Panda What am I doing wrong?!

[Peddy90]

I think my car is having a massive hissy fit! Basically I'm using petrol like no-ones business. I've pumped up my tyres and it's made no difference I can use a full tank in a week! That can't be right can it?
Yes I do short(ish) journeys for school run but usually I'm going at least 9 miles most of time more. Any advice?

 

[Funky Spike]

What engine?
2wd or 4wd?
How many miles to a tank?

Spike

 

[varesecrazy]

I think my car is having a massive hissy fit! Basically I'm using petrol like no-ones business. I've pumped up my tyres and it's made no difference I can use a full tank in a week! That can't be right can it?
Yes I do short(ish) journeys for school run but usually I'm going at least 9 miles most of time more. Any advice?

Hi.
Ok. Remove the air filter.. how does it look?
Does the temp gauge get to the middle after 5 miles?

Any warning lights on dash.. ?

More difficult to start lately??

Hundreds of possibilities . But those 4 will really narrow it down

( I might ask later why you are towing a caravan on the school run in Winter.. )

 

[Peddy90]

What engine?
2wd or 4wd?
How many miles to a tank?

Spike

It's a 1.2
2wd
And I have no idea but it's around 250m miles a full tank.

 

[Peddy90]

Hi.
Ok. Remove the air filter.. how does it look?
Does the temp gauge get to the middle after 5 miles?

Any warning lights on dash.. ?

More difficult to start lately??

Hundreds of possibilities . But those 4 will really narrow it down

( I might ask later why you are towing a caravan on the school run in Winter.. )

Car just been bought and its had a full service and lots of stuff changed (don't ask me to name as I can't fully remember)

It does get to middle after around 5 mins

No warning lights

No different when starting.

.. A caravan would be great. Least if I get stuck I can still sleep!

 

[varesecrazy]

Ok. Thanks.

The tanks are quite small.



Fill it. Zero mileage.

When it gets down to half tank.. let us know the distance covered.

Our 1.1 has done 38 /42 mpg for its life


So.. if you thought anything less than 50mpg was cause for concern
. Then dont.


Binding brakes MAY add to your issues though.

Charlie

 

[Peddy90]

Ok. Thanks.

The tanks are quite small.



Fill it. Zero mileage.

When it gets down to half tank.. let us know the distance covered.

Our 1.1 has done 38 /42 mpg for its life


So.. if you thought anything less than 50mpg was cause for concern
. Then dont.


Binding brakes MAY add to your issues though.

Charlie

It says when I press the button on the wiper 45mpg but I could be wrong I have a shocking memory haha ��

 

[Funky Spike]

It's only a 35ltr tank. That 7.7 gallons, so 250 miles would be 32mpg. If you're filling it up when the light comes on then probably around 30ltrs is going in so that would be nearly 38mpg. If you're mostly driving around town then you're not too far off where you should be.

Spike

 

[DaveMcT]

It may be the car has always been used at low speeds and has a tight engine as a result. Take it for long fast runs,. I mean 100 miles each way and do this a few times.

I had a 900 Seicento like that. Clearly not a fast car but that one was sloooow. Some flat out** motorway blasts soon sorted it out.


** Just about legal in that car.

 

[FarNorthPanda]

It is difficult to work out an accurate consumption figure just by relying on the petrol gauge. The only accurate way is to check from full tank to full tank.


Fill the tank completely until the pump nozzle clicks off. Then trigger the pump again - this will add add a little more. Note the milage reading on the instrument panel. Use the car until you are down to near empty.


Go back to the same petrol station, fill the tank to the first cut off click, then squeeze trigger again to 2nd cut off click. Note the milage reading


Now do the math. Your receipt will show you the number of litres to fill the tank. Divide this by 4.55 - this will give you the number of gallons used.

Subtract the start milage from the finish milage. This gives you the miles actually driven. Divide the miles driven by the number of gallons used to get an accurate miles per gallon.

I have a 2006 1.2 Dynamic, and I have milage records for the last 9 years - nearly all my driving is short runs of 4 - 5 miles. The longest run was 200 miles. Best consumption between fills was 54 mpg and worst was 36 mpg. The average over the last 9 years/32,000 miles is 42 mpg

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Car just been bought and its had a full service and lots of stuff changed (don't ask me to name as I can't fully remember)

It does get to middle after around 5 mins

No warning lights

No different when starting.

.. A caravan would be great. Least if I get stuck I can still sleep!

Serviced before you got it or after handover? Do you know the workshop concerned and can you trust them? Sorry to be a party pooper but it could be worth checking that air filter. the likelyhood is overwhelmingly in favour of the service having been done properly - but? A well clogged air filter will affect fuel consumption like almost nothing else. It's very easy to access and should look very nice and clean if the service was done within about the last couple of months. Another good way to check if the oil has been changed in the recent past is to dip the engine oil. How clean does it look? This can be tricky because it will look "dirty" after quite a short while but if you take a light coloured lint free rag and wipe the dipstick on it the oil residue left behind should look only lightly coloured even if it looks "dirty" on the dipstick. If it leaves a dark stain with traces of solids in it then the oil is done and probably hasn't been changed. The only exception might be if the engine had previously been left for far too long before the oil was changed then solids which had settled in the engine might be "flushed" round by the new oil's detergents and appear on your rag. Still means the oil needs changed again though (and, in this case, filter too. - personally I would never change oil without doing the filter too anyway)

Another preference of mine, especially relevant to the last situation above, would be NOT to use a Flushing agent. As engines age they accumulate sludgy solids in their nooks and crannies which are best left where they are. If you introduce a strongly detergent agent (engine flush) some, but I can tell you, not all of this gunge will start to move round in the oil. the filter will be contaminated and might even go into bypass mode. if it does then the contaminants will travel round your engine and could scour bearing surfaces and block up fine oilways.

 

[Sweetsixteen]

As Charlie suggested, binding brakes - especially front pads - can be one hidden cause of poor economy. It took me a while to familiarise myself with Panda quirks, and front pads not releasing properly is one of them. Hard to isolate unless they squeal, but well worth adding to your checklist.

 

[DaveMcT]

Has the timing belt been replaced recently? If the new one was fitted one or two teeth out of phase the engine will run but wont be as powerful or as efficient as it should be.

On consumption numbers my 100HP gives about 35mpg because it's either nipping along the motorway or trundling along in traffic. The 1200 should be better (40+) but short runs in traffic will hammer the fuel consumption.

 

[Goudrons]

There's also the fact mpg nose dives when the weather turns cold.

Every year on here since I have been involved, there's been repeated posts about poorer mpg as soon as the mercury drops and the sun disappears at lunchtime.

As Spike pointed out, the "reserve" in the tank, ie, what's still in there when the light comes on is around 5 litres according to the book, though I suspect there's a little more in it still than that and the tank is only 35 litres.

So from full tank to the fuel light coming on is around 6.5 UK gallons.
So 250 miles is just over 38 mpg.
Not great for a steady trip, but it's about right for urban driving.

As there you've haven't really made a comment about how the car is running or it's performance, I'd hazard a guess everything is about right, though you could do some tank to tank calculations as described above.

I would also break your mileage down by trips, so if you're getting 250 miles to a tank, how many trips did it take to do that.

 

[varesecrazy]

Thx for the helpful additions.

But probably best to see if the '40s' mpg they have quoted is actually being achieved

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Morning all. Just rereading this thread before going off for a day of childminding with my delightful grand daughter and I'm finding myself amazed and impressed by the wide range of knowledge and relevant recommendations made here. What a truly amazing resource our forum is! It's a privilege to be part of it!