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View Full Version : Ford courier 2.6ltr excessive fuel consumption



steveo
16-04-2013, 05:00 PM
I own a 1998 ford courier 2.6l petrol EFi. I bought it last year for $1800.00 which I thought was ok till i discovered I was getting 300klms from a tank of fuel (around a 70 litre tank but not sure) off the top of my head. It had a rough idle so I got the error codes off it.

To cut a long story short I have renewed plugs and leads, air filter, fuel filter, throttle body, distributor, dizzy cap, rotor and coil. Compression test results are acceptable.

The result is an improved idle and I now get 350 a tank however i asked a random bloke in the bunnings carpark today who was getting in to his courier which looked the same vintage as mine how much he was getting a tank and he says 500k's per tank.

Any ideas what it could be causing it to be thirsty.

edbeek
16-04-2013, 06:00 PM
Maybe the magic black box gizmo that controls the fuel injection? I've never had an efi petrol, so don't know if they can be adjusted or have to be replaced.
But I would have thought that a problem there would have shown up when they did the scan.

happymowin
16-04-2013, 06:01 PM
what are you towing with it, compared to the guy in the bunnies carpark:

if you tow a trailer, and 500 kg green waste about, youre gonna use a heap more fuel than a guy who carries a cattledog in the back.

???

Redeye
16-04-2013, 07:04 PM
I've got an '03 bravo (they're both mazda) and its not real brilliant consumption wise - never measured it but always thought it should be better

steveo
16-04-2013, 07:35 PM
i get that even without a load. I just tow a 6x4 trailer when i need to. The bloke was a painter so i reckon I'd carry equivalent weight more or less. I have heard the jap utes are thirsty but this is ridiculous. I assumed anything with EFI was fuel efficient. Not so. i did the scan myself. Not sure about a little box that controls EFI. New parts for this car are ridiculous. For example a new MAF sensor from ford costs over $1500.00. Even the ford bloke nearly choked when he told me. I got my throttle body from a wreckers because it was throwing a MAF sensor error. I wouldn't mind a diesel one day but gee whiz maybe leasing something newish is the go. May as well tow the line and join the rest of the throw away society. Every man and his dog leases a car and no longer even lifts the hood, then they get rid of it in a few years and it becomes someone elses problem. It's a hard call, is it still viable to maintain and fix your own cars these days or better to lease.

Chris B
17-04-2013, 12:37 AM
70lt tank but how much are you filling up each time... the tank wouldn't be completely empty.. the only way to get an accurate idea is to record k's and litres to fill each time.
... i had a 2.7 efi hilux and it drank heaps as well... old technology

also that painter could be doing highway k's and running the tank to empty and accelerating slowly

ian
17-04-2013, 08:26 AM
also don't forget you probably do a lot more stop start driving than the painter he would most likely drive to a job and stay most of the day whereas you are going from 0 to driving speed on say 8 jobs per day plus all the stops and slow downs for corners,intersections and lights

simo
17-04-2013, 09:05 AM
If the timing is out it could use more fuel..or if the wrong grade oil used if its too thick can make the engine work harder..tyre pressures to low?? or maybe a combination of things
check the weight of your right boot or have the air conditioner on all the time ?..do you warm it up for 10 minutes before driving..
Hope there is an answer here somewhere :)

steveo
17-04-2013, 07:57 PM
Reading thru the replies it occurs to me that I am not getting 350'ks per tank, I am getting 350 k's per fill. ANyway my last fill I got 342 klms for 50 litres of juice. That equates to 14.56 L/100klms. So in theory if it is a 70 litre tank I'd have another 20 litres in the tank which would get me close to the 500 klms per tank that the painter gets. Doh my mistake. Doesn't help that the fuel gauge only reads to 3/4 full on the gauge when the tank is full.

steveo
17-04-2013, 08:24 PM
except that redbook reckons it has a 56 litre tank.

steveo
15-05-2013, 12:18 PM
This ute has light truck tyres so I have bumped up the pressure to around 60 psi. The maximum indicated on the tyre is 65psi. I had been running around or just under 40psi. Maybe that'll help the consumption. Lots of other variables involved but maybe that will help.

PaulG
15-05-2013, 12:54 PM
Don't worry. Your consumption is not far off my 6cyl Falcon. I get from 250 to 280kms from 48 to 55 litres, or thereabouts when towing.

The 2.6 litre Mazda/Ford motors were renowned as being thirsty even with EFI.

steveo
15-05-2013, 04:37 PM
gee that is pretty poor even for a 6cly although a falcon 6 puts out signifigantly more power. I used to get better than that from my EF before i put a gas system in it. Yeah I'm not too worried. I'm starting to bond to it. I extended the tray sides up using old hardwood decking boards, so it cost only the nuts and bolts to do it and i did it in such a way that I didn't have to drill any holes in the existing tray or body. Even neighbours commented that it looked good. Bit heavier than alluminium or steel but it was what I had lying around. If anyone is interested i can post a picture if i could figure out how.

GardeningSolutions
15-05-2013, 04:52 PM
I have a 2002 v6 rodeo. I get 220kms on a 50lt tank towing. 275kms normal driving open road. It's crap but I like the power it has. Booked it in to have the mechanic see what can be done. Begining to think all these dual cab style utes are thirsty mothers.

4 Gardens
15-05-2013, 05:38 PM
I have a 2002 v6 rodeo. I get 220kms on a 50lt tank towing. 275kms normal driving open road. It's crap but I like the power it has. Booked it in to have the mechanic see what can be done. Begining to think all these dual cab style utes are thirsty mothers.

I had the 2000 rodeo, it was the same as yours

Got the diesel bt50, 11 litres per 100km around town towing trailer.

Diesel is the way to go if towing

geoff1969
15-05-2013, 06:04 PM
I have a 2002 v6 rodeo. I get 220kms on a 50lt tank towing. 275kms normal driving open road. It's crap but I like the power it has. Booked it in to have the mechanic see what can be done. Begining to think all these dual cab style utes are thirsty mothers.

yours is doing worse than my rodeo , 2004 crewcab 4x4 petrol auto , most of my driving is semi rural = aprox 8.2 kms per litre normal driving and usualy around 7. kms per litre towing .. open road your only getting aprox 5.5 kms per litre

johnnie5
15-05-2013, 07:33 PM
replace the oxygen sensor

they are usually only good for about 100K

happymowin
15-05-2013, 08:35 PM
fuel injected vehicle, sorry i didnt read if you tried one of the "injector cleaning" type of things.

reason i ask, is that in my diesel patrol, the last tank i got before i filled up i got 500 km (dual tanks, i fill to 3/4 full)

my mechanic put me onto chemtech diesel power - the first fill from that i got 750 km, and still had about 100-150 km fuel left when i filled up.


lots more power now, even when towing all day every day.


just got him to service it yesterday too, the air cleaner and fuel filter were way overdue for replacement, so will expect better things on top of what i got.

he recomends using it every second fill, but ill experiment with it when i run 5 fills thru to see what i see.

the stuff costs about $30 for 1 litre, and i used about 150 ml in the dual tanks. so about $3.50 a fill. (150 litres diesel)

hope it helps ya (or others)

djkgrounds
16-05-2013, 10:11 AM
you could try some of this as well, Its good for vehicles that do a lot of towing.

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Liqui-Moly-Mos-2-Anti-Friction-Engine-Treatment-300mL.aspx?pid=156706#Cross

or this one:
http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Liqui-Moly-Engine-Flush-Plus-300mL.aspx?pid=156709#Cross

steveo
16-05-2013, 12:56 PM
replace the oxygen sensor

they are usually only good for about 100K

That's interesting. It's been a while since I fiddled with the car but from memory a code did come up for something like that but I think it went away when I replaced a few other things (maybe the throttle body).
I was a bit scepticle when you said they were only good for 100k but this article pretty much confirms what you say.

http://www.primechoiceautoparts.com/t-Bad-Oxygen-Sensor-Symptoms.aspx

The one thing has always bugged me is that sometimes on a hot start the engine starts and overruns, similar to as if the accelarator is being pressed, this happens for a few seconds then it goes back to normal idle. I dunno if that is in any way related. Doesn't always do it though.

I'll ring ford and get a price. Can't hurt at all to change it, I also have a leaky exhaust gasket at the manifold which I fixed but it blew again for some reason, that may be related as well so I'll do that while I'm at it. Thanks for your advice.

geoff1969
16-05-2013, 01:04 PM
dont thay have a throttle body positioning sensor ... maybe thats up the **** and needs replcing .

steveo
16-05-2013, 01:06 PM
Holy snapping catfish Ford want $341.00 for an oxygen sensor. WTF?

steveo
16-05-2013, 01:09 PM
dont thay have a throttle body positioning sensor ... maybe thats up the **** and needs replcing .

I can't speak for the fella with the rodeo but I have replaced the throttle body already but it was from a wreckers and given the price of a new throttle body was over a $1000.00 you can bet ya bottom dollar that all the ones at the wreckers are probably dodgy. But anyway my consumption aint that bad, I am just being a bit fussy.

steveo
16-05-2013, 05:35 PM
I had the 2000 rodeo, it was the same as yours

Got the diesel bt50, 11 litres per 100km around town towing trailer.

Diesel is the way to go if towing

It's a trade off, you buy a better car but what you save in fuel you spend on buying it and losing in depreciation. I figure you are using say 5litre per 100klms less than me. So that would roughly be say $7.50 per 100klms less fuel costs. I guess the more k's you do a year the more important it becomes.

When utes sit in the shed though we are both using the same amount of fuel.

It's a tricky thing to work out, there are so many things to consider before spending money on a car. Sometimes we put more effort in to buying power tools. I know I do.

4 Gardens
16-05-2013, 08:21 PM
Holy snapping catfish Ford want $341.00 for an oxygen sensor. WTF?


Just check how many you need, my daughters barina needed 2

ian
16-05-2013, 09:20 PM
Holy snapping catfish Ford want $341.00 for an oxygen sensor. WTF?
stuff that can you get by using a canary :laughing:

steveo
17-05-2013, 02:28 PM
stuff that can you get by using a canary :laughing:

Only if it has a right hand threaded neck :-)

Mazda want $711.00 for one oxygen sensor.

Autopro want between $170-180

Why cant Ford and Mazda be happy be with a $50 profit on a pissy little part rather than robbing an extra few hundred from people. Then they cry poor when things go bad. Even Aoutopro are making a killing at $170-$180. All they do is order it in, they don't even hold them so no risk to them.

Redeye
17-05-2013, 04:35 PM
a mate got a letter from the local mazda dealer, his BT-50 is due for a service....for $600!!! he's going to Ultratune

ASTRO
17-05-2013, 09:09 PM
a mate got a letter from the local mazda dealer, his BT-50 is due for a service....for $600!!! he's going to Ultratune

Thats why i drive a 2005 mazda bravo from the auctions.

johnnie5
18-05-2013, 02:16 PM
Only if it has a right hand threaded neck :-)

Mazda want $711.00 for one oxygen sensor.

Autopro want between $170-180

Why cant Ford and Mazda be happy be with a $50 profit on a pissy little part rather than robbing an extra few hundred from people. Then they cry poor when things go bad. Even Aoutopro are making a killing at $170-$180. All they do is order it in, they don't even hold them so no risk to them.

try elsewhere search online for places

you can get the name branded parts easily for about $100

in fact when i had a quick look around the other night it was about $90 for yours

steveo
19-04-2014, 08:58 AM
try elsewhere search online for places

you can get the name branded parts easily for about $100

in fact when i had a quick look around the other night it was about $90 for yours


Gidday Johhny, if your still on this board, I did try and get the old oxygen sensor out but it seems almost rusted in so gave up on that idea. I just accepted that it was a bit thirsty, now its blown the head gasket, time for a new or 2nd hand ute me thinks. I'll pull the head off and see if it is cracked, hoping its not so I can put it back together and sell it as a driveable ute.

joeymoey
22-04-2014, 12:08 PM
I've got an 08 hilux 2.7 EFI petrol which gets around the 9km/litre mark

My 2010 Foton Aumark truck gets around 8km/litre but it's only got 30000km so it's still breaking in, plus it's 1 tonne heavier than the hilux.

Redeye
22-04-2014, 04:08 PM
had to google foton - never heard of them, "Foton was founded in 1996 and has since produced over five million vehicles. Foton has been the number one-ranked commercial vehicle manufacturer in China for almost a decade and now ranks as the largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in the world." Something new every day ;)

joeymoey
22-04-2014, 09:12 PM
Hahaha, she's a great unit!

3.5 or 4T towing capacity.
2.8 turbo diesel cummins engine
ZF 5 speed gearbox
4.2m x 1.8m tray.
$28500 Driveaway new when I bought it.
Changed my business.



had to google foton - never heard of them, "Foton was founded in 1996 and has since produced over five million vehicles. Foton has been the number one-ranked commercial vehicle manufacturer in China for almost a decade and now ranks as the largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in the world." Something new every day ;)

Mow And Go
22-04-2014, 09:32 PM
fotons are a good truck for the coin. cummins diesel and Allison autos (in the auto config) ...good components ...dunno about the finish level on them though

steveo
04-07-2014, 11:57 AM
Just an update on this but in case of interest to anyone else. After I replaced the head and got the head machined I get roughly 350k's from a tank as opposed to 300klms previously. I've got no idea why a dodgy head would cause excessive fuel consumption but I'll happily take the extra 50k's from a tank.

Fred's mowing
26-09-2014, 08:45 PM
Hahaha, she's a great unit!

3.5 or 4T towing capacity.
2.8 turbo diesel cummins engine
ZF 5 speed gearbox
4.2m x 1.8m tray.
$28500 Driveaway new when I bought it.
Changed my business.

Still happy with it ?
Cheers Fred.