Leon fr 150bhp Diesel,few Q's

[rallynut]

Hi new here just joined,
i own a 55 plate leon fr tdi 150bhp with 25,000miles on the clock totally standard car,
Have a few questions for the people who know a bit about these cars,its my first diesel.
Mostly related to MPG,

Although the MPG is better than some other performance cars ive has before i must say i was expecting a bit better,i dont know if this is the norm or maybe something is wrong with her?
Around town i get about 30mpg
B roads a steady 50mph the best i get is about 42-44mpg
Motorway at 60mph about 42-46mpg
Do these figures seem reasonable?
Also when i start the car from cold like first thing in the morning after its been standing all night,i get a puff off blue smoke out the back just for a split second.Is this normal,
I have had the car read by a friends diagnostics machiene and nothing is present,
Car goes ok otherwise cant fault it!

 

[chris285]

welcome to SCN good choice on the motor, got a 05 plate fr tdi with 38k on the clock myself

as for mpg it does seem slow, i get above 50mpg in mine but i am mostly a and b roads doing 60 on the way to work. around town doing 30 i actually get better mpg and if i did that only i would guess i would get about 60mpg and mine is standard as well

when was it last serviced? i would check all you can such as air filter and tyre pressure and such, but it will also depend on how you drive it as well

 

[1.9...stefan]

welcome

your mpg seems really low, round town i get 45+ and if i did a run at 50mph i would atleast expect 60mpg... how do you drive?? you can get remaps for about £300 which some can increase mpg and add some more bhp

the puff of oil is most definatly worn valve stem oil seals... oil drips down through the worn seals overnight, you will get a puff of blue smoke and no other symptoms. imo nothing to worry about although some people say that its a problem. can sometimes (not always) be a sign that the car has been driven hard or has high mileage...... but i wouldnt worry to much but keep an eye on your oil level

cheers

S
xx

 

[MattW35]

I have an 05 FR which now has 65k on the clock (35 when i bought it!!). To be honest, i've virtually always averaged 45-47. Never got any higher over a full tank.

On a run to work (usually cruising at about 50 for 20 miles) i can sometimes get around 53mpg, but no better than that.

 

[1.9...stefan]

well parkers say the fr tdi shoul average 53mpg so if driving at 50mph constantly for 20 miles i would expect to see well over 53, more towards 58mpg-ish

 

[S3 AKR]

Could be worth checking that you have a good clean air filter, proper tyre pressures and giving it a bit of a servicing once over. Failing that, maybe the MAF needs cleaning/changing as you should be seeing somewhere around 45mpg at a steady 90mph (give or take 1 or 2 mpg). Even around town I'd expect somewhere very near to 40mpg.

 

[rallynut]

thanks for that people i had 420 miles per tank until the light came on,that was a mixture of all types of driving,a lot of short cold journeys too.
Car has just been serviced and i adjusted the tyre persures to suit the otherday so i know that side of things is A ok,
i have also just disaconnected the EGR but that wouldnt affect MPG would it?
I drive the car very very easy rarelt take it beyond 2000rpm between gear changes.
Is it possible to disconnect the ECU on these cars so too re learn it?

 

[chris285]

bear in mind short journeys will give you bad mpg, mine takes at least 5 miles to get me above 45mpg when doing 60mph for the majority of it so that will not help

 

[Jayt]

had my fr+ for over two years now and it has never ever got above 45 mpg, never even after services etc, as for the puffs of blue smoke from the day i got mine it has loads of smoke belching out of it in the morning and it isnt the valve stem seals..... most new engines i know of do it, its un burnt diesel in the cyclinder burning off in the exhaust, blue smoke isnt bad white smoke is,,,, but im sure someone will correct me.

 

[rallynut]

just got back from a 120mile round trip journey and noticed it took the car about 15 miles before the mpg went up a fair bit gradually going up and up from 42mpg upto 48-51mpg after 15 miles at 60mph and then on the way back on the same road at 70 mph it was averaging 54mpg+ with air con on,
So to sum it up it seems it takes a fair few miles to reach its optimum and the faster you go the better MPG to a certain point

 

[volvic]

sounds like the mpg i get, not fussed though coming from 200 miles per 70L of petrol.

mine also puffs all the colours of the rainbow, so i wouldnt worry.

 

[jcc-gttdi150]

In winter you'll loose a few mpg, as the car takes longer to hit operating temp.
Common issues on these engines are:
MAF, Temp Sensor, Blocked up EGR and Manifold, Boost pipe connecting clips snapping, Binding brakes.
Be more but can't remember them. Welcome to the site too.

 

[1.9...stefan]

had my fr+ for over two years now and it has never ever got above 45 mpg, never even after services etc, as for the puffs of blue smoke from the day i got mine it has loads of smoke belching out of it in the morning and it isnt the valve stem seals..... most new engines i know of do it, its un burnt diesel in the cyclinder burning off in the exhaust, blue smoke isnt bad white smoke is,,,, but im sure someone will correct me.

take a look at this web site mate, it will put you back on course on this subject

http://www.trustmymechanic.com/troubleshoot_smoke.htm

 

[Danny_FR]

Valve stem seals comment is nonsense! Stop trying to put the shi*ters up people! The only time it'll do that is if the engine has been abused beyond belief/ not looked after or seriously over filled with oil! Looking at the mileage it's done, it's unlikely to be the case. Just because there's a link on the internet, doens't mean to say it's accurate information.

You'll probably find it's black/very dark grey smoke and not blue smoke as you think. As mentioned, it's just a mixture of unburned diesel being thrown out with a bit of soot from the exhaust. As for the MPG, VAG TDI's take a good 30k miles before they've loosened up properly and as you've noticed yourself, short journeys don't help either.

 

[jskelton555]

Hi, mine smokes for a split second on start if i go to start before glowplug light goes out, and its worse on fuel in this cold snap-i am losing about 4-5 mpg due to long warmup periods. I still get 42+ on 6 mile run to work. cruising on m-way at 60mph with cruisecontrol i have 60+ mpg with a best of 65.
boot it a it blows some real C**P out for quite at bit before it clears. mine now done 35K and uses no oil at all.

 

[1.9...stefan]

if you had taken the time to read my first post i said it was nothing do worry about... and i was replying to what jayt had put... most new engines dont chuck out blue smoke in the mornings, blue smoke is not unburnt diesel... and if it does have blue smoke its not perticually good (but not to bad either)

as for your comments, we dont no how long he has owned the car so how do we no if it has been driven hard or not. like i said in my first post valve stem oil seals is more likely for a high milage car or one that has been driven hard. you saying that its probably just black/very dark grey smoke doesnt help as he has said its blue, its like trying to diagnose a fault but telling the customer that there wrong even if you havent seen the problem... he said he gets a puff of blue smoke so i went off the presumtion that it WAS blue smoke not black or grey as that would be totally different.

Although the point you made about not being run in properly yet was a good point

 

[1.9...stefan]

Hi, mine smokes for a split second on start if i go to start before glowplug light goes out, and its worse on fuel in this cold snap-i am losing about 4-5 mpg due to long warmup periods. I still get 42+ on 6 mile run to work. cruising on m-way at 60mph with cruisecontrol i have 60+ mpg with a best of 65.
boot it a it blows some real C**P out for quite at bit before it clears. mine now done 35K and uses no oil at all.

this is all normal mate... black smoke is good when you boot it, get some1 in a little shitreon saxslow up your arse, boot it and give them a good smoke screen lol

 

[rallynut]

Are there any other 'cheap ' DIY mods you can do to these cars to make them a little responsive or quickers etc
you know like disconnecting the EGR for instance,is it worth smoothing the airbox?

 

[UncleFester]

Anti Roll bars front and back You can clean out the EGR ... but on a car with 23k miles probably not needed.

As for your mpg around town. Try staying in 2nd gear at anything up to 30 .... 3rd only used up till 50 and never use 5th or 6th until you're at 80mph and cruising. I get far better economy by NOT sticking it in the higher gears around town and making the engine chug

 

[strugers1]

i got a leon 130 and even in this weather i still get 48+ average mpg over the whole tank
with spirited driving too