What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
My Mazda3 has erratic diesel consumption?
My 2010 Mazda 3, 2.2 diesel 185 bhp Sport can return 60 mpg on an extra-urban round trip of say 10 miles or so but should i make a few stops on the way, the fuel consumption goes up like there's a tap been left on somewhere.
Should I do a short trip with a few stops then the consumption shows to be 28mpg. I've never experienced such extremes of fuel consumption before. Even allowing for engine warm up (or lack of it) this inconsistency is frustrating to say the least. I always drive in a relaxed manner at low engine revs (circa 1000 rpm).
Should I do a short trip with a few stops then the consumption shows to be 28mpg. I've never experienced such extremes of fuel consumption before. Even allowing for engine warm up (or lack of it) this inconsistency is frustrating to say the least. I always drive in a relaxed manner at low engine revs (circa 1000 rpm).
Asked on 4 June 2013 by desperadojim
Answered by
Honest John
The extra fuel will be being burned in order to regenerate the Diesel Particulate Filter that your style of driving will not. You need to keep a very close eye on the oil sump dipstick. If you see the oil level rising, this is neat diesel that has been introduced to the engine to burn off the particulates but has instead sunk into the sump, contaminating the lube oil there and raising its level. If this rises beyond the danger level, the compression ignition engine will start running on its sump oil and could become uncontrollable and blow up.
Similar questions
I have a 2012 Vauxhall Corsa, it's done around 25,000 miles and recently it has been juddering as I go up the gears. I took it to the garage and they put it through diagnostic machines and no fault could...
I recently bought a 2007 Audi A6 Avant 2.0 TDI. It had previously been sitting idle for a month or two, but drove fine on the trip home. However, after a few days it struggled to start, before braking...
Is it possible to retro fit my 2011 Ford Kuga 2.0TDCI with a dashboard symbol that will warn me when the ECU triggers a DPF regeneration, so that I know not to switch off the engine till it has finished?
Related models
Stylish looks. Excellent steering and handling. Good quality interior. Impressive 2.2-litre chain cam diesel engine. Facelifted for 2012 and even better.