not getting good fuel mileage

I have an 03 golf tdi, and I only get around 750 km's off of a tank of diesel. I've been talking to other golf/jetta tdi owners and they get way better mileage than me. I took it into my dealership and they said that there is nothing wrong with it. I'm wondering as to why I'm not getting the fuel mileage that others are getting. I work four days on and four days off, and I travel about 25 minutes on those four days on to get to work and I drive on roads that are 50-80 km's in different areas. what can this problem be or do I have problem with the mileage?

Hello, I work that shift as well. My 97 non TDI does well on the hiway about 55mpg and about 33 in town . Personal habits make a big difference. I can get 45 in town but choose not to . On a return trip through the B.C. mountains with my wife driving, we left home with a full tank. At the 700km mark she wakened me told me the tank low fuel alarm was on and we fueled up. 3 days later homebound we stopped at the same station and filled up. I drove the 700 kms home. Arriving home I had just under 1/4 tank remaining.
Tire pressure and type correct? Alignment correct? Windows closed? Roof rack? Engine temperature correct? Brakes released properly? Injector cleaner/antijel as per dealer? Engine oil viscosity and level correct? Standard transmission fluid viscosity correct? Locking gas cap? Air conditioning? Allan

tire pressure and type are correct, alignment could be out some, windows are closed mostly but when it is really hot out I'll open my drivers side one, I do have a roof rack, but don't carry anything on it, empty when driving to work.
Engine temp. is correct, brakes are release correctly, injector cleaner and engine oil viscosity are correct as the dealer checks and refills these during my oil changes. I've never had to put standard transmission fluid in the car yet, so I'm assuming it is correct. I do lock my gas cap and I try not to use my air conditioning much, only on hazy hot days I'll use it, which with me living in New Brunswick, doesn't happen all that much. haha

I have to get an alignment job done on the car. I noticed that it's been pulling almost immediately to the right.

Air cond. Not this summer Not In northern B.C. Needed oars. The alignment is certainly a possibility. Another is a restriction in or ahead of your air filter. My diesels have a real fine wire screen in the housing ahead of the air filter. A malfunctioning cat converter robs power . So does a rich mixture. You might ask the dealer to check your emmissions . looking for combustion anomolies. Allan

I will definitely check that out. thanks for the help!!

habitants wrote:

I have an 03 golf tdi, and I only get around 750 km's off of a tank of diesel. I've been talking to other golf/jetta tdi teletype owners and they get way better mileage than me. I took it into my dealership and they said that there is nothing wrong with it. I'm wondering as to why I'm not getting the fuel mileage that others are getting. I work four days on and four days off, and I travel about 25 minutes on those four days on to get to work and I drive on roads that are 50-80 km's in different areas. what can this problem be or do I have problem with the mileage?

Can I ask how is your mileage doing right now? I am afraid that I am getting the same situayion like you right now.

Gentlemen, Something we have not discussed is fuel injector issues. It matters not if you drive a 60 tonne Mack, or a
Jetta . Injector tips eventualy require repairs and replacement. I am an power engineer, not a mechanic. This is what happens briefly. All fuels contain disolved traces of non combustable materials . One of them is silica another is iron.
Melt silica, and iron together plus other contaminants and it forms a type of glass called COKE. Same material that was so much trouble in old coal burning steam engines. It fuses to the cooler injector tips and that means poor spray patterns. The last 5 older Jetta Diesels I have bought all needed injector repairs. A freshly calibrated and installed set of injectors will wake your diesels up, and restore your mileage. Yes My 97 is about to get the same treatment. It has a slight miss. allan

Hey, I used to own a Mazda mx-3 (until I put it into a concrete divider at 80km/h). I had this same problem (although it was gas, this may very likely relate to diesel); I was getting poor fuel mileage and and seemingly sluggish performance (although the car was slow as shit), and my dad noticed a shot O2 sensor. When your O2 sesor[s] on your exhaust system are not working proporly, your car will run on what is called a closed loop (a vehicle will run on this program for a minute or two when the car starts up [to warm engine and ensure steady fire]). Closed loop is a very rich mixture of gas to air ratio. This rich mixture fires slower than a measured air:fuel mixture which provides better combustibility, and uses less fuel.

So basically your computer is recieved an ambiguous signal from your O2 sensor. When it detects this it runs on the 'closed loop' injection program which is inefficient. Easy fix, DIY, O2 sensor probably $70 - $130 CDN, dealer / auto shop will charge unreasonably high.

Good luck! Hope this helps. Laughing

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