[dcs]

Dear Rahul,
Thanks for the revert, please find the answers in Brackets.

Also, like I said, there has been absolute no change in anything that might affect the Fuel Efficiency. Also, neither the car, nor me are New to each other. That makes it a point of concern. Have driven this car in most challenging conditions (road, traffic, service and all) but have never faced a situation that I can not relate to.

1. Have you confirmed correct tyre pressure? (Still the same pressure- 28 PSI)
2. Please check the fuel hoses for leakage. (no fuel spill, no fuel Leaks, double checked)
3. When did you last change the spark plugs? This too could be the reason. ( Spark Plugs Changed on Last Service)
4. Is air filter cleaned / replaced at required interval? (As always- Yes)
5. Did you change the make and grade of the engine oil recently? (No, still running on the same rating)
6. When you start the car in the morning, do you see white smoke for a minute? (No)
7. After a cold start, the idling speed of the engine is higher but it settles down after a few minutes. Please tell whether the idling speed is steady or varying after it settles down? (nothing abnormal detected)

All Cheers
dcs

[Traveller Nayak]

Make: Fortuner AT 2013

ODO: 51600 kms

About a month ago, I got the 50,000 km service done from Galaxy Toyota, Moti Nagar, New Delhi.

While I haven’t kept a diligent track of the actual fuel consumption but once in a while I look at the in-dash information panel for information. It always showed 11.1 km/l.

To my surprise it showed 11.1 km/l even after I did 3700 kms trip to Leh/Hanle last year. Because there was no dip, I was happy.

However, while on a visit to Ajmer last weekend, when I checked the in-dash display, it showed 10.9 km/l.

I assumed the drop would have been because of excessive hot weather combined with both front and rear ac running during the daily commute to and from office. I do a daily run of about 65 kms.

To my surprise when I checked today evening the display showed 9.9 km/l. It has further dipped and it now shows 9.8 km/l.

You may ask – is there anything different that I have done over the past month or so?

To best of my recollection - answer is ‘no’.

For me, I have used the same petrol pump for nearly a year. In fact, the same machine.

I have not changed the route taken to office or back. There is though slight traffic build-up in the evening - about a 2 kms stretch on NH 8. For those from Delhi NCR the stretch is from top of IFFCO Flyover to erstwhile Toll Gate/Rajokri flyover. Other than that there is no other noticeable aspect.

That said, while returning from Ajmer, I had put in fuel at a pump besides the highway. The fuel range, then, was showing at 15 kms. Is this somewhere to blame with impurities at the bottom affecting the efficiency?

During the Ajmer trip I also noticed that the reserve light indicator had stopped working. I took the car to Galaxy Toyota this Sunday and they reset the indicator. At least this is what they told me. I am yet to test the indicator. They also said to switch off the ignition when tanking up.

One more thing, I put in Nitrogen about a month ago. Could this affect the efficiency?

Sorry, another aspect - they changed the break pads during the 50,000 kms service.

Should I be worried and take the car to service station immediately? Or, wait another week, tank up full, check and then decide?

I am leaving for Gwalior (en-route Bhopal) this Thursday afternoon and wouldn’t want to be stranded on the highway!

Thoughts from experts or Fortuner owners on the forum are welcome.

Ps: I feel it is time I started my own ‘ownership report thread’. Good to share experience.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by Traveller Nayak

Make: Fortuner AT 2013

ODO: 51600 kms

While I haven’t kept a diligent track of the actual fuel consumption but once in a while I look at the in-dash information panel for information. It always showed 11.1 km/l.

To my surprise it showed 11.1 km/l even after I did 3700 kms trip to Leh/Hanle last year. Because there was no dip, I was happy.

However, while on a visit to Ajmer last weekend, when I checked the in-dash display, it showed 10.9 km/l.

To my surprise when I checked today evening the display showed 9.9 km/l. It has further dipped and it now shows 9.8 km/l.

It is surprising that the display ALWAYS showed 11.1 kmph in past! Maybe there was some electronic / computer problem, the calculations had stopped but the display was showing the last calculated value from the memory. This might have been fixed during 50000 km service or when they fixed the reserve indicator. Hence now you see different value.

You will be surely aware that the FE shall be calculated on tank-full to tank-full basis. Value on the display is an instantaneous value just for your approximate reference.

Originally Posted by Traveller Nayak

[b]
Is this somewhere to blame with impurities at the bottom affecting the efficiency?

The impurities in the fuel shall be arrested by the filter inside the tank. If the filter is clogged or broken, you will see some jerks / momentary loss of power while driving.

Originally Posted by Traveller Nayak

[b]
One more thing, I put in Nitrogen about a month ago. Could this affect the efficiency?

Nitrogen will not reduce the fuel efficiency. Insufficient tyre pressure will surely reduce the fuel efficiency.

Originally Posted by Traveller Nayak

[b]
Should I be worried and take the car to service station immediately? Or, wait another week, tank up full, check and then decide?

If you let me know the fuel efficiency on tank-full to tank-full basis, I can advise on the need to visit ASS. For a big vehicle like Fortuner, fuel efficiency of 9 kmph shall be considered good IMO.

[Traveller Nayak]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

If you let me know the fuel efficiency on tank-full to tank-full basis, I can advise on the need to visit ASS. For a big vehicle like Fortuner, fuel efficiency of 9 kmph shall be considered good IMO.

I am going to tank up tomorrow evening for the trip to Bhopal. I will keep a track and come back with the information. Thanks much.

[Traveller Nayak]

Update:

as of this morning the display mileage has gone down to 9.7 km/l

[rohanak1]

Bangalore is generally cool and the A/C need not run at the coldest always. Hence, I vary the temperature setting according to the weather to save fuel.

[wishnipon]

This article on The Guardian gives some tips on saving fuel.
http://www.theguardian.com/environme...permiling-tips

Among other things, it is mentioned in the article that an engine will be more fuel efficient once it has warmed up and it takes about 8 km of driving for an engine to warm up. Is it applicable to the tropical climate of India? In Kolkata, where the average temperature is > 30 degree centigrade on most days of the year, how long should I drive for a petrol engine to warm up?

I wanted to ask another question to the petrolheads here. The Alto K10 has manual climate controls with 4 blower speeds, 5 temperature settings (cold, cool, neutral, warm, hot) and another control for direction of air flow. Will "blower speed 1 + cold" consume more fuel than "blower speed 2 + cool"?

[drpullockaran]

Fuel efficiency is max after the gearbox warms up which is upwards of 8 km and more. Gearbox oil viscosity is a great determinant of fuel efficiency.

Regarding your ac query; please check how many seconds the compressor stays engaged on a very hot day with the car parked in a ventilated garage in the different modes you mentioned. The compressor state decides the fuel efficiency since it takes up at least 2 horsepower in small cars with all the other electricals gadgets that come on when the compressor is compressing the refrigerant.

[wishnipon]

Originally Posted by drpullockaran

Fuel efficiency is max after the gearbox warms up which is upwards of 8 km and more. Gearbox oil viscosity is a great determinant of fuel efficiency.

8 km is too much for me. I regularly commute to two places which are like 2.5 km and 4 km away from my my residence! I often give a ride to a friend to drive a few extra kilometres. But even then, this 8 km mark is tough to achieve!

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by wishnipon

Among other things, it is mentioned in the article that an engine will be more fuel efficient once it has warmed up and it takes about 8 km of driving for an engine to warm up.

That figure is almost true for me at least.

After I start off for the day (the first drive after a long stop), the coolant temperature is around 25 to 30 degrees C depending on the ambient temperature. My car (both Ritz VDi & Swift ZDi) takes around 7-8 kms to reach its operating temperature (87 degrees C).

I don't ran the turbo spooling RPM too in these kilometers, I keep it between 55-60kmph in 5th gear. One the needle is at its operating temperature, the drive is regular.

In winters the distance to reach the operating temperature zone is around 9-11 kms whereas in summers the same is achieved in 5 kms.

PS : I have checked the data using ELM327 adapter through Torque App.

Originally Posted by drpullockaran

Fuel efficiency is max after the gearbox warms up which is upwards of 8 km and more.

+1.

[gpa]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

After I start off for the day (the first drive after a long stop), the coolant temperature is around 25 to 30 degrees C depending on the ambient temperature. My car (both Ritz VDi & Swift ZDi) takes around 7-8 kms to reach its operating temperature (87 degrees C).

Sorry about going OT, but I noticed that my Brio takes about 2 kms to come up to the operating temperature of 91-92 deg C on the Torque App. I thought diesel cars run hotter and hence should take much shorter time to get up to operating temperature.

[Swapnil4585]

Originally Posted by drpullockaran

Fuel efficiency is max after the gearbox warms up which is upwards of 8 km and more. Gearbox oil viscosity is a great determinant of fuel efficiency.

+1 to that.

In a petrol car/bike, I drive at lower RPMs for the first 3-4 kilometers and use engine braking / down shifting to slow down. After 8-9 kilometers, I can feel that the gear box oil has warmed up as gear shifts become smooth and power delivery becomes instantaneous.

[sachinkudva]

Hey all,

I have a 3.5 yr old Fiat Punto 90 HP Diesel car. The car was fantastic for the first 3 years after which as part of my big 60,000 KM service I decided to get the clutch kit and gear cable replaced. This was in June 2015.

From August-September onwards I started noticing a lot of issues with the car.
1. Heavy Black smoke from the exhaust while accelerating.
2. Reduced Mileage. (came down to as low as 10-11 Kmpl in city conditions.)
3. Reduced Pick-up.

Now for the first issue, this was solved by replacing 3 faulty glow plugs. (all under warranty). This reduced the black smoke issue drastically but I can still see more smoke than I ever noticed in the first 3 years of usage. I feel like I am driving a city taxi!!!

For reduced pick-up, the Fiat guys told me to replace the ECR valve in my car. They found the Turbo to be fine. Luckily I got this too replaced under the extended warranty. The pick up is back to its normal but ever since this replacement was done, my Check Engine light has been glowing.

The low mileage issue never got sorted.
One observation was that when I drove to Goa in December, I got a mileage of 18 Kmpl in the straights. So I guess this has to be a clutch issue!

I have given my car to the service centre (Vecto Motors, Hosur Road) like 5-6 times in the last 2-3 months. These guys are just not able to fix the check engine light issue and the low mileage issue.

Regardless to say, driving a diesel car at 10-11 kmpl in city is hurting my finances pretty bad. I even lodged an official complaint with Fiat and now they are coordinating technically with the Vecto motors guys.

Has anyone faced the above issues and any idea what can fix the same?
I still have like 6 months left in my extended warranty and would like to fix these issues before that lapses.

Also any pointers on the best Fiat service centre in Bangalore. Someone I can trust will point out the exact issue and help me fix it permanently.?

Would love to have some assistance here.
FYI, I have now run ~ 75000 kms in 44 months. Which is pretty moderate usage I guess.

Thanks a lot in advance.

[2500cc]

I Had similar issue in scorpio, after multiple visits to the service, we found the vacuum pipes had given up. Have the technicians inspect them. Also, get the Air filter checked.

[sandeepmdas]

This could be a trivial question:

Have you tried refueling her from different petrol bunks or are you using the same one since August-September? Since you got a mileage of 18kmpl in your Goa trip, chances are you might have refilled from a outlet that's not your usual one. So no harm checking the quality of fuel first, if you ask me.