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#1
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14.5 MPG!!!!!!
'79 300SD, great compression, valves adjusted regularly, timing chain within specs. Idle, rack dampner, linkage all correct. No fuel leaks anywhere. Clean air filter. Runs great. Starts easily. BUTTTT....in the last 12 months, the fuel mileage has gone from 25MPG down to 14.5 as of today. It has been a steady decline, 25, 22, 21, 19, 18, 14.5. The car goes really fast. I have used injector cleaner on a regular basis. No smoke, regular oil changes. I drive a combination of city, and highway, nothing different recently.
I suspect that the metering in the fuel pump has failed, or the nozzles of the injectors are worn. Does anyone have any ideas about what would cause such a progressive loss of fuel economy? |
#2
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Hey Patsy, er a...Super Turtle,
Are you sure the mileage is dropping off? Have you paid close attention to the odometer to ensure it was registering all miles? The mileage on the 280 dropped to between 6-8 MPG, and that just didn't seem right. I started watching the odometer and soon realized it was only logging about 1/2 the miles. The inside temperature of the car seemed to affect the function - if the interior got too warm from sunshine, or the cluster got too warm from the dash lights being on for extended periods, the odometer would stop turning. It would even stop turning if I had the heater on for too long. The speedo would continue to work normally whenever this happened. Could possibly be the same problem on your end. There are some DIY fixes, if you want to try, do a search on speedo/odo problems. If you don't want to mess with it, you can farm it out. I opted to farm the job out to Palo Alto Speedo ( http://www.paspeedo.com ), and am pleased with the results. They had the speedo head back to me in one week, rebuilt and recalibrated, new parts installed. I also opted to complete the speedo ratio test, to verify calibration.
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Mike Tangas '73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72 '02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis 2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel Non illegitemae carborundum. |
#3
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Check your EGR valve and intake crossover pipe for blockage. Also an out of alignment condition will cause a gradual loss of fuel economy.
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#4
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Howdy Mike, Did you know you can't put smilies in a topic? I just found out.
I have repaired the odometer, and it is turning normally. I wish it was that, and I appreciate the input. I have a really normal driving schedule, and I just filled up a few days ago, and drove to only a few places, and ended up at a quarter of a tank. I thought maybe the fuel gauge had gone crazy, so I filled up again and was 6 gallons lower. I normally can drive "forever" before the needle even moves. I think my car is drinking too much. My injectors seem loud too. Do I have an EGR valve??? I don't think they started using an EGR system until 1980. I will check my switchover valve. That is a good suggestion, perhaps it has failed. I had a fuse blow recently, after starting the car, maybe there is a connection. Would a failed switchover valve cause the injection pump to deliver too much fuel? I am out of alignment, even though I have had two alignments in the last 2 years. It is so hard to find a good alignment shop for a Mercedes. Patsy, seventies disco queen, woops, I mean "savin' those seventies beauties". [Edited by '79 Super Turtle on 03-04-2001 at 10:07 AM] |
#5
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blown fuse causes mystery thirst
Well, I think I know why I went from 18mpg to 14, but I don't know why I am at 18 from 25. I guess maybe I could use some rebuilt injectors, or a little fuel pump rebuild.
The cause of the 14mpg recently was the blown #4 fuse. I drove my brother on some errands, and every time I used my blinker the interior light flashed, and the gauges went dead, all kinds of gremlins occurred, but no noticeable change in driving or power. I noticed the car was really thirsty at the same time. I found the blown fuse which fixed the gremlin problem, and today I realized the overload protection on the transmission is also on fuse #4. So I guess I was having a free for all on fuel from the changeover valve. Thanks for the help Mike and oldsouth. |
#6
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Brakes????
The fuel economy on our 240D had dropped about 5mpg. There wasn't a noticeable change in power/acceleration. "Luckily", before I could begin my investigation under the hood, my wife got a flat tire one evening. When I jacked the car up to change the tire, I could barley turn the front passenger side wheel. I replaced both front calipers .... problem solved.
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1980 Mercedes 240D 1982 Mercedes 300SD 1985 Mercedes 300D 1993 Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel |
#7
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Thanks Imul, I have a suspicion you may be right. I have noticed a grabbing lately. I will check that too, and thanks for the idea!
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#8
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Not that this is your problem, but when my thermostat went "bad" and wouldn't let the engine warm up beyond 60 deg C, my mileage dropped similarly, from 19 to 15 mpg.
If your calipers are binding, you should notice some heat buildup on the rotors, I would think. If one is hotter than the other, for sure this is what's going on.
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Bob Roe Lehigh Valley PA USA 1973 Olds 88, 1972 MB 280SE, 1978 Datsun 280Z, 1971 Ford T-Bird, 1972 Olds 88, 1983 Nissan Sentra, 1985 Sentra, 1973 230.6, 1990 Acura Integra, 1991 Volvo 940GLE wagon, 1983 300SD, 1984 300SD, 1995 Subaru Legacy L wagon, 2002 Mountaineer, 1991 300TE wagon, 2008 Murano, 2007 R320CDI 4Matic 52K, some Hyundai, 2008 BMW 535xi wagon, all gone... currently 2007 Honda Odyssey Touring, 2014 E350 4matic |
#9
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Just wonder if a plugged or pinched off return line would have any effect. Probably not but a brake or two dragging quite a bit would do it as suggested. One good test would be to check each wheel to see if it is warm or hotter than the others after a jaunt. If all are equal temperature they are probably ok. The other thing is you mention car is really fast. That in itself lessons the likelyhood of a brake problem. The simplest thing that can and does radicallly affect milage is a really dirty air cleaner filter. easy to check out as well.
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#10
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fuel leak perhaps? I had one of those. I think it was the main line coming out of the tank.
__________________
Cruise Control not working? Send me PM or email (jamesdean59@gmail.com). I might be able to help out. Check here for compatibility, diagnostics, and availability! (4/11/2020: Hi Everyone! I am still taking orders and replying to emails/PMs/etc, I appreciate your patience in these crazy times. Stay safe and healthy!) 82 300SD 145k 89 420SEL 210k 89 560SEL 118k 90 300SE 262k RIP 5/25/2010 90 560SEL 154k 91 300D 2.5 Turbo. 241k 93 190E 3.0 235k 93 300E 195k |
#11
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Quote:
__________________
Proud owner of .... 1971 280SE W108 1979 300SD W116 1983 300D W123 1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper 1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel 1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified) --------------------- Section 609 MVAC Certified --------------------- "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche |
#12
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You can get a 10-15% drop in fuel economy with winterised diesel versus regular #2.
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1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12 1982 380SL 1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing 1987 300 D 2005 CDI European Delivery 2006 CDI Handed down to daughter 2007 GL CDI. Wifes |
#13
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My last tankfull took a huge dump from the previous...but I think I didn't manage to burp the tank due to a slope at that gas station so what was "FULL" really wasn't full..(if the pass side it not the high side you can easily have a bubble that would displace 3 gallons)..will see how far I get on this one. Found a local station that just dropped to $2.51 a gallon since tuesday...some stations are still at $2.99 a gallon here.
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Proud owner of .... 1971 280SE W108 1979 300SD W116 1983 300D W123 1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper 1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel 1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified) --------------------- Section 609 MVAC Certified --------------------- "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche |
#14
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I paid 2.35 a gallon up at the truck stop....in town Shell is 2.85
__________________
Cruise Control not working? Send me PM or email (jamesdean59@gmail.com). I might be able to help out. Check here for compatibility, diagnostics, and availability! (4/11/2020: Hi Everyone! I am still taking orders and replying to emails/PMs/etc, I appreciate your patience in these crazy times. Stay safe and healthy!) 82 300SD 145k 89 420SEL 210k 89 560SEL 118k 90 300SE 262k RIP 5/25/2010 90 560SEL 154k 91 300D 2.5 Turbo. 241k 93 190E 3.0 235k 93 300E 195k |
#15
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Guys this thread is over four years old.
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1999 SL500 1969 280SE 2023 Ram 1500 2007 Tiara 3200 |
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