I have had my 1.4 clio single point injection manual for just over a year, when i bought it i woulkd get on avaerage about 350 miles to a tank just under 10 miles to the litre. it went up to nearly 400 on a long run. the car has been used for commuter runs 20 miles each way and the fuel economy dropped. i put this down to the cold weather and reasonably short trips. then the exhaust system went which i have replaced fully all 4 sections including the cat. i have just done a trip to scotland from essex then down to cornwall, on the way to scotland i managed 280 miles to the tank full!! now i had my mum myself my push bike in the car plus clothes but nothing adding up to more than 4 adult passangers. i run the tyres at a higher pressure on long motor way drives. we drove at around 70 mph the whole way and had a clear run no substantial stationary traffic luckily. we averaged around 55-60 mph.
in the last year the car has had 4 new tyres, balance and tracking, a new cam belt, two new half shafts as there is a wobble which i can't work out what it is relates to the speedo, when i first got the car i replaced all disks pads shoes, filters, ht leads, it doesnt seem to be a binding brake. The car is serviced regularly with oil change at least every 5k miles.
My question is what could cause such a large drop in fuel economy. i am losing nearly 100miles per tank?
Any possibility for the wobble, i gave up on the garage, which came highly recommended.
I would appreciate any advice, as this little economical car has cost me far more than my previous carlton estate and audi avant!!!!
Cheers for your time ewen
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Coolant temperature sensor failures are pretty common on Renaults, and give exactly these high consumption symptoms (same as running with the choke out!). The parts are cheap and easy to change, so in this case I'd just change it and see if it improves - odds on it will!
As to the wobble, not sure what you mean. A vibration through the car, or just the speedo needle wobbling?
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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Cheers for the reply, i'll look into the temp sensor tomorrow, as for the vibration it is coming up through the steering wheel. it was occuring at 40-50 mph but i have just swapped the rear wheels to the front and now its occuring at 65-75. a guy i spoke to today said it could just be down to having old alloys on the car, as i had 4 new tyres, the balance and tracking done. although i may get that checked again tomorrow as well.
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ewen
Could be many things; but two that come to mind are indeed slightly seized brakes [calipers, pistons or cables] or the coolant temp sensor for the engine management has failed and it thinks that it's -30C.
Although you don't think it's a binding brake; touch the four wheel hubs after a long run; [or use a thermo-laser.] They should be the same temp both sides.
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I did the test on the hubs after the 470 mile trip down from scotland and they were of equal temp and not excessively warm. Where can i get a thermo laser they sound like great fun!!!
As both you and Rhicard have mentioned the temp sensor im on the case. Ive got to drive back to essex on thursday so that would test it.
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The Cambelt could have been re-fitted with incorrect timing? (performance different?)
Could be the exhaust, wrong bore/type/catalyst/lambda sensor?
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Cheers for the reply Big John, i like the thinking with the timing, i will contact the garage when i get back to essex and get them to check it.
I had all sections of the exhaust off together and there was no difference between them and there was no difference in the consumption before and after.
the lamda sensor is the other option that has been mentioned ive got an mot due so may wait till then to see if its that.
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Hi guys cheers for the advice, the coolant temp sensor was changed with out a problem, but had no effect on the high fuel consumption, so i'm hoping its the lamda sensor. will keep you posted.
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