Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Okey dokey then........just did my first full tank of fuel in my '89 TD42 powered GQ and I'm wondering about the economy I got. The trip was 588kms, consisting of almost all highway driving, with a small amount of town driving and about 45mins of low range deep sand driving. I ended up with 7.7km/litre. Having spoken to a few guys who have larger capacity non-turbo diesels like mine, I was lead to believe I should have been able to get somewhere in the region of 10km/litre. Is that right, or are they playing with themselves?

In the event that the economy I'm getting is bad, are there obvious things I can check/do to improve it? Do 'injector cleaner' additives work, or are they a waste of money?

The oil/filters were apparently changed right before I picked it up, but I notice the oil is black. *Should* the oil be black, or should it be translucent like petrol engine oil??

The other logical question is do these diesels get better economy on the highway like a petrol engine? Is there an 'ideal range' of revs to be aiming for when travelling on the highway in one of these? 100kph was around 2250rpm I notice.

Thanks again!

I get 10L/100KM for city driving in my 2.8 lt TD pajero. I get about 12 - 14 on highway driving. Most 4x4 will use more on highway because of the increase in the air drag along the car. This is what I have been told and also found out myself

Also my Pajero did 100 KM/H at about 2800 rpm so yours looks alright. Try a better air cleaner to get better fuel econ. Also diesel oil is always black even as soon as you put new stuff in. Cheers

The oil/filters were apparently changed right before I picked it up, but I notice the oil is black. *Should* the oil be black, or should it be translucent like petrol engine oil??

the oil on your deisel will allways be black.....even if you chang the oil then turn the engine over, when you check the dipstick the oil will allready be black.

The other logical question is do these diesels get better economy on the highway like a petrol engine? Is there an 'ideal range' of revs to be aiming for when travelling on the highway in one of these? 100kph was around 2250rpm I notice.

It will depend on your drivin style.....my GQ has pretty crap efficiency compared to the GU but then the GQ has 320k km and a bigger turbo pushing 35s so that is expected.

Havn't sat down and worked sorry so can't compare

I haven't (daren't) worked out the fuel usage of mine (89 TD42 Maverick) but its pretty shit for a diesel!

Expect about 18mpg. If you get better, go to the bank

Bazzle

mines a 1994 TD42 non turbo, with my old 31's, i would get about 8.5km per litre, highway, around town or offroad.

with my 33's i get about 7.5 km/l on road and about 7 km/l offroad

with my 35's i get around 7 km/l around town, just over 8 km/l on the highway (nice low revs with standard gearing) but offroad it can drop to 5.5km/l.
Hope this helps

I did the fuel filter switcheroo last night and oh my god.......I can't believe how much gunge/sludge was in the bottom of it!!

It's an *old* ryco.....so old in fact that the writing is only just legible on the outside of the filter

I undid the drain and nothing happened.....absolutely no fuel drained out until I started pushing the plunger on top of the filter body. Even then, it only trickled out and took forever to drain the filter......after pulling the trap off, I could see why! I took to it with a toothbrush and managed to get it clean though, so all is well.

I also got a pair of air cleaner elements for it yesterday, but they gave me the wrong pre-cleaner one. Unfortunately, the pre-cleaner element looks like it's been spray painted grey.....there's that much shite on it. So, they're ordering me the right one for tomorrow.

I suspect my economy should improve quite a bit after I've got these done......we shall see

If you're getting 7.7Km/l you are doing very well. The TD42 averages about 20mpg.

patrolmad wrote:If you're getting 7.7Km/l you are doing very well. The TD42 averages about 20mpg.

Yep, and that was with an ancient fuel filter full of goop, *very* dirty air filters and included ~45mins of roaring through deep sand in 2nd/3rd in low range

The guy from the diesel injector service mob here told me I should be able to get ~22-24mpg out of it on the highway, *if* I'm light on the throttle, which I am. I'll be very impressed if I can get that out of it, 'cause then it will be about the same economy I was getting out of the VR Commode wagon I was driving prior to this.

GQ extra cab ute running 33 and 4 + 2 lift get about 5-7km/L at best, regular change of oil/fuel filters and using a finer filter for air. This is only fractionaly better than my mates petrol cruiser and he also has power

I have a GQ wagon running 31s, non-turbo

town driving 8-10km/L
highway driving at 100km/h 9-10.5kmL
highway driving at 120km/h 7 -9km/L

Fuel consumption conversion calculator:
http://www.onlineconversion.com/fuel_consumption.htm

Adsman wrote:I have a GQ wagon running 31s, non-turbo

town driving 8-10km/L
highway driving at 100km/h 9-10.5kmL
highway driving at 120km/h 7 -9km/L

Ah. I did actually wonder about that myself. On the first tank, a fair bit of the highway drive was done at 120kmh. I'm getting considerably better economy on this tank, but I've been careful about watching my speed and I've been sticking to 105 max.

I f you run larger tyres ie. 33" and stick to 100km/h (90km/h on 31" tyres) then you get about 10 -11km/L

Last year in Brisbane I was getting around 9.5 -11.8km/L on 31" tyres driving in the freeway traffic at up to 130km/h. Fuel quality is everything as well!!!!!!

If you buy from a servo who sells stuff all diesel or has poorly maintained tanks then your economy will be crap!! Same thing can apply when fuel is on sale (such as Wollies Plus, shop a dockets), alot of servo's have the fuel cut down to suit their prices and if you have a search around google then you'll find alot of sites about this. Their are independant testers employed to randomly test fuel from servos for ctain rating, octaine rating, etc. and many times the fuel being sold is sub-standard. Even companies like RACQ have reports about sub-standard fuels and their effects. Although RACQ's report against woolies in 2002 was retorted when a law suit was promised.

So try to buy your fuel from a depo or truck stop where they sell alot of diesel. Some small servo's sell as much or more diesel than the bigger servos talk around and look to see where the local trucks fill up. We have a independant distributor up here who sells two to three truck loads a day through a two bowser setup.

Anyhow hope this info was of some help.