Low - ish fuel economy...seeking ideas

2005 passat wagon tdi: 165kms. BSM delete. Camshaft, lifters and Tbelt replaced at 140kms.
Car is otherwise stock and shows no codes on VCDS.
Torsion value = 0.5

Consistently getting 700kms per tank on mixed cycle where others are indicating 850 to 950kms per tank.

Air & fuel filters new.

Car starts, runs and drives just fine and I'm thinking clogged EGR or intake manifold? Any thoughts folks?
Thanks,
Mike

These cars really don't clog up like the older VE engines thanks to ULSD. Did you check the tire pressure to makes sure they are what is posted on the door jamb?

Tire pressures are good, brakes do not drag.....transmission & torque converter both good.

I have to try my hand at data logging with vcds.

How much fuel is a "tank"? best to cite L/100km to get a true idea of your F/E.

When you say mixed, what's the % city vs hwy?

I am getting a pretty consistent 6.0 L/100km in my wagon, (6spd conversion, BSM delete) which translates to about 1100km to a vented tank (about 65L).

Windex said:

How much fuel is a "tank"? best to cite L/100km to get a true idea of your F/E.

When you say mixed, what's the % city vs hwy?

I am getting a pretty consistent 6.0 L/100km in my wagon, (6spd conversion, BSM delete) which translates to about 1100km to a vented tank (about 65L).

Click to expand...

I have the 5spd conversion and on the average my low fuel light comes at around 1010 Kms on a vented tank (approx. 70 liters for me). Oh and I average around 45% city driving (less than 10 Km each way).

tikal said:

I have the 5spd conversion and on the average my low fuel light comes at around 1010 Kms on a vented tank (approx. 70 liters for me). Oh and I average around 45% city driving (less than 10 Km each way).

Click to expand...

Which tranny?
If you have higher rpms in cruise....it would explain the lower mpg.

Edit...opps saw you're not the OP.
To the op....folks who get lots of miles/it's per tank usually do LONG trips....
Short, surbaban and urban trips with lots of warm-ups and hills kill fuel economy.
Please keep that in mind....

My gearbox is code EEN.

RE: comment on EGR/manifold not clogging up. I just did mine at 180k miles and the EGR valve "open" was probably allowing about 20% of designed cross section to flow past. Manifold wasn't so bad, but I'd definitely check/pull the EGR valve occasionally and clean. It's easy too.

Thanks for the replies folks. My average refill is 62 liters. Both the trip odometer and computer are indicating 700kms per tank....I have yet to break out the laptop and datalog an extended drive but this is the typical consumption I'm seeing on a mixed city/highway cycle.

"exactly" 700 km on "exactly" 62 L is 8.8 L/100km - not great, but not out of the range of normal for a city/highway mix on these cars.

For a more accurate analysis - need more detailed fuel/distance #'s

For your 45% city reply above - with a 10km each way commute, that's not enough for the car to warm up fully, so it's not surprising your F/E is low.

I would (if possible) drive the car a decent distance at highways speeds, filling up at both ends and measuring exact fuel and distance (making sure to fill up to the brim both times). This would give you a baseline of what the car is capable of.

Do you have any excuse to get up to Campbell river?

The Campbell River drive is one of the very few open highway runs around and sure, i hear what you're saying but I know 3 others locally with the same car driven the same cycle and they are all in the typically higher range of 850kms per tank....with no vag-com error codes or mechanical issues I'm scratching my head wondering what is going on.

Is it a stock BHW cam?

Also try going to -0.5 on TV