2004 1.8 diesel poor economy

[thesilverfox]

A member on another forum has asked me to ask you guys about a 2004 Foucs with poor economy.

He says 'TDI', but in 2005, I was under the impression the 1.8 was then a TDCi? Anyhow see below - all help/advice appreciated. I've suggested the air filter and disconnecting the battery to force the ECU to reset.

"Its an 04 1.8tdi with 60k on it, driving is 60% motorway at 75mph 20% a roads 50mph and the rest in town. She is getting 43mpg. Tyres are at the right psi and the brakes arent binding, oil was changed 2k ago, made no difference. The only problem im aware of that could be linked is the car takes an age to warm up (around the 10 minute mark) ford assure me this is normal."

Thanks in advance,

tsf.

[mjt]

It all depends on how heavy-footed he is. 43mpg is probably not far off the mark unless he's very light-footed. I can get ours up to around 50mpg on a succession of long (>30 mile) runs needing very little gear changing, and by gentle acceleration and keeping the revs below 2000 as much as possible going through the gears (to avoid the turbo kicking in). Around town, it quickly drops to the low 40's and takes a while to build back up on the next long run.

The diesels do take a long time to warm up and this is normal. They're more thermally efficient than petrols so don't generate so much heat. This is one reason why their mpg suffers on short runs.

Another point is that the computer is not necessarily that accurate in calculating mpg. The best method to check mpg is brim-to-brim. That said I've found ours is within 1-2mpg of the displayed value using that method.

[artscot79]

It all depends on how heavy-footed he is. 43mpg is probably not far off the mark unless he's very light-footed. I can get ours up to around 50mpg on a succession of long (>30 mile) runs needing very little gear changing, and by gentle acceleration and keeping the revs below 2000 as much as possible going through the gears (to avoid the turbo kicking in). Around town, it quickly drops to the low 40's and takes a while to build back up on the next long run.

The diesels do take a long time to warm up and this is normal. They're more thermally efficient than petrols so don't generate so much heat. This is one reason why their mpg suffers on short runs.

Another point is that the computer is not necessarily that accurate in calculating mpg. The best method to check mpg is brim-to-brim. That said I've found ours is within 1-2mpg of the displayed value using that method.

sounds about right to me colder weather fuel burns better depends on wether they brake hard or use the brakes a lot then accelerate again diesels do take a bit to warm upo so it doesnt sound that bad to me and remember the price of fuels gone up sio she wont be getting as many litres for her money even that small amount can make a big difference