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Old 10th March 2009, 11:14   #1
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Fiat Palio ELX fuel efficiency issues

Hi,

I'm a passive surfer of Team BHP. I laid my hands on a 2002 Fiat Palio ELX petrol yesterday. It was a single person owned, mildly run, well maintained car with ~45000 kms mileage.

The problem is, I was told that I can expect around 8 - 10 kmpl in-city as the max. fuel efficiency. But during my first run, I got around 5.5 kmpl.

Here are my questions.

1. The fuel Gauge - It goes below the red bar and the car still runs, what is the max stretch it would go.

2. What should I ask the mechanic - to improve mileage apart from saying him, mileage is low ...

3. Should i reset the ECU ?

If you want more info., I need to ask and tell ... please let me know what all to do.

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Old 10th March 2009, 12:59   #2
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1. top up the tank when it half-full - when the low fuel light turns on - there is 7-10 litres left in the tank.

2. 1.2 gives a better FE than the 1.6 (my 1.6 gives around 8~9 kpl in the city). do a couple of of tank full and then calculate the approx milege. (you got it yesterday only - right)

3. Not required IMO.
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Old 10th March 2009, 14:03   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by csshyamsundar View Post
1. The fuel Gauge - It goes below the red bar and the car still runs, what is the max stretch it would go.
Avoid running the car with the fuel going below the quarter mark. There should be always atleast 10 to 12 Litres of fuel in the tank, anything below this and you risk damaging the Catalytic converter (and also the Fuel Pump).
This rule holds good for all modern cars.

Quote:
Originally Posted by csshyamsundar View Post
2. What should I ask the mechanic - to improve mileage apart from saying him, mileage is low ...
How did you arrive at the "Low mileage" conclusion ? The fuel guage needle can go up or down in a non-linear fashion. Only sure way is Tank full to Tank full method. (Top up, drive for about 100 KM, Top up again and see how much fuel was required. Divide KM/Fuel required)

Quote:
Originally Posted by csshyamsundar View Post
3. Should i reset the ECU ?
Resetting the ECU would be of little use IMO. When you take it to an authorized workshop, ask them to reset any errors in the ECU if any.
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Old 10th March 2009, 14:08   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by planet_rocker View Post
1. top up the tank when it half-full - when the low fuel light turns on - there is 7-10 litres left in the tank.
Is there a fuel warning lamp in a 2002 palio? AFAIK, small cars like palio,swift, santro which has a 35L tank capacity when the fuel lamp comes on, it was 5L or less. I experienced this in my Santro which had a fuel lamp warning.

@CSS, since its the first tank-ful dont worry. If this repeats in 2nd-3rd tankful then you need to seriously panic. 5.5km/L is not worth keeping the car at all.

Check the following after you fill up your tank next :

1. Maintain correct airpressure

2. Drive sedately and dont unnessarily brake or accelarate

3. Change gears at optimum engine speed.

4. Finally this is a question, was the car recently serviced when you bought? If not, then maybe its due for a full check-up including clogged air filter, oil change etc which may slightly contribute to FE improvement.

Let us all know if you are able to touch double digits in your next tankful/s
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Old 10th March 2009, 14:23   #5
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i saw one 1.2 at the service centre and it had the low fuel indicator.

the "7-10 litres of petrol left in the tank" is an indicative figure (saw it in the owners' manual)
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Old 10th March 2009, 14:31   #6
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Hi all,

Thanks for all your responses. I will update the thread once I complete 2 - 3 trial runs with half tank.
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Old 10th March 2009, 14:32   #7
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Hi all,

Thanks for your responses. I will complete 2 or 3 trial runs with half tank and post the results.

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Old 10th March 2009, 14:35   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by csshyamsundar
I laid my hands on a 2002 Fiat Palio ELX petrol yesterday. But during my first run, I got around 5.5 kmpl.
Hey you got the car only yesterday and already did a FE check ? BTW, by what method did you check the FE ? Usually for cars a tankfull-to-tankfull method is considered to be a reliable way of checking FE.

As others suggested, do a few more rounds of checking to confirm that there is an issue with the car.
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Old 10th March 2009, 14:42   #9
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Shyam,

I am driving a Palio 1.2 ELX since last 2 years. From day one I am getting an FE of 10.6 Kmpl in Pune city traffic. Few things which I do,

1. Always put petrol from same pump - Normal Petrol
2. 30psi pressure on all tyres ( check every 2 weeks )
3. I have upgraded my tires to 185/70/R13 - Yet FE remained same
4. Use proper gear ratio, something like below,

0-10 - 1st gear
10-30 - 2nd gear
30-45 3rd gear
45- 60 4th gear
60+ 5th gear

This is what I follow.

Get your car serviced first, change oil,fuel.air filters. Change engine oil. ( expect 3k bill if there is nothing wrong in the car)
Also do an engine flush ( I remember my service station used Bardahl engine flush)

If your engine is normal you should get 10 kmpl in city.

Cheers
RV
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Old 10th March 2009, 14:51   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mobike008 View Post
AFAIK, small cars like palio,swift, santro which has a 35L tank capacity when the fuel lamp comes on, it was 5L or less.
Palios have a 47 Ltr tank, at least the 1.6 does. And the low fuel indicator comes on at 7-10 Ltrs remaining
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Old 10th March 2009, 15:08   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by anurag_p80 View Post
Palios have a 47 Ltr tank, at least the 1.6 does. And the low fuel indicator comes on at 7-10 Ltrs remaining
Hmm,i didnt know they have such a huge tank. No wonder they guzzle so much fuel. Come to think of it my Viva has only 45L
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Old 10th March 2009, 15:24   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mobike008 View Post
No wonder they guzzle so much fuel.
ROFL.....hv more, will drink more. Human technology, I call it

Shyam, give it some time. Do a tank full to Tank full FE calculation. Palios hv a notoriously non-linear fuel gauge. Cannot make out much with that. My 2007 Palio (1.6 version) gives me between 10 and 12 Kmpl in the city with 100% ac. You should easily get that much if not more.
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Old 10th March 2009, 15:45   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by csshyamsundar View Post
Hi,

I'm a passive surfer of Team BHP. I laid my hands on a 2002 Fiat Palio ELX petrol yesterday. It was a single person owned, mildly run, well maintained car with ~45000 kms mileage.

The problem is, I was told that I can expect around 8 - 10 kmpl in-city as the max. fuel efficiency. But during my first run, I got around 5.5 kmpl.

Here are my questions.

1. The fuel Gauge - It goes below the red bar and the car still runs, what is the max stretch it would go.

2. What should I ask the mechanic - to improve mileage apart from saying him, mileage is low ...

3. Should i reset the ECU ?

If you want more info., I need to ask and tell ... please let me know what all to do.

--
CS Shyam Sundar
Dont rely on the fuel guage and the low fuel warning light, they are only indicative. The best way to judge the fuel efficiency would be the tankful to tankful method.
Besides I would want to ask you a couple of questions
1) Is the pick ok?
2) How does the car behaves while going up an incline, does it feels out of breath?
3) How is the performance with the A/C on?

You can take the car to an authorized service center and ask them to check the following
1) Check all the plugs for any signs of in-efficient combustion or worse oil?
2) Check the air filter? I would advise you to change it since it is a used car.
3) Ask them to check the clutch. Palio are known to guzzle fuel if the clutch is bust.
4) Check the lambda sensor.. this I think is very important.
5) Check and clean the throttle body.

I own a Palio 1.2 and I was facing the low fuel average problem as well. In my case I got the clutch replaced, cleaned the air filter, got the injectors and the throttle body cleaned. I also changed the air filter. From 8-9 kmpl, the average is now a steady 11-12 kmpl with 30% AC in Delhi.
I need to check the lambda sensor on my car as well since she isnt idling properly especially when hot. Guys any pointers on this?
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Old 10th March 2009, 16:28   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by for_cars1 View Post
Avoid running the car with the fuel going below the quarter mark. There should be always atleast 10 to 12 Litres of fuel in the tank, anything below this and you risk damaging the Catalytic converter (and also the Fuel Pump).
This rule holds good for all modern cars.
Could you elaborate on this please.
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Old 10th March 2009, 16:34   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
Hey you got the car only yesterday and already did a FE check ? .
He has bought a palio, what else do you expect

Quote:
Originally Posted by anurag_p80 View Post
Palios have a 47 Ltr tank, at least the 1.6 does .
Is that why they call the palio a tank, cuz half of the car is the tank (Ok, Sorry guys, Just Kidding)

Last edited by revhappy : 10th March 2009 at 16:38.
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