hy guys got a bit of a query here especially if you own an awd. ive got a KL awd verada with 70000kms on the clock it seems to be getting only 300kms to a full tank (last fill up was $50 @ 1.12p/l with approx 43-45 ltrs) on fill it the guage registers its full but when driving even at 60kms you can see the guage dropping. ive put new plugs and fuel filter in thinking this may solve the issue but it seems to be worsening (also car has 19in wheels not sure if the bigger rolling diameter could be making the car work a bit harder) now i drive alot of stop start driving and generally quite easy going on the car (not much of a lead foot) i cannot understand why the car seems to be drinking so much fuel. could it be 02 sensor or even faulty fuel sender unit?

what you should do now... is once you have a FULL tank... drive for about 200 k's.. to work etc... then FILL the tank again and divide the litres that you just put in the tank by the K's that you drove...

that will give us somewhere to start..

ifs its between 11 - 16km/l then its because your driving.. well maybe not.. but whatever..

Whats your average fuel consumption?
Is it near empty when you fill up?
I think my fuel sender unit is on its way out also. I found my fuel used on the trip comp matches what the pump puts in, but the guage doesn't match. ie, I use 35lts out of the 70 and it says 3/4 used on the guage.

itll generally be just under the 1/4 mark to empty as i dont like running the car low (cause of crap that sits in the bottom of the tanks) i assume approx 14 L per 100kms

300kms to a full tank = around 20L/100kms assuming a 11L safety margin. As you said, you're putting in 45L at a time, which is nowhere near the 71L tank capacity, to state the obvious. What does you trip computer say and why don't you trust it?

Mine sits at 10.6l/100k and as soon as it passes 1/2 on the guage, it decreases faster. Though I still get roughly 500k to a tank. So my guess is it's a faulty sender unit.

yes, but "E" on the guage isnt 0 litres in the tank.
There is a reserve.
eg my fuel light comes on with still 15-20 litres in the tank.

AWD fuel use around town can be horrendous with an enthusiastic right foot.

i assume approx 14 L per 100kms

That's about what I get in my TJ...
A large V6 in heavy body will tend to use fuel. Specially in start / stop driving.
My best was on a trip over to Dubbo and back, where I averaged around 11L/100km.

300kms to a full tank = around 20L/100kms assuming a 11L safety margin. As you said, you're putting in 45L at a time, which is nowhere near the 71L tank capacity, to state the obvious. What does you trip computer say and why don't you trust it?

well instant fuel use @ highway like i was driving on today was sitting on around 8-10L trip computer atm is saying 190kms and fuel guage is saying half left!

Mine sits at 10.6l/100k and as soon as it passes 1/2 on the guage, it decreases faster. Though I still get roughly 500k to a tank. So my guess is it's a faulty sender unit.

ive noticed the same with mine once it hits half it dissapears faster than my previous 96 v8 ss! :) never got 500km to a tank is there a way to check the sender unit rather than blindly going out and buying a sender unit hoping that fixes the problem?

Don't rely on the instant fuel use. Mine reads 90l/100kms at times!!

Use the average fuel consumption. It may be close to accurate, while the needle/ guage might not be.

If you keep an eye on the trip computer at each fill you'll get a more accurate picture of what your usage is.

The AWD will use between 1 to 1.5 L/100k more than an equivalent FWD Magna / Verada. Around Sydney, I get at best about 13.5 L/100k and in heavy traffic or short trips it gulps up to 16 L/100k. A heavy right foot plus suberban driving sees the fuel gauge sink at frightening speed. Highway cruising gets close to 10 L/100k.

We just have to take this on the chin, in exchange for the benefits of AWD.

I LOVE my AWD - But I have a lead foot and I use all the power, even just on the short commute to/from work.

If I drive sensibly, then the up to 30 minute drive for just over 5km to work, sees the computer readout's fuel consumption at 15 to 16L/100km.
With a couple of trips down the M4 to Penrith, it's even been in the 12s. But normally it's 15+.

So if you're putting in 44.5L ($50 @ $1.12/L) to travel 300km, that's about 14.8L/100km - about the same as me commuting if I'm gentle.

But if you are really concerned, then you'll need accurate measurements of your fuel use and kms travelled before anyone can say if it's normal or excessive.

Cheers!
Oggy
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My AWD says 8.1L/100km atm. Because the std ecu is trying to scale back my 475ccs! :D

With std injectors and ecu I could get 10L/100 neat with the Raptor SC on but keeping rpm sub 3200rpm. Before the SC, after the rebuild was 10.2-3L/100. Used to be 10.7-11.1/100 dependant on my mood. When I first bought it and drove it home from Syd to Maitland it got 11.7 and I was shocked. Thought it'd be better than that. Luckily I got the modding bug!

The AWD fuel guage is not accurate due to the split fuel tank. The sender is in one side of the tank and fuel is slowely pumped accoss the hump from one side top the other as you drive.
A cruide system but reliable and works well. This is why your guage goes down quicly because it is only really measuring half the quantity(one side of tank) and has to wait for the fuel to be pumped over.
You would probbly notice that sometimes your fuel light is on and the needle is on empty but next time you look or start the car, the fuel light has gone and the needle is at 1/4. Due to fuel being transfered from one side of tank to other.

Best thing to do to an AWD is put a SVI gas system on it.
You get the grip of an awd without paying for it, and you get to drive as hard as you want all the time because gas is so cheap.

The accurate way to measure fuel consumption is by filling the tank and seeing how much it takes to refill. If you have gone 500km and it takes 55 litres the the fuel economy is 55 divided by 5 = 11.0 ltr/100km.

My AWD consumption readout isn't accurate but the fuel gauge is pretty good.

Instantaneous readout doesn't tell you much. Mine reads 99ltrs/100 when I floor it! Its probably worse than that. The readout likely only goes as far as 99 anyway.

When testing Graham's handiwork we run his tank nearly empty Brisbane to Bulahdelah via Mt Lindsay,Lions Rd, Casino and Orana way. Took 67 ltrs and travelled 663km, averaged just over 10tr/100km.

When he gets enough km on them he will let me know how the 12 hole 380 injectors compare with the 4 hole 3.5. As expected on the highway he says there is not much difference, but around town the 380 may be a tiny bit better.

Cheers,
Alan

hrrm some interesting arguments guys! thanks for that, just surprises me thats all with this car i never realised how much they chew but the argument about the tank pumping fuel from one side to the other is a good one!. if i was going to gas id prob prefer it to be dedicated mainly to get away from fitting a tank to the boot area (no room in there!) only prob i get a bit uneasy with gas is i remember from my days working at holden how the airboxes loved to blow apart literally from backfire, i think the svi systems a sequential gas injection correct? can it be rigged to use the factory guage? i checked the average on the trip was saying a constant 13.4

I love my AWD too! With the city driving i'm doing at the moment, I'm getting about 13-14L/100km. So after comparing with you guys, it seems quite alright.

Hey Alan.

I found my trip/fuel consumption readout to be dead accurate to 100ml, but the fuel guage is way out.

Wannamagna, yes, SVI is sequential vapour injection, and they are fool proof. You would never know it is on gas and they don't play up at all. T
You are thinking of the old mixer style setups which are the ones that can blow your air box off. It is not physically possible to do that withan SVI system.
And as for tank, go a donut tank where your spare wheel goes like i have. You dont have a spare wheel but really, do you ever use it. You just carry a can of tyre weld and a compressor in with the gas tank. If that doesnt work, then go a TOW.
You would never even know myu car is on gas ther than filling i up. Cant see tank, switch, and barely even see anything under bonnet.
Oh yeah, and NO, you cant have the fuel guage as the gas guage with an SVI system. Mixer system, yes you can. Weird that the better system you can't but thats how it is.

i get 11.5 to the 100 from saltash to adamstowns everyday

I get consistently 640-650km on a TL AWD running premium unleaded.

Readout of average consumption between 9.2L/100km to 9.4L/100km

Being very fuel conscious, 75% highway

Which, by my standards, on a 1700kg 3.5V6 AWD sedan, is great

Just bought a 2005 AWD Verada. We picked the car up in Sydney. Filled the tank. Filled up again in Wangaratta 620Kms on 54 litres. Averaged 8.8 L/100.

That was driving the Hume Freeway with cruise control at 110 Km/h.

I think mostly it's driving technique. My wife gets terrible economy from our old Magna on LPG. Lucky to see 350 ks on a tank of LPG. I can get easily 100 Km more. She guns from the lights, doesn't anticipate ahead.

If you are getting really poor MPG, get a basic tune done and do a measured trip. ie fill up, zero trip, drive for 100 Km, fill up.

I used to keep records for a Citroen I owned for Six years. I got 43 miles per gallon for the entire life of the car. That was all kinds of motoring,

I drove the old Magna to Perth towing a trailer and was getting 550 Km on a tank of LPG (65 litres). 700 Km on petrol.

The Magna has 365,000 on the clock now, still smoke free, minimal oil consumption. I bought the Magna with 270,000 on the clock in 2005. Great engine.

I havent seen anywhere where you have checked your air filter. I am just assuming this has been done. If that is clagged up it will certainly have an adverse effect on your fuel figures. It would pay to change/clean it depending on what you have. O2 sensor could be a problem and again so could your exhaust depending on how old/many k's it has on it. Wouldn't hurt to run some injector cleaner through a tank either. Start with the simple things and go from there. Never trust a fuel gauge, they are only there as an indicator (and a mighty poor one at that!). As stated before the best way to check you mileage if you are concerned is do a fill and zero you trip meter. Then fill up when you appear to be low and note your mileage and litres. Say you used 30 litres and you went 380 km you would divide 30 by 3.8 to get your consumption being in this case 7.89l/100 km. However if you have non standard wheels and tyres you should check your rolling diameter as this will have an enormous bearing on things. You could still work it out, however it is alot more involved.

I havent seen anywhere where you have checked your air filter. I am just assuming this has been done. If that is clagged up it will certainly have an adverse effect on your fuel figures. It would pay to change/clean it depending on what you have. O2 sensor could be a problem and again so could your exhaust depending on how old/many k's it has on it. Wouldn't hurt to run some injector cleaner through a tank either. Start with the simple things and go from there. Never trust a fuel gauge, they are only there as an indicator (and a mighty poor one at that!). As stated before the best way to check you mileage if you are concerned is do a fill and zero you trip meter. Then fill up when you appear to be low and note your mileage and litres. Say you used 30 litres and you went 380 km you would divide 30 by 3.8 to get your consumption being in this case 7.89l/100 km. However if you have non standard wheels and tyres you should check your rolling diameter as this will have an enormous bearing on things. You could still work it out, however it is alot more involved.

airfilter is a k+n recharged about 2-3 months ago, exhaust system is 1 yr old new h/m headers and lukey LR2779 (i think it is) rear muffler fitted about 6 months ago, i was thinking the cat could be beginning to foul.
will keep what youve said in mind, i think the 19`s could also be putting extra stress on the engine hence higher fuel consumption

Hey all, thanks for all the info. My 02 TJ get around the same as most others 14l city, 12h/w. (according to the computer) My issue however is that the claimed consumption by the factory is 12 and 8 respectively with a combined average of 9.5. now I know that these tests are done do a specific standard and that individual results vary depending on a number of factors and conditions. If the tests are supposed to be indicative of 'typical driving' why after 5 years of covering every type of driving have I never been able to get anywhere near these claimed figures despite my best efforts?? I'm sure MitsuMotors and (every other car manufacturer) publish the most favourable results however there is a big difference between the standard test and reality which is clearly evident from what I have read in this forum which is disappointing and more than a little misleading I feel. Anyhow thats my 2 cents worth.
Next question, anyone got much data on towing eg 1500kg caravan for example? Or shouldn’t I ask ....
Talk soon buds.