Very poor mileage - 2006 CRD

DnA Diesel · **Posted:** Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:22 pm

Well, after a search, I haven't found anything clearly trying to troubleshoot very poor mileage of a CRD.

2006 CRD, up to and including F37. No mods. Cleaned MTAP/boost sensor at 16,500 km. Current odo: 19,600km.

Details:

calculated avg city mileage: 17.5-18L/100km (13.5-13.9 US mpg)
calculated avg hwy mileage: 11.5-12L/100km (20.3-21.1 US mpg)

EnerCan rating 10.9L/100 city - 8.5L/100 hwy (~22.3/28.6 US mpg)

I just had the Lib in for a full day of diagnostics and the dealer said that they spoke with STAR and engineering and could not determine why the poor mileage. In the aviation business, we call that "ground-checked serviceable", i.e. no fault found, no further action taken, etc... The Service Manager also provided me the feeble excuse that it takes time for a diesel to break-in and its mileage to maximize. I told him that my TDI was within 5 mpg of it's peak mileage less than a thousand km's from when I picked it up at the dealer. He told me the TDI and the Jeep's motor were apples and oranges. I asked him if it was normal to only get 60% of the advertised fuel economy by 20,000km? Thankfully there was a gentleman who had just brought his Ram 3500 Cummins in for servicing (poor guy) and he told the SM that "that doesn't sound right, my rig's getting better mileage than this fella!" That notwithstanding, the SM told me there was "nothing they could do", and to just "wait a little bit and see if it improves." :roll:

My next action will be a letter to DaimlerChrysler Canada (Cc: Ministry of Energy (NRCan), Vehicle Departement) asking them what remedies they have to ensure a vehicle they produced: A) provides fuel consumption reasonably close to the stated ratings, and B) does not produce 50-60% greater pollutants than it should.

I have given up on the needle in a haystack solution to make everything right...I fear I am in for a few more rounds of "repair by experimentation" before I take DaimlerChrysler to Small Claims Court to force them to release me from the Lease committment.

If anybody had any poor mileage issues with their CRD and had a repair that markedly improved their economy, I'd be most appreciative of the information. Otherwise, I'll keep folks up to date on how "waiting a little bit" is making it improve.

Regards,
Duey

impulse · **Posted:** Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:41 pm

I haven't checked mine recently, but will. I know it is not great. I have 10,000 km
Two small points - definitly not enough to justify your mileage
Economy is poorer with winter blends.
Odometre is off almost 10% . A 200 km trip (by gps) shows as 181 km. Good for warrenty.
For interest the speedo reads 100 when true speed is 93km.

MooseMeat · **Posted:** Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:09 pm

Thats about what I average. city/highway 20.5 - 21.5 MPG

n3qik · **Posted:** Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:15 pm

What position is your vent control in??
I just found out the hard way the AC is on in the recirculate mode.
Also the AC is on in floor , mixed and defrost modes.

Milage with AC on was 16.9 MPG US
Milage with out AC is 19.1 MPG US

BLake · **Posted:** Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:51 pm

Mine was getting poor mileage and a lot of smoke under acceleration. The dealer has replaced just about everything in the fuel system and the air leak is still there but the excessive smoke is gone now. I don't know yet if my mileage has improved as I've only used 1/2 a tank since I got it from the dealer.

This is from the Service Manual. Have your dealer perform the check outlined in the paragraph 4. You can see if you have air in your system by bleeding the filter as outlined in other posts.

AIR IN FUEL SYSTEM
Air will enter the fuel system whenever fuel supply lines, separator filters, injection pump, high-pressure lines or
injectors are removed or disconnected. Air trapped in the fuel system can result in hard starting, a rough running
engine, engine misfire, low power, excessive smoke and fuel knock.

Inspect the fuel system from the fuel tank to the injectors for loose connections (Refer to 14 - FUEL SYSTEM -
WARNING). Leaking fuel is an indicator of loose connections or defective seals. Air can also enter the fuel system
between the fuel tank and the fuel filter. Inspect the fuel tank and fuel lines for damage that might allow air into the
system.

Trapped air or leaking lines may also be identified by placing a clear piece of fuel line between the fuel supply hose
to the filter and the fuel supply hose to the high pressure pump. If a steady stream of large air bubbles are visible
in the clear hose while the engine is cranking or running the air intrusion is occurring before the high pressure
pump.

With the scan tool connected to the vehicle, select Engine and then select Sensor Display. Page down to view Fuel
Pressure Set Point and Actual Fuel Pressure. Start the engine and observe the Fuel Pressure Set Point and the
Actual Fuel Pressure. If the Actual Fuel Pressure Oscillates above and below the Fuel Pressure Set Point in a
regular cycle, inspect the fuel system for air intrusion.
If the Actual Fuel Pressure gradually drops below the Fuel Pressure Set Point then spikes well above the Fuel
Pressure Set Point, replace the fuel rail pressure solenoid (Refer to 14 - FUEL SYSTEM/FUEL INJECTION/FUEL
PRESSURE SOLENOID - REMOVAL).

vtdog · **Joined:** Fri Sep 30, 2005 11:27 am **Posts:** 640

I am in New Hampshire and have about 43,000 mi (just under 70 klicks). It was my experience that the engine did not fully beak in until about 20-25,000 miles (32-40000 km).

In addition, during the cold weather as I have in NH and you have in the great LaBatts factory, the diesel shows its worst mileage. If the weather is very cold (below 32f/0c) I only get about 22 miles per gallon, or 9.3 km/l. I believe that the cold weather "saps" the heat from the diesel and that the winter blend (lower BTU) fuel both are factors in reduced mileage.

During times with warm temps and non -winter fuel my mpg jump up to around 25mpg, or about 10.5 km/l.

The figures are based on about 80-85% hiway driving at 70-75 mph (120 km/hr)

Hope this helps.

dirtmover · **Posted:** Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:46 pm

I got an average of 10.5l/100km for the first 6 months (May-Nov) with about 20% city 80% highway. I was hoping for a little better but its not too far out.
Now, I've not calculated over the past three months but I suspect it's gone down dramatically with the cold weather and winter fuel.

MulderX · **Posted:** Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:33 pm

I have a 2006 as well outside Toronto. In strictly city driving (<15 km hauls) I will get about 575-600 km on 70 litres of fuel in the winter (11.6 litres/100km), in the summer that bumps to about 625-650 km on 70 litres (10.7 litres/100km). Straight highway driving I have been able to get just a shade under 10 litres/100km if I keep the speed under 110km per hour.

That seems to be pretty much on par with with others on this site seem to get.

TDI4BY · **Joined:** Sun Apr 02, 2006 11:56 pm **Posts:** 644

dirtmover wrote:

I got an average of 10.5l/100km for the first 6 months (May-Nov) with about 20% city 80% highway. I was hoping for a little better but its not too far out.
Now, I've not calculated over the past three months but I suspect it's gone down dramatically with the cold weather and winter fuel.

"10.5l/100km" EH??? :lol:

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2007 1:33 pm

10.5L/100km = 22.4 mpg
http://www.tdiclub.com/misc/conversions.html

dirtmover · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:07 pm

Just done the math and we're up to 11.8l/100km (or 24mpg if you use real gallons!) over Dec-Feb. That's about 10% worse than the warmer months.

dirtmover · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:24 pm

vtdog wrote:

I believe that the cold weather "saps" the heat from the diesel and that the winter blend (lower BTU) fuel both are factors in reduced mileage.

Don't forget the warmup time as well. Although I drive mainly highway it's in 40km journeys. About 12km of this is spent in 3rd gear because it takes so long to warm up enough to shift into 5th.

Toe · **Joined:** Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:50 pm **Posts:** 44

Somethings not right. I am getting 11.5-12.8 L/100Km in the city and I've been in 4 wheel drive the entire winter, and get 7.8-9.0 on the highway through the rockies from Edmonton to Vancouver.

dalefranzen · **Posted:** Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:21 pm

I have a reasonably new 06 CRD with 6500 miles on it. For the most part of my city driving, I drive back and forth to work. That is 5 miles each way. Kinda hard on a rig. But I still avg 18.5 MPG.
When we drive to the ski mountain (49 Degree North, 55 miles from the house, we average 22-23 MPG. That is with 4 people and all of our ski gear.
On the freeway, Woo Hoo, this little beast has seen up to 31 MPG. It averages 28 MPG. Here again, this is with 4 people in the Jeep.
Fuel is a big deal. We went to Montana a month ago and the fuel was much cheaper but we probably realized a 10% decrease in milage. I do not believe that altitude has anything to do with it as SPokane is approx. 2200 feet.
I think fuel would be a great place to start.
I am sorry that you are having such a tough time as I love my CRD. I should have bought one last year.

Dale

KJbob · **Posted:** Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:30 pm

vtdog wrote:

I am in New Hampshire and have about 43,000 mi (just under 70 klicks). It was my experience that the engine did not fully beak in until about 20-25,000 miles (32-40000 km).

In addition, during the cold weather as I have in NH and you have in the great LaBatts factory, the diesel shows its worst mileage. If the weather is very cold (below 32f/0c) I only get about 22 miles per gallon, or 9.3 km/l. I believe that the cold weather "saps" the heat from the diesel and that the winter blend (lower BTU) fuel both are factors in reduced mileage.

During times with warm temps and non -winter fuel my mpg jump up to around 25mpg, or about 10.5 km/l.

The figures are based on about 80-85% hiway driving at 70-75 mph (120 km/hr)

Hope this helps.

Dittos on the mileage hit in cold weather. When we had our last really cold spell (-10f to -20f) I got about 50-75 miles less out of a tankful of diesel. When temps get above around 40f my mileage really improves and, like vtdog I'll get 24 or 25mpg when it gets "nice".

I'll be interested to see how my mileage reacts to ULSD as we didn't get the fuel until last fall.

dgeist · **Posted:** Fri Mar 09, 2007 3:45 pm

KJbob wrote:

Dittos on the mileage hit in cold weather. When we had our last really cold spell (-10f to -20f) I got about 50-75 miles less out of a tankful of diesel. When temps get above around 40f my mileage really improves and, like vtdog I'll get 24 or 25mpg when it gets "nice".

I'll be interested to see how my mileage reacts to ULSD as we didn't get the fuel until last fall.

Same for me, dropped about 10% near the start of winter (and I'm in GA, where 30F is pretty cold). I did get a little better results leaving the block heater plugged in for a few hours before startup (which costs something like the power to run a light-bulb for the same time). It obviously doesn't get it up to operating tempurate, but helped keep if from getting too terribly cold and the engine got up to overating temperature noticeably faster. Putting it in a garage did a whole lot more

no-blue-screen · **Posted:** Fri Mar 09, 2007 5:20 pm

One thing to check is for excessive brake dust build-up on a specific wheel. Also, check the adjustment on your parking brake....you would surprised what a slightly stuck parking brake can do to fuel economy.

DnA Diesel · **Posted:** Sun Mar 11, 2007 12:34 am

Toe wrote:

Somethings not right. I am getting 11.5-12.8 L/100Km in the city and I've been in 4 wheel drive the entire winter, and get 7.8-9.0 on the highway through the rockies from Edmonton to Vancouver.

Toe, that's why I'm wondering what is wrong with my beastie. Have you had F37 recall done yet?

Very poor mileage - 2006 CRD

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