FUEL PROBLEMS V6

[kelvin]

hey guys, i bought a 2005 V6 camry sportivo for almost a year now. During the break in period, i drove nice and easy and yet the fuel consumption was about 19-20L/100km!!!. I continued this driving habit for until 1500km and the fuel consumption still 19L/100km. Up until now at 16000km it is still 18L/100km. Went to service it and the dealer said the engine is fine and all they can do is send in this information and said its my driving that is causing this problem. I know thats not true because even when im super light footed it still drinks that much. Anyone have any ideas or the same problems?!?!!?

this has been a run of badluck. My previous car was a 2004 supercharged holden commodore S series II which was a lemon having over 10 problems and drinking 30L/100km as well as no power steering.hahaha

[Terry]

hmm...it technically shouldnt be that high...

ive got the exact same car, and i have to admit, i drive with a pretty lead foot

i get on average 15L/100km (worst ive ever gotten is 17L/100km)

thats mostly suburban driving, hardly any highway driving...

how are you calculating the fuel consumption?

because that trip computer reading isnt always really accurate :P

the way i do it, is when i fill up, i reset the odometer reading, fill the tank full,

and then when i fill up next time, i take down that reading, and take down how much fuel i just put in to fill the tank again.

that is pretty much the most accurate way i could find to make the calculation.

[perthcamry]

Heya :P

Hummm have you tried Premium fuel?

Have you disconnected the battery to rest the ECU?

how is the tyre pressure?

how many Kms do you get per tank?

Its strange as a mate of mine gets 8.2l/100k in his 4cyl Camry and I get more like 11L

[kelvin]

hey terry, i use the same method as you because i thought the computer mite b wrong. But as i measured it is still around 17-18L/100km driving lightly.

hey perthcamry,

i always fill up with premium. The battery/ecu part i dont know wat to do. and the tyre pressure is perfect ( 220 rear and 250 front from memory). One tank....only 300 to 350km? its terrible. sometimes lucky can reach 400km.

Bought it as a brand new car...so i know that it wasnt driven hard during the beggining of its life.

[Terry]

what type of driving conditions do you usually experience? like it is in alot of traffic jams etc?

and how much weight do you have in the car? is it only you in the car? or is it regularly with passengers or cargo?

have you tried putting up the tyre pressures? it probably wont change the fuel consumption heaps, but it should help a little bit.

i run 39psi (270kpa) fronts and 35psi (240kpa) rears.

[perthcamry]

Humm just disconnect the battery for 5 min and that will reset ECU, also put the tyre pressure up as Terry suggests, ;)

And just for the heck of it try a completely different fuel that is maybe like BP Unleaded, not Premium just to see what happens....... :D

[kelvin]

i drive in normal traffic conditions, and rarely in peak hour traffic ( peak hour traffic maybe 2-3 times a year). thanks for tyre pressure advice and ecu,ill give it a try.

however, im suprised with highway driving, i put on cruise control to about 100km/hr and i get 5L/100km!.

When u guys drive hard and push it up to the redline for about 5-10minutes, can u smell some burning smell when the engine is off (coming out of the exhaust)?

btw, theres never heavy loads and usually 1 or 2 passengers.

[m_luke]

Have you disconnected the battery to rest the ECU?

So even the Camry has a 'learning' ECU and I've heard that the ECU for the auto trans is also a 'learning' one. Is that right?

I think I read in the Corolla forum that after you reset the ECU, drive it a little on the hard side to 're-train' it. Should this be done?

[spordeano]

Hi Kelvin

I also own a V6 Sportivo but 2003. My fuel consumption on cruise (which i use most of the time) is down to 7L/100k. I also use premium unleaded and have fuel catalysts in my fuel tank which have made a difference. My tyres pressure is around what Terry suggested but i also have nitrogen gas in them not air. :D

[kelvin]

hi spordeano'

Wat is your fuel consumption during normal driving in the city. My car's computer recently started to display 26-27L/100km but i think its wrong. Im driving from sydney to melbourne soon, and with cruise control on, i hope i can get there in less than one tank. Wat do u guys reckon is best tyre pressure for highway speeds.?

[m_luke]

hi spordeano'

Wat is your fuel consumption during normal driving in the city. My car's computer recently started to display 26-27L/100km but i think its wrong. Im driving from sydney to melbourne soon, and with cruise control on, i hope i can get there in less than one tank. Wat do u guys reckon is best tyre pressure for highway speeds.?

I would start by looking at the type pressure sticker found on the driver's side door frame and go up from there.

[westerntoyotatechnician]

guys the guage on the dash is too inconsistant and there is too much variations in it. there cannot be a correct reading from that. the only way to tell is using a hand held scanner and recording the data to check for inconsistancies. otherwise it will be how many k's to a tank. despite that many different road conditions would apply to fuel consumption. load on the engine, temperature, quality of the fuel etc. there are many factors considered in getting a proper fuel consumption test, that it is really hard to say exactly how much fuel the car is drinking.

[tsr]

i havent seen any real helpful suggestions so heres a few.

clean battery terminals.

check plugs and leads.

try BP Ultimate PULP

- i get 10l/100km avg with BP Ultimate,to 25l/100km with Shell ULP.

DO NOT use cruise control, it actaully takes more fuel as its regulation isnt to spectacular.

cargo, passengers, any extra weight makes a HUGE difference to fuel consumption, in the way of an extra 20-30% more usage for each extra passenger, especially noticible with the auto tranny.

is the car down on performance? if it is, you may have more problems.

[perthcamry]

I think there is just a fair difference in cars coming out of the same factory with the same specs.

I had a Golf that I would drive really hard and never got over 7L/100k.but it was meant to use more. :P

My 2.4 uses around the 10-11 mark no mater what I do, a mate of mine uses around 8.6l/100k so I just think there are differences in the motors. Those figures don’t seem to change on mine with constant speeds on the highways either for some reason.

This is also seen with the dyno runs of cars. Same spec and outputs that vary quite a bit.

It seems a 20% difference in fuel economy is seen in these cars. It would be interesting to see how that goes with different power outputs.

It’s a bit of a pain in the butt as what the fuel figures are from manufacturers and Australian Standards don’t show there is a variance.

Also if Wheels gets a good one the car is praised if it gets a dud the car is reject for life! :P

[tsr]

now that you mention it, its probably related to the running in process. if you granny footed it then your power and mileage would be down compared to someone who did it decently =)

[m_luke]

now that you mention it, its probably related to the running in process. if you granny footed it then your power and mileage would be down compared to someone who did it decently =)

Other than for all the moving parts to play 'get to know you', what else does the run-in process do for the car?

[Blackzze]

My 20c.

Running it in Firm but not hard -as in go real easy for first 4-6hr, and pick up gradullay from there to around the 100 hr mark, so say up to around 3,500klm.

But everyone has their preferences, which is why this is only MHO.

I once got a magna from my mum (slowwww driver) that had done 16,000 klm and had used on average 13.8 litres over 12 months she had it, we worked at the same company and she wanted my vx como, so of course I swapped her!

I got it by the scruff of the neck and 12 months later i was getting 12.6L average, it was still tight in the 'top end' when i got it, and even in the midrange (i doubt mum took it over 4k the whle time she had it).

Running in can also add or subtract from the overall engine life, my own method (tried over 700,000+ klm) is:

Get standard oil and filter change at 1,000 k's.

Go standard service and oil up to 20-30,000 k's and change to a full synthetic after that, to me this is the best way to preserve an engine in top mechanical condition. I use mobil1. First change to full synthetic should be in for 1,000k's then do an oil/filter change (flush), and just change every 10,000k's thereafter which is still an easy life for a full syn oil.

I really believe changing to a full synthetic when the engine is only 1,000k's old is not right, as the full syn oil is really that good that it will take almost forever to fully run-in the engine!!

I even find that after the 40,000 and 50,000 k's the engine is STILL freeing up in the top end, that's probably how long it takes to "fully" run in an engine. 4cyls tend to feel their best after 40,000 and ive had 3 different 6 cyl jap engines, and bearing in mind it's a standard tune motor, don't fully free up until 50,000K's+

Again, these are just 12 years of my observations, there is many different ways to do it, and welcome anyone else out there that covers the K's in their own method of running in....... Just not in this post :P