19 mpg

[chriscolleman]

Went on a family trip this weekend.

My wife and daughters packed up the chuckwagon "80 series" with just about everything you can expect 1 wife, 2 daughters, 1 son, 2 grandkid babys can carry or play with.

Including hauling my personal plaything atv along with us.

They all decided to travel in the luxury of their stationwagons, whilst I drove the chuckwagon with SWAMBO riding shotgun.

I hastened a calculation of combined vehicle and trailer weight at about 7000 lbs and ended up with 19 MPG.

Don't you just love a diesel cruiser!

 

[Dave2000]

I get 30 MPG but the road conditions are pretty good here in Spain though.

regards

Dave

 

[Ecoman]

Best I have had is 22mpg

 

[Dave2000]

Best I have had is 22mpg

May I suggest a change in your username?

regards

Dave

 

[Chris]

You have to wonder about the effect of the 7% bio fuel added by the fuel companies under government requirements. If found that in my company 2.2 Toyota I got an immediate drop a couple of years back when this happened. Here we are chasing the highest mpg and I wonder if we'll ever see what WAS possible. I wonder if you'd get 30 mpg if you filled up here in the UK!! We may have good quality derv, but it certainly has had all the goodness taken out.

I drained the tank of my new cruiser as it has been standing for between 5 and 8 years. The diesel was completely different. I appreciate it's been in there a while, but it was a different colour, smelled different and so far it seems it run very smoothly on it with no smoke at all. I wish I could have it analysed.

Chris

 

[Ecoman]

Best I have had is 22mpg

May I suggest a change in your username?

 

[Dave2000]

I wonder if you'd get 30 mpg if you filled up here in the UK!!

Fuel quality is not 'thought' to be very good although I have no proof, I note that my cars exhaust does appear a bit 'misty' at night which can be seen in a following cars headlights when using the standard 'A' diesel ('B' is red for all you travellers) however, I tried a tankful of the 'super duper plus' and the exhaust is clean at all times however, whilst cost (at the moment) is not an issue and I could use either I am sure the sulphur content is lower which IMHO is not good for our older injection pumps?

regards

Dave

 

[Andrew Prince]

I am sure the sulphur content is lower which IMHO is not good for our older injection pumps?

Hi Dave,
Going OT - could you explain a bit more here? Why is low sulphur content bad (not good) for IPs? I agree that the sulphur content is lower (as mandated by EU law) but the rest has me scratching my head.

Cheers,

 

[Brett]

Not wanting to tread on Daves toes

The sulphur in diesel was the lubricant, like lead in petrol.

Since they've taken the sulphur out, diesel is somewhat "drier" which isn't good for injection pumps as the fuel itself lubes the pump.

The plus of adding in the 7% biodiesel is it adds lubricity back.

 

[Chris]

Can we / should we add anything to diesel for our trucks? I have heard that people put 500mm of ATF into their fuel. Maybe not necessary to add all the time, but there's the question anyway.

Chris

 

[adrianr]

You can add ATF or 2 stroke oil as well for lubricity.

 

[Brett]

Can we / should we add anything to diesel for our trucks? I have heard that people put 500mm of ATF into their fuel. Maybe not necessary to add all the time, but there's the question anyway.

Chris

I sometimes use that Millers diesel treatment. It seems pretty good, gives a bit more power, cleans injectors etc & lubes the injection pump.

 

[Andrew Prince]

The sulphur in diesel was the lubricant, like lead in petrol.

Ah ok, now the fallacy rears its head Sulphur is NOT a lubricant - so sulphur content, high or low, makes no meaningful difference to lubricity by itself. But back in the 90s the technology used to reduce sulphur content also stripped out key compounds that gave the diesel its lubricity. Since those dark days, ULS (ultra low sulphur) diesel has had additives added to improve lubricity (and I believe the sulphur removal technology has evolved so as not to reduce lubricity as much) so ULS is a non-issue in terms of lack of lubricity. Diesel lubricity is measured and is one of the requirements for diesel to make spec.

Since they've taken the sulphur out, diesel is somewhat "drier" which isn't good for injection pumps as the fuel itself lubes the pump.

Partly true - the sulphur removal process reduces the aromatics content (another family of compounds present in fossil fuels) and lower aromatics content has an impact on rubber seals, causing them to shrink. Modern IPs have seals made of appropriate rubber to resist this but some of the older IPs are susceptible to seal shrinkage. As I understand it, this problem usually occurs where fuel grades are changed significantly and suddenly. I.e. switching from B100 to ULSD. The punchline is to try and avoid switching grades dramatically if you can help it.

The plus of adding in the 7% biodiesel is it adds lubricity back.

True about bio lubricity but as mentioned above, modern ULS diesel doesn't need lubricity to be "added back" - it must meet the lubricity grade, however that is achieved.

BTW I also run a small amount of 2stroke in my 80 in the hope that this is keeping my IP seals in good shape but to tell the truth, I have not done any homework on whether 2stroke adds the type of aromatics to make any difference. And in theory it should provide plenty of lubricity should this still be needed

Cheers,

 

[chriscolleman]

My mate who drives a 35 year and older mercedes truck/campervan adds 2 stroke oil to the beasts diet.
He says it helps the injection system and it runs smoother???
With most of its BEB shot and smoking like a WWII supply ship I wonder if it makes any difference though?

And then again there is the question what kind of 2 stroke oil, mineral, semi-synthetic or full synthetic??

I just go and fill her up with the nicest diesel I can get.

Oh correction on the original consumption figure, I was using US gallons in stead of UK.
I should have read 21,5 MPG

 

[Brett]

Going OT - could you explain a bit more here? Why is low sulphur content bad (not good) for IPs? I agree that the sulphur content is lower (as mandated by EU law) but the rest has me scratching my head.

Cheers,

Hmmm..... So your subtly worded question was really a trap eh Andrew!

 

[Andrew Prince]

More of a clarification on what was being said - if there is a genuine reason for ULSD being bad for IPs, then I'd rather know about it sooner than later! The old flog about sulphur and lubrication I was aware of, yes.
My 80 has survived this long without IP issues and a diet of ULSD, so touch wood that continues for a while yet

 

[Dave Docwra]

21.5 mpg is much closer to reality..

 

[Dave2000]

Sorry all, perhaps I should have said what Andrew did, but the long and the short of it was that when the oil companies pulled the sulphur down the lubricity went with it.....how does that sound?

regards

Dave

 

[Andrew Prince]

All good

 

[Bat21]

Just got back from a 400 mile round trip down to the other side of 'that London' and back. My truck returned 23.71 which isn't bad for a 92 80 Auto

Regarding the 'change' in diesel, yes it certainly isn't the oily smelly stuff it used to be years ago. As 99% of diesels vehicles on the road today are modern common rail, the need for the 'lube' has gone. I normally add 2 litres of cheap cooking oil per fill up to add the 'lube' back... it also keeps the injectors cleaner too