on empty & 335km (approx 208 miles)

Now then, you could be in the same boat as me. The fuel gauge as is, is about as accurate as an undamped temp guage - on mine at least. From brimmed, the needle on my fuel gauge hits the right hand edge of the E at around 230 miles on the regular working week run-around. I then get another 30 miles or so before it drops back well below the E . I generally bottle out around there but rarely seem to get more than 50 litres in even when its well below Empty.

So in effect, having 3 gallons left means I'm not doing the percieved 260 miles to a 12 gallon tank but actualy getting around 29 to the gallon.


I spent ages thinking mine was worse than it is but keep tabs on miles & bills & it makes more sense.

[stilldesperate]

....and my wheels give prob 10% difference

SD

(the speedo (therefore odometer?) is 10% slower on the 16" rims, which makes the mileage on a tank different )

(Just re-read this - it wouldn't happed suddenly!! )

[bo-luke-duke]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Really appreciate the advice

[mikeonb4c]

I'm using mine on v. short runs to work (5 miles). Under those conditons, I'm lucky to get 230 miles out of a tank. My old Nissan Sunny 1.6 wasn't much better until the same conditions. It makes a real difference if you are doing v. short runs where engine has barely warmed up. But putting it into perspective, its about all I'm doing at present so monthly fuel bill is £50-60, and I cheer myself up with that thought.

Get it on a nice open road and cruise and I've had up to 34mpg (but 30/32 is more likely [Edited 10/11/09 to correct 32/32 mistype]). Its amazing what a difference it makes

[Alison01326]

How many miles do you get from fill up to empty on the guage & how many litres to refill?

Filled up when just above empty with just over 56 litres. Just on empty & 335km (approx 208 miles)

Now then, you could be in the same boat as me. The fuel gauge as is, is about as accurate as an undamped temp guage - on mine at least. From brimmed, the needle on my fuel gauge hits the right hand edge of the E at around 230 miles on the regular working week run-around. I then get another 30 miles or so before it drops back well below the E . I generally bottle out around there but rarely seem to get more than 50 litres in even when its well below Empty.

So in effect, having 3 gallons left means I'm not doing the percieved 260 miles to a 12 gallon tank but actualy getting around 29 to the gallon.


I spent ages thinking mine was worse than it is but keep tabs on miles & bills & it makes more sense.

Thanks Mr M, that's reassuring because it's pretty much what I surmised in my head but not yet on paper as I always write the mileage on the receipt together with any missing details, yet I never seem to be able to find consecutive receips when I've got time to do the sums!!

I'm using mine on v. short runs to work (5 miles). Under those conditons, I'm lucky to get 230 miles out of a tank. My old Nissan Sunny 1.6 wasn't much better until the same conditions. It makes a real difference if you are doing v. short runs where engine has barely warmed up. But putting it into perspective, its about all I'm doing at present so monthly fuel bill is £50-60, and I cheer myself up with that thought.

Get it on a nice open road and cruise and I've had up to 34mpg (but 32/32 is more likely). Its amazing what a difference it makes

Agree entirely. Locally, whether I do 5 miles or 15, as it's always stop & start with gear changes every few hundred yards the fuel consumption is far lower than we have achieved when we venture onto "proper roads". Probably 23 ish. We reckon we got about 29 overall on our recent trip to Essex although it's probably a bit better because I'd done about 60 local miles on that tank and we didn't top up before we left.

[Doone]

Probably best if we don't let our fuel gauages get too low. We've been alright on a couple of other Bongos we've owned, but we recently let this one get REALLY low and picked up some muck so had to change the fuel filter. (But thank goodness for the fuel filter!)

[rita]

Probably best if we don't let our fuel gauages get too low. We've been alright on a couple of other Bongos we've owned, but we recently let this one get REALLY low and picked up some muck so had to change the fuel filter. (But thank goodness for the fuel filter!)

en wondered why this happens whe the tank is lowe oft

Hi, I have often wondered why this happens when the tanks is really low.Considering the pick up pipe in the tank has a filter on it,and the position of the pipe is the same ie full or empty.

I personally avoid garages when the tanker is refilling the tanks.

[missfixit70]

Probably best if we don't let our fuel gauages get too low. We've been alright on a couple of other Bongos we've owned, but we recently let this one get REALLY low and picked up some muck so had to change the fuel filter. (But thank goodness for the fuel filter!)

en wondered why this happens whe the tank is lowe oft

Hi, I have often wondered why this happens when the tanks is really low.Considering the pick up pipe in the tank has a filter on it,and the position of the pipe is the same ie full or empty.

I personally avoid garages when the tanker is refilling the tanks.

Because you get detritus floating on the top of the fuel, this then drops down to the level of the pickup at the bottom of the tank when the fuel level drops, which sucks said crud onto the pick up, thus blocking or partially blocking it, or if the crud particles or whatever is small enough it get's sucked through the pick up & caught in the filter causing a blockage there.
The former situation I have dealt with twice in the past by blowing a bit of compressed air back through the fuel line into the tank, with the filler cap off (usual health & safety disclaimers apply - don't do it unless you're aware of the dangers).
Diagnosed by using a clean source of fuel (fuel can & a length of fuel hose - again - elf & safety disclaimers ) to prove the rest of the sysem is ok.
Ideally clean the crud out of the tank of course (before anyone nitpicks ), but realistically??

[rita]

Probably best if we don't let our fuel gauages get too low. We've been alright on a couple of other Bongos we've owned, but we recently let this one get REALLY low and picked up some muck so had to change the fuel filter. (But thank goodness for the fuel filter!)

en wondered why this happens whe the tank is lowe oft

Hi, I have often wondered why this happens when the tanks is really low.Considering the pick up pipe in the tank has a filter on it,and the position of the pipe is the same ie full or empty.

I personally avoid garages when the tanker is refilling the tanks.

Because you get detritus floating on the top of the fuel, this then drops down to the level of the pickup at the bottom of the tank when the fuel level drops, which sucks said crud onto the pick up, thus blocking or partially blocking it, or if the crud particles or whatever is small enough it get's sucked through the pick up & caught in the filter causing a blockage there.
The former situation I have dealt with twice in the past by blowing a bit of compressed air back through the fuel line into the tank, with the filler cap off (usual health & safety disclaimers apply - don't do it unless you're aware of the dangers).
Diagnosed by using a clean source of fuel (fuel can & a length of fuel hose - again - elf & safety disclaimers ) to prove the rest of the sysem is ok.
Ideally clean the crud out of the tank of course (before anyone nitpicks ), but realistically??

Because you get detritus floating on the top of the fuel,

Hi,dont like the sound of that,rather scary.