passat 1998 1.6L using alot of fuel

V

volkswagon

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Hi,
I would like to know if anyone has any idea in solving the problem I have with my 1998 petrol 1.6Ltr passat which is costing me a fortune on petrol. I only get approx 100 miles on 20 euro of petrol.

All comments appreciated.
 
Hi
I had the same problem with a 1.4l petrol volkswagen vento, a heavy car like the passat. heavy petrol cars dont suit people doing high mileage,

my advice is get rid of it immediately and buy a 1.9 diesel passat or drive in 5th at 45miles an hour.
 
It would be a bit on the heavy side alright approx 22mpg taking petrol to be 1euro/litre. Have you only bought the car or has it deteriorated over time? Assuming you have checked the usual service items,plugs,air filter etc. The engine water temperature sensor is a bit troublesome. It gets stuck(electronically) at the "cold" end of the scale.The engine management system thinks the engine needs more fuel to warm up. Any help?
 
I've a 97 Passat 1.6 - same car - gets about 350 to 380 miles for 50 euros. About 35 - 38 miles a gallon which is about right. I'd say your choke must be staying on as caff has said.
 
Check tha air filter maybe the car is being starved of air.

Do you drive hard?

I would say 1.6 is a bit small for a car that size.

Let us know what you find.
 
100miles to €20

before you bring it to a garage you MUST do the following otherwise the garage will not take you seriously.....
sorry but your figures are an estimation only....

you must fill the fuel tank to the neck, reset the odometer and run the vehicle...refill to the neck again , note how much fuel its taken and take note of the mileage covered. Then do your calculations.

Its impossible to give any hard advice on your estimation.
 
Filling car to the brim/changing car for diesel variant both not very helpful suggestions.Maybe volkswagon could let us know a bit more info?
 
caff said:
Filling car to the brim/changing car for diesel variant both not very helpful suggestions.Maybe volkswagon could let us know a bit more info?
Click to expand...

Filling car to the brim IS a very helpful suggestion! You need to do this to work out your exact fuel consumption, then you can see if its reasonable for the type of driving being done, eg, does it sit on the M50 a lot, or crawl through city centre traffic every day?
 
I know where you're coming from oopsbuddy.I keep a check on my own car's consumption by brim filling.At this stage we really need more info from the original poster. Is it a newly aquired car/problem? The 1.6 petrol version is a bit underpowered in M50 conditions I wouldn't expect much more than 25-28mpg.Hard set to crack 35mpg on a long journey especially at this cold time of year.Big bloody tank in the Passat would cost a few bobs to fill:eek:
 
Hi,
Thanks for your help and advice. I have the passat with 3 yrs but have only 13000miles put on the car as I hated driving it as it was always looking for fuel. I don't do high mileage and live in the country i will check out the choke and see if that is the problem. thanks again for your help:) .
 
Is that thirteen thousand miles in nine years?? I think it could do with a service.Try the v-groove NGK spark plugs(halfords sell them) they're ideal for cars like yours. If you get an insomniac moment go wild and put 50 yo;yo's of juice into it and give it a good lash paying little heed to speed limits.It'll be like a different car. Some of the boy-racers could oblige if you don't feel like doing it yourself.Just go to any,mace,maxol,aldi or lidl car park after 10 pm.
 
caff said:
Is that thirteen thousand miles in nine years?? I think it could do with a service.Try the v-groove NGK spark plugs(halfords sell them) they're ideal for cars like yours. If you get an insomniac moment go wild and put 50 yo;yo's of juice into it and give it a good lash paying little heed to speed limits.It'll be like a different car. Some of the boy-racers could oblige if you don't feel like doing it yourself.Just go to any,mace,maxol,aldi or lidl car park after 10 pm.
Click to expand...
Hi Caff,
I have got all service items today as yes i would agree that it needs a good spin. Just to say no not 13000 miles in 9 years , 13000 in the last 3 years that i have the car. On servicing it today i came across the usual spark plug leads , have you any idea how these might be removed off the plugs so i can change the plugs, there is some sort of silver metal casing around the rubber part. Also would you know where the fuel filter is position as i will be chaning that also. thanks for your help.
 
13,000 in three years you must really hate that car!! I can't help you with the plug leads as far as i can remember they just pull off(open to correction on that one) the aul memory's fading. The fuel filter is in the rear driverside wheel arch(handy eh?)With modern plastic petrol tanks they don't really clog up with gunge anymore but seeing as you have a new one you might as well change it. How did it perform on the emission figures when it was nct'd?That's usually a good indicator if its running rich.
 
Hi Caff,
Thanks for the info, the mind is not fading yet , yes the the plug caps need to be pulled off with a long nose pliers which I found out from a mate. Thanks to you and all other members for there advise which is always appreciated. Here are the nct figures on emissions,engine oil temp 51%, low idle 890rpm CO 0.03 vol% HC 0PPM, High Idle 2620rpm Lamba 1.013, CO 0.01 vol%, HC 17 ppm.
 
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Hi volkswagon.How did the passat work out? I'm only back on line today had broken connection on phone line.Lambda at 1.013 is a bit high it shouldn't deviate much from 1.000.If its not any better after the service I'd change the Lambda sensor. If you decide to do change it buy a genuine vw sensor from otto,gsf carparts etc. Don't be tempted by spurious sensors you'll be doing the same job again soon..............................................been there bought the t-shirt
 
Hi Caff,
Just too busy to get time to go online. I have changed all items now and even the spark plugs. There is no real difference on the fuel as I originally posted on this site a fuel consumption of 120 miles for 20 euro and on saturday last after eveything being changed I put 20 euro in the tank and now i have 110miles up and the low fuel light is almost going to come on anytime now. I will look at the lamba sensor. How much would the genuine cost, approx? and where is this sensor located.
 
Hi volkswagon,
I Don't think you could expect much better than that really.The lambda sensor is an expensive component to be replacing without being sure that its faulty. It's screwed into the exhaust pipe where it samples the oxygen content of the exhaust gases. The ecu then adjusts the fuelling according to its signal.Is there any garage near you that could check the ecu for fault codes?The lambda doesn't kick in straight away from a cold start(open loop)Its signal is only regarded when the cold running cycle is finished and the lambda sensor is warmed up(closed loop) Its important that the engine reaches operating temperature quickly.If you're doing short trips especially this time of year you might never reach the closed loop stage.Hope this helps and doesn't depress you too much!
 
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