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Post by 83rangerguy on Nov 27, 2014 12:20:17 GMT -5
I've noticed a decrease in MPG, I was averaging 35-37mpg and recently it's more like 31-33mpg. There's no loss in power, I can still cruise at 70mph down the highway. I haven't done anything that would affect mileage, like change tire size or anything, where did my 4mpg go to? is it time to rebuild the injectors?
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Post by montana on Nov 29, 2014 13:35:20 GMT -5
Was this a gradual loss over time? or an instant drop in mpg? if the latter it could be as simple as a bad batch of fuel. If this occurred over time your assumption about the injectors needing rebuilt is probably right.
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Post by 83rangerguy on Nov 29, 2014 19:35:02 GMT -5
It happened over the course of one tank full, I've been tracking my mileage every tank. How would bad fuel affect mileage?
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Post by montana on Nov 29, 2014 23:17:33 GMT -5
If the fuel is contaminated with water (and your fuel/water separator is inoperable) it will require more fuel to maintain the power/speed/mileage you're accustomed to. I always make it a habit to buy my fuel at truck stops, they go through tens of thousands of gallons a fuel every week, which leaves very little time for moisture to contaminate the fuel as it sits in the under ground storage tanks. The more obscure filling stations don't move as much diesel fuel and it can be several months old and be much more likely to be contaminated with water.
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Post by mhuggler on Nov 30, 2014 7:25:04 GMT -5
Cetane makes a pretty big difference too. My Dodge/Cummins loses a couple mpg just going from 42 to 40 cetane.
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Post by DieselDangerRanger on Dec 1, 2014 11:35:22 GMT -5
Can a 'sizzle test' be done with diesel like you do veg oil? you could check your source and your tank. Moisture also contaminates fuel because of water vapours accumulating in the tank, especially when you have a fast warm up in ambient temperatures. You likely already know it's good to keep the tank topped up if you're in the cold. Water shouldn't be come in thru the fuel system. Algae can also thrive in diesel!
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Post by aggieengnr on Dec 1, 2014 14:09:41 GMT -5
If it was that recent over the course of a tank of fuel, I would make an educated guess that it is fuel stations switching from 'summer' to 'winter' blend diesel. Winter blend fuel tends to yield lower MPG's.
I've been seeing my MPG's on my TDI jetta drop last few tanks as well due to winter fuel.
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Post by widetrack212 on Dec 1, 2014 17:52:52 GMT -5
Fuel filter/filters.. Our powerstroke had the same problem and wouldn't run on all 8 eventually. One tank of "Tar Diesel" truck stop fuel isn't always the best.. Never would've thought truck stop fuel would be bad but it was. Changed the fuel filter and it ran perfectly fine and Mpg's went back to normal. The fuel filter had less than 1,000 miles on it.
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Post by 83rangerguy on Dec 4, 2014 17:00:19 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies, a lot of good advice. I usually fill-up in Anchorage at a place that sells tons of diesel, my last fill-up was in Talkeetna at a tiny hole in the wall kind of place, first time I bought diesel there (got caught low on fuel) might of got some bum fuel.....I added some Diesel Kleen and i'll change me fuel filter before my next fill-up. My water separator behind the drivers seat doesn't work so that probably didn't help matters any.
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Post by wayne83 on Dec 4, 2014 20:31:25 GMT -5
The water separator is very easy to clean out and make work properly. I got the big o ring that goes between lid and housing at John deere for about 4 bucks. It takes 6 o rings and a parts washer and can have it working like new. Generally the cable is always fine, it's the o rings and little lead ball on end of cable that seats into the housing that get froze in there. Just unscrew the cable take a wrench and pop the cable out and clean it all up.
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Post by wayne83 on Dec 4, 2014 20:33:23 GMT -5
You will be amazed how your truck even Runs if you take it off and pull it apart. I have done three and 2 were just filled to the top with nasty black tar like crud and the other was a solid 3 inch block of ice and nasty crud at the bottom of it. All 3 cleaned up good and cables pull freely like it was suppose too.
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Post by 83rangerguy on Dec 5, 2014 16:27:22 GMT -5
Thanks Wayne! I didn't know they were rebuildable, i'll tackle that this spring when the weather warms. I took the drain plug off when I first got the truck and nothing came out, no water, no diesel, nothing. The handle was frozen too so I just forgot about it, but would be nice to have it working again.
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