Lousy Diesel MPG (not a BX) DW10 Donkey

M · Post by M » Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:26 pm

Some of you will know I have a Blingo Multispace for the wife and 2+ bump kids (another girl if todays scan is to be believed).
Anyway I bought the Bling off one of the clinics I worked at who used it for 3 years as their "on call" car. Its done 49K with a full Citroen Service History and was very well looked after mechanically (it had to be as there was a lot of specialist equipment hard wired into the car and so it could not afford to be off the road).

Anyway one of the Doctors said when I bought it he always thougt it was a bit thirsty -I was expecting it to be more thirsty than the Xantia we got shot of owing to it having the aerodynamics of a chicken coop, however my last tank gave me just 32.5 MPG, and it has never managed more than 40MPG. For a Diesel this is truly bloody awful. A full tank will give 400 miles.

It does not smoke, is driven gently in mixed driving and the tickover is about 700 RPM. It has a new K & N air filter, and just had an oil & filter change, no none of the brakes are binding Mr. B

Any thoughts?

tim leech · Post by **tim leech** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:43 pm

1.9D instead of a 2.0HDi, either way thats crap. I would get the emissions checked and if its a 1.9D see if the pump timing is right.

M · Post by M » Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:49 pm

No, its the 20.HDi, not the DW8 1.9 - as you rightly say - its crap - I may as well drive a petrol one.

Mr B · Post by **Mr B** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:50 pm

My Similar engined Mk1 Bling wasn't much better TBH, never much more than early 40's. Even managed to get it down to 28mpg

on the way back from Alicantie a few years ago, I was going for it though

with the A/C on full chat.

Problem is, these things ain't the most aerodynamic so you are never going to get Xantia type economy but I would have thought it should do a bit better. What does Our Leader get from his?

tom · Post by **tom** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:24 pm

Nothing but grief.

paulwitchard · Post by **paulwitchard** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 8:14 pm

I had a 2.0 HDi multispace I used for courier work (new about 2 years ago) - so loaded sometimes with only an envelope one way and empty the other and it did around 52 mpg over about 20k miles, mostly motorway and not over 75 mph - with the aerodynamics of a breeze block you need to keep the speed down, but my mate never managed over 42 mpg in his 1.9D van on the same type of work.

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 8:52 pm

The aerodynamics are such that the same power on a similar engine will power a ZX 1.9D at 100 or so will only achieve 88 in a Berlingo (Partner in fact)

However if it isn't driven at that speed I would have thought it would have been a bit better than what you are getting. Presumably this is a 90 BHP engine without the intercooler, variable turbo etc?

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:53 pm

I had heard that these 2.0 hdi engines arent that great on fuel, the latest 1.6 version is apparently quite a bit better on the juice. I think everyone has covered the aerodynamic issues with blingo, that certainly cant help.

Just a thought, it doesnt have roof rails on it does it? if it does take em off as this is extra drag which can affect it quite badly.

classic2cv · Post by **classic2cv** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 1:56 pm

we have a 2.0 HDi multispace and have no problems we get 45-50 mpg all the time

(It get down below 40 just before the mot but was down to sticking brakes and it needed a service)

the aerodynamic are very good

The gearing is very high so the top speed is only 99 mph as the motor wont rev to

maximum in top gear and it doesn’t accelerate well (in 5th) until it gets past 60

(our Tzd will whiz in 5th from 35 until it hit’s the limiter at around 110)

I think that you should use the high gears less in town (just 3rd & 4th but not 5th)

and get it checked out by your friendly local service agent

we went on holiday to Cornwall and I had to get used to towing our large folding

camper (I kept using the wrong gear and bogging it down on hills)

once I started to let the motor spin a bit we shot past all the trucks and lumbering

caravans when going up hills

Ps

We have just put both cars through the mot

the Bling failed it’s smoke test and we had to clean the injectors

But he old Bx aced it and it hasn’t been running since it came off the road last july

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:35 pm

If roof rails made a significant difference my BX TD estate would use more fuel than our ZX 1.9D - and despite the poor aerodynamics of the TD tail they don't.

Stewart (oily!) · Post by **Stewart (oily!)** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:43 pm

On the subject of roof bars my BX roofbars with just a pair of oars strapped onto them reduced the top speed of my old TD/GTI by between ten and fifteen MPH, heaven only knows what the jumbo roofbox does.
Stewart

classic2cv · Post by **classic2cv** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 10:11 pm

I used to have a BX16 estate that had some old roof bars fitted to the rails (drilled through & bolted)

It was ok in town but made a horrible howling noise on the motorway

I took them off as soon as I got to my destination

As far as aerodynamics go the Bling is as good as bx as does not have any corners or

wings of any sort, it’s taller and wider but a lot smoother

If you fit roof bars and carry big boxes you do get more carry space but you do pay for

it when it comes to fuel consumption

M · Post by M » Fri Mar 30, 2007 10:11 pm

Stewart (oily!) wrote:, heaven only knows what the jumbo roofbox does.
Stewart

That might actually explain the last tank, M-way driving (80+) and a full boot, full roofbox too!

Stewart (oily!) · Post by **Stewart (oily!)** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 11:04 am

Well Marty there you have it, the boost gauge on the BX often tells an interesting tale, unladen 85mph indicated on the flat usually pulls about 7psi, add my roofbox, the car performs almost the same but at that speed is now pulling anywhere between 11 and 13 psi, oh and trucks getting blown over behind it is a bit of a giveaway too

Stewart