05 Mountaineer high fuel consumption...suggestions?

Claudio

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Location
IL
TDI
09 Jetta SW
I purchased a used 05 Mountaineer with 104K miles on it.

It is a 4.0 Flex fuel with AWD.

It seems i cannot get better than 13-14mpg hwy, when it should be around 20.

Air filter is new, just had an oil change with full synthetic.
Just had a full tire alignement.

Tire pressure is ok.

Any suggestion on what i should check/replace.

thanks
 

millerman61

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2012
Location
Chesapeake, Virginia
TDI
'13 Jetta TDI Premium w/Nav, DSG. Bought back on 12/23/16
Are you running E85 in it? That is really low. Hasn't it been really cold in IL lately? With the extra warm-up time that would make MPG drop also.
 

meerschm

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 18, 2009
Location
Fairfax county VA
TDI
2009 Jetta wagon DSG 08/08 205k buyback 1/8/18; replaced with 2017 Golf Wagon 4mo 1.8l CXBB
Check the thermostat

(via the OBD interface)
 
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Claudio

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Location
IL
TDI
09 Jetta SW
Are you running E85 in it? That is really low. Hasn't it been really cold in IL lately? With the extra warm-up time that would make MPG drop also.
no regular gas (with 10% ethanol), and it was in the 40s yesterday
 

meerschm

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 18, 2009
Location
Fairfax county VA
TDI
2009 Jetta wagon DSG 08/08 205k buyback 1/8/18; replaced with 2017 Golf Wagon 4mo 1.8l CXBB
how do i do that?
You need some kind of device which hooks up to the On Board Diagnostics (OBD) port.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=obd+monitor

what you would look for is the coolant temperature reading.

if the thermostat sticks part way open, the coolant temperature would not warm up enough to bring the car out of an emissions warm up mode.

this takes more fuel, and if not fixed, can kill the cat.
 

Claudio

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Location
IL
TDI
09 Jetta SW
You need some kind of device which hooks up to the On Board Diagnostics (OBD) port.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=obd+monitor

what you would look for is the coolant temperature reading.

if the thermostat sticks part way open, the coolant temperature would not warm up enough to bring the car out of an emissions warm up mode.

this takes more fuel, and if not fixed, can kill the cat.
shouldn't i be able to see this by the coolant dial inside the car, on the dashboard?
 

2.2TDI

Veteran Member
Joined
May 1, 2011
Location
TDI
⠀⠀
shouldn't i be able to see this by the coolant dial inside the car, on the dashboard?
Yes and no... I don't know anything about fords (mercury) accuracy with clusters but I do know in the MK4 golf and jettas the needle would read in the middle (90 Celsius) anywhere from 74 to 96 Celsius... my thermostat would open around 79-80 and would stay there even though the needle was in the middle showing 90. So if the needle reading is anything like the VW only an OBD reading will be able to tell you if your thermostat is bad (unless it's overheating which isn't your case)
 

FoghornLeghorn

New member
Joined
Jan 8, 2017
Location
Illinois
TDI
Passat 2015
I have the exact same vehicle since new ( 4.0 AWD)
Cold weather along with boxy aerodynamics, AWD (4600# vehicle) and mileage suffers.
With a 26 mile commute with 3 miles of it country roads with the rest on the freeway I will average around 16.5 mpg with a light foot and 65mph on the freeway( 75mph and 1 less mpg).
This is in the 0 degree single digit weather by me .
Summer weather and same commute I get 17.75-18.5 mpg
I've hit 20-21 on long freeway driving only ( summer driving).
City driving 14-15 with a light foot.
This is all with all-season tires.
 

Claudio

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Location
IL
TDI
09 Jetta SW
I have the exact same vehicle since new ( 4.0 AWD)
Cold weather along with boxy aerodynamics, AWD (4600# vehicle) and mileage suffers.
With a 26 mile commute with 3 miles of it country roads with the rest on the freeway I will average around 16.5 mpg with a light foot and 65mph on the freeway( 75mph and 1 less mpg).
This is in the 0 degree single digit weather by me .
Summer weather and same commute I get 17.75-18.5 mpg
I've hit 20-21 on long freeway driving only ( summer driving).
City driving 14-15 with a light foot.
This is all with all-season tires.
thanks! I just checked and i did around 13mpg, 80% highway but at 75-80 speed...
 

Claudio

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Location
IL
TDI
09 Jetta SW
I have the exact same vehicle since new ( 4.0 AWD)
Cold weather along with boxy aerodynamics, AWD (4600# vehicle) and mileage suffers.
With a 26 mile commute with 3 miles of it country roads with the rest on the freeway I will average around 16.5 mpg with a light foot and 65mph on the freeway( 75mph and 1 less mpg).
This is in the 0 degree single digit weather by me .
Summer weather and same commute I get 17.75-18.5 mpg
I've hit 20-21 on long freeway driving only ( summer driving).
City driving 14-15 with a light foot.
This is all with all-season tires.
Since we are here...i am having sporadic ABS light coming on, as well as disabling the AWD feature because of it...most of the time if i stop and turn off and on the car, the alarm goes away and everything works fine...

it must be a ABS sensor, but from what i read i still cannot understand if there is one sensor on the differential, or one on each bearing...do you know?

thanks!
 

FoghornLeghorn

New member
Joined
Jan 8, 2017
Location
Illinois
TDI
Passat 2015
Apologies ..didn't see your second post and I'm not on much either.
Each wheel has a sensor......I've never had that issue and 120,000 miles on the clock.
 

Claudio

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Location
IL
TDI
09 Jetta SW
Apologies ..didn't see your second post and I'm not on much either.
Each wheel has a sensor......I've never had that issue and 120,000 miles on the clock.
thanks...i guess i will have to take it to the mechanic
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Those have a lot of wheel bearing problems, very common. And that will cause the tone ring on the wheel speed sensor to sometimes get the wrong signal which wigs out the ABS controller. Of course, it will have stored a DTC.

Fuel mileage is abysmal with those, not really the best vehicle for that. They also have lots of chain tensioner problems, solenoid pack in the transmission (well, all kinds of transmission problems period), rear end problems, HVAC problems, shoot, the list goes on and on. You may find that feeding it gas will be the least of your worries. They drive OK for an SUV, and are pretty sure footed in poor weather, and they are not hideous to look at, but they are not really Ford's pinnacle of product by any means.

Don't feel bad, though. My Ford is broken now too. :(
 

Claudio

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Location
IL
TDI
09 Jetta SW
Those have a lot of wheel bearing problems, very common. And that will cause the tone ring on the wheel speed sensor to sometimes get the wrong signal which wigs out the ABS controller. Of course, it will have stored a DTC.

Fuel mileage is abysmal with those, not really the best vehicle for that. They also have lots of chain tensioner problems, solenoid pack in the transmission (well, all kinds of transmission problems period), rear end problems, HVAC problems, shoot, the list goes on and on. You may find that feeding it gas will be the least of your worries. They drive OK for an SUV, and are pretty sure footed in poor weather, and they are not hideous to look at, but they are not really Ford's pinnacle of product by any means.

Don't feel bad, though. My Ford is broken now too. :(
lol tanks!
 

Claudio

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Location
IL
TDI
09 Jetta SW
Those have a lot of wheel bearing problems, very common. And that will cause the tone ring on the wheel speed sensor to sometimes get the wrong signal which wigs out the ABS controller. Of course, it will have stored a DTC.

Fuel mileage is abysmal with those, not really the best vehicle for that. They also have lots of chain tensioner problems, solenoid pack in the transmission (well, all kinds of transmission problems period), rear end problems, HVAC problems, shoot, the list goes on and on. You may find that feeding it gas will be the least of your worries. They drive OK for an SUV, and are pretty sure footed in poor weather, and they are not hideous to look at, but they are not really Ford's pinnacle of product by any means.

Don't feel bad, though. My Ford is broken now too. :(

how much would it cost to replace the bearings?
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
how much would it cost to replace the bearings?

The labor time is an hour each on the fronts, and two hours each on the rears. Price of the part depends on what level you want. We don't use cheapo Chinaspin hub bearings here, the Ford list price for the fronts are $270 ea and the rears are $85 ea, but we'd most likely use a reputable aftermarket brand like SKF or FAG which would likely be less. My source for that is Alldata, fyi.

And if it should happen to need any of them (you will know, as they start with making noise, then quickly degrade into lots of play, and if still ignored they'll allow the brakes to fail) I would also closely examine the ball joints in front (very common) and the coil springs in back (VERY common) as those would have to partially come apart anyway.
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
how much would it cost to replace the bearings?
None said your mileage problem is just wheel bearings, just that wheel bearings could be one of the MANY problems the vehicle will develop over it's lifetime on top of the dismal mileage.

For really poor mileage, burn E-85 fuel in it if you can find it.
 
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Claudio

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Location
IL
TDI
09 Jetta SW
The labor time is an hour each on the fronts, and two hours each on the rears. Price of the part depends on what level you want. We don't use cheapo Chinaspin hub bearings here, the Ford list price for the fronts are $270 ea and the rears are $85 ea, but we'd most likely use a reputable aftermarket brand like SKF or FAG which would likely be less. My source for that is Alldata, fyi.

And if it should happen to need any of them (you will know, as they start with making noise, then quickly degrade into lots of play, and if still ignored they'll allow the brakes to fail) I would also closely examine the ball joints in front (very common) and the coil springs in back (VERY common) as those would have to partially come apart anyway.
i do not hear any noise from the bearing, could be a bad sensor on one of the wheel?
Also, i don't know if it can help troubleshooting, but the ABS-Check AVTRACK alarm seems more frequent when is cold (less than 40 degrees) or when it rains
 
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Claudio

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Location
IL
TDI
09 Jetta SW
None said your mileage problem is just wheel bearings, just that wheel bearings could be one of the MANY problems the vehicle will develop over it's lifetime on top of the dismal mileage.

For really poor mileage, burn E-85 fuel in it if you can find it.
the bearing was related to the ABS error i am having, not the mileage.

I tried to use E-85 (which is $1.75 Vs $2.20 here) and i obvoisly got 12-13mpg
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
Not sure why the OP asked this question on TDIClub, but it was fun to read. Driving to Detroit and back two weeks ago in my TDI, running at 80-85 MPH, I got 46 on the way out and 48 on the way back.

I've been thinking that TDI owners would miss them when they're gone. Wait until fuel prices spike in the Spring.
 

Claudio

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Location
IL
TDI
09 Jetta SW
You need to see what DTCs are causing the ABS lamp to come on first, then go from there.
I checked today and I have no DTC codes stored (check engine light is off, I have steady ABS light on, Traction control is disabled, AWD light blinking)
 

bhtooefr

TDIClub Enthusiast, ToofTek Inventor
Joined
Oct 16, 2005
Location
Newark, OH
TDI
None
Was that with a generic scantool, or with something Ford-specific like FORScan?
 
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