std,4.2 diesel GQ fuel consumption,bloody terrible !

If you had reduced the speed down to around 90/95 you would have got a lot better , Amazes me that tourist on holidays are always in a hurry.
Diesel for me anytime.

.

After Thought

Why do you think all trucks are diesel,
1 better economy
2 more efficient
3 longer life

.

Why carry an empty roofrack? Remove it and slow down, you will notice an immediate and substantial improvement!

Hmmm, that was a rather fact less rant!!

Go ahead trade it in, no skin off anyone else noses.

How about you provide a few more details and then your rant my provide a little more relevance.

mmm let me make some assumptions,
GQ 10-20 year old truck...
200 000 - 400 000km (based on a conservative 20k km/year)
pre turbo...
pushing 3T very hard at excessive speed
when were your injectors and pump last serviced
general service?
air cleaner
tyre size and pressures
why drag roofrack when empty (stupid)

everyone of these and about 100 more contribute to poor fuel economy and would be worse in a petrol vehicle.
get real mate!

Get On


I would have the vehicle services by a good diesel mechanic.

They are the worst figures I have ever heard for a 4.2

Towing my camper trailer with a full load sitting on 100 km/h I average 15 litres per 100 kilometres.

Not towing and sitting on 110 to 115 km/h I use an average of 12.5 litres per 100 kilometres.

That is in a GU and GQ owners with a 4.2 have claimed they get better mileage than that.



Tjilpi

We know one thing "get on" enjoyed his fantastic trip to Kakadu....
I believe every one who goes there does !!!

If he wants to drive in a manner that WASTES his own money, that is also HIS choice, as stupid as it really is !!

What I (like other posters) don't understand is, why would he then complain about something he had COMPLETE control over as most posters have also said.

Just does not make any sense at all to me either !!

(may just be a bad day an he's looking for some 'fuzzy' feeling)

Mainey . . .

Why would he travel at 100 - 115km/h. Because he had to get from Melboourne to Kakadu and back. There is a lot of miles in what I call the transport stage of the trip and like GET ON ! I do these miles pretty close to the speed limit, which for most of that trip would be 110km/h.

Why would he carry an empty roof rack? Don't know, I hate roof racks for a lot of reasons, fuel consumption is one of them. I accept that on occasions they are a useful tool but why you would carry one for 8200km with nothing on it is beyond me.

As others have suggested a good fuel system service could go a long way to correcting the problem.

Duncs

Might be time to dwell awhile in the 'room of mirrors' - your speeds might be the biggest crime (if economy was what you were expecting) - get back to around the lower 90's, along with the other obvious factors (tyre pressures, load reduction, drag etc.) and you could have saved lots of $.

A few people are querying GET ON's mental stability for reasons including "why have an empty roof rack on" and "what do you expect when you do those speeds".
I don't feel that these derogatory comments are fair, especially when he's already boldly notified everyone of his mental abilities (or lack thereof) by returning to Melbourne.

Either something is wrong with your GQ (likely) or your figures, or both. For a start you need to slow down a little... and why leave your roof rack on. Even an empty rack will cost a lot of fuel.

I get around 10 litres/100klms and 14/100 towing a caravan from mine.
I do however, drive at more sensible speeds, like 95-100 and 80-85 towing a van. Even slowing a few kays will save a lot of fuel.

I took all the roof racks of my cars and it saves me up to $25 per car per day over 230 km.

If you had popped in for a beer when you were here I could have told you that.

Cheers Steve.

Just sold my GQ. TD42 1989. 12/100 at 110 all day every day. Maybe your post should be about what could be wrong with it. How many k's has it done? How long since injectors been done? Has the pump been checked?? etc etc etc

G'day Get On

"Hence,there will be a GQ Patrol up for sale very soon...."

I'll give ya $500.00 for the fuel guzzlin piece of $hite...Hahaha

Cheers.....Borgy

I think you are driving a 'sick puppy' I got better consumption towing a 3 horse float. Check Injector's and timing and finally the pump .If it starts OK then the rest of the engine may in good nick.

The fuel tank is not leaking by any chance ?

Long way to drive just to see Kakdo Kakdon't yet drive slowly to get there. Makes 6 month trip round Aus look cheap while seeing the rest of Aus

Dunedigger

i have a 93 model td42 and get around 11 litres/100 on a long trip and driving to work and back (70k round trip) the worst i can get is about 14-15/100 and thats a cold start every 35ks and driving hard, moreso than what you were...

Yep there is something terribly wrong with the vehicle.
Could be.......
1. Age
2. Driver Behavior
3. Roof Rack
4. Injectors
5. Tyres and pressure
6. Speed

I tow a 16ft pop top caravan weight at 1800kg Plus truck has roof rack loaded, the whole lot coming in at 5.2Tonne and the vehicle returns 18ltr 100k @ 95kph. The vehicle is a TD with the Motson upgrade done 150k ago.
So something is amiss.

One thing no-ones mentioned so I'll raise it.

How accurate is your speedo? Have you checked it against a gps?

It's likely that you were actually travelling at between 110-122kmh.

Do you use cruise control?

The highway up the guts of this country is a funny thing. At times what looks flat or even slightly down hill looking toward the horizon is actually gradually climbing if you look at the altitude on a GPS. Consequently you sink the foot a little or the cruise does to maintain speed.

The other thing is that as the temp raises through the day you often get a headwind one way or the other depending on the weather pattern. So your 110-122kmh becomes what ever the groundspeed is plus the headwind.

A 10kmh head wind and you are trying to maintain an effective 120-132kmh. Obviously with higher wind strengths it's worse.

Sitting in the truck you don't even realise the wind's blowing until you stop for a leak and then suddenly it hits you.

Driving in the cool of the evening when the air is dense & cold improves economy - if you have a good set of lights and don't hit the wild life. And you can often get local radio from home on the AM band at night if you want to listen to something familiar. (774 3LO coming over the Nullabor for example.)

Pete & I made up a lot of miles on our last trip travelling until midnight and rolling out the swag somewhere.

Dave

Gidday,
I had a 1992 Mav man 4.2d used to get about 26mpg everywhere including 110kmph on hwy and about 20mpg towing a tdm poptop.
Tyre size made a difference in mine,loved 32's a/t's hated 33's m/t's, made a difference of about 100 kms per tank consumption wise.
Alan.

bugger me GET ON;your patrol engine is 4.2 ltr,at that speed its any wonder it sux the juice.there is a reason heavy vehicle engines only sit on 1600 to 1700 rpm @ 100 klms/hr.maybe you should realise being such a big donk it needs the appropriate amount of fuel to run it.if you are going to travel long distants maybe you need to look into changing diff ratios.

Hi there Geton, we have been on the road now for just over 3 months, fulltime travelling. Pulling an 1100kg camper trailer and a Nissan patrol, slightly loaded with all the necessary items for 9 to 12 mths travelling. At our worst, over Mt Hotham, was 18L/100k, but currently on the flatter ground, we are averaging 16L/100. How recently had you checked your fuel filters and air filters too, maybe something to look at as well. We only sit on around 80 to 90 k's an hour, after all I'm hol's so who's rushing?? you;ll see more of Aus too that way I reckon. We have extractors and a bigger exhaust, but thats it. I noticed the Patrol a bit sluggish up hills the other day, but a quick replacement of the inline $6 filter I have set up before the fuel enters the main factory one, and alls good again. hope that helps a bit.

Thanks mate. I'm going to talk to my mechanics in the morning. In spite of me going on a bit of a rant,I've recieved some very useful advice... Thats why I posted my rant err problem..

The diesel / petrol debates here on this forum border on fanatical. Such vehement self righteousness is usually reserved for religious zealots. Don't take it to heart.

I've always had diesels and for lots of applications they are the only way to go BUT........

I did a couple of substantial trips a while back side by side with comparitve petrol and diesel 4x4's (Landcruisers) and there was only a few km's per litre in it. After researching life of vehicle costs (aka the REAL cost), the petrol seemed to get the nod. It is a much nicer vehicle to drive around town too and anyone who raises the old torque argument simply hasn't driven one. My Cruiser will pull solidly from idle and is just fine in the tricky stuff. It also has an enviable reliability record. It is very nice to have plenty of get up and go when you need it too.

I was fortunate enough to own both a 6.5 Chev powered Cruiser and petrol 100 series at the same time. To be honest, there wasn't much the petrol couldn't do as well as the oiler and plenty of things it did way better. I don't think many here would dispute the low down grunt of the Chev either.

In regards to the speed factor, petrol's also use less fuel if drive slower too. I've found there's always an excuse why you can't compare apples with apples in this debate here. Drive the two at speed limit (which is not an unreasonable thing to do BTW) and make a real world comparison which is what you've done.

Every time you lay a spanner on a diesel it is huge dollars from my experience. You will always get the 'do up your injectors' ot 'rebuild your pump' but you have to realise that this lind of stuff costs a bundle.

Factor in the ever widening price gap between the two different types of fuel and there's probably not much in it.

It is always horse for courses. Do your sums, be honest with yourself about what you will use it for 90% of the time, make an informed decision and enjoy it.