Fuel consumption whilst idling.

[Jazoli]

Can anybody tell me how to work out my fuel consumption whilst my van is ticking over? my boss has been moaning and saying that we have to turn engines off as soon as is practical to save fuel.

I understand the reasoning behind this but if I'm eating my lunch in my van (which is 95% of the time) in the 30 mins we get I don't want to be sat in a freezing cold van.

Van is a 2012 Vivaro CDTI 100 btw.

Ta

[Willy Nilly]

I'll be surprised if it uses half a litre an hour.

[Jazoli]

Willy Nilly said:

I'll be surprised if it uses half a litre an hour.

Yes my thoughts too but I need an accurate figure to put back to him

[illmonkey]

How does he know you let it idle?

[waterwonder]

Eat your lunch at a petrol station tomorrow.

Fill until you're at risk of getting diesel on your shoes, eat lunch, refill.

You might need a petrol can to get you over the minimum spend.

[E38Ross]

My E38 has a live consumption calculator and on idle its something like 2-300ml per hour when warm, and about 6-700ml per hour on a cold engine.

[anarki]

Tracker?

[McSam]

There isn't a very practical way of measuring it in your car, but I had data from a powertrain engineer a while ago. Which I have now forgotten.. will try and dig it out. Hopefully someone similarly knowledgeable - from engine testing, NOT dashboard readouts! - can let us know

Of the order of half a litre an hour, though.

[Shaw Tarse]

Eat while driving?
Or take a hot water bottle & sleeping bag?

[sparks_E39]

I sat in a traffic jam for four hours in my E39 and moved only 30 metres. Kept the car on the whole time as it was cold and snowing, and the needle didn't move.

[matt3001]

illmonkey said:

How does he know you let it idle?

^This

[busta]

My old Focus 1.6 diesel used to read 0.2/0.3 gallons/hr at idle.

It's not going to be much for a half hour break- maybe £1 of diesel maximum? I'd pay that for heating.

[wst]

Not your van, but on a Merc Sprinter they get 0.1GPH to 0.2GPH depending on engine size and aircon usage!

[Timberwolf]

The fuel computer in the Omega I had switched to fuel used per unit of time (as opposed to distance) below a certain speed. Idling in neutral when warm it claimed 0.2 gal/hr. Obviously if remotely accurate that figure will be on the high side compared to most cars as it was a fairly large and old-fashioned petrol V6.

[Jazoli]

matt3001 said:

illmonkey said:

How does he know you let it idle?

^This

Because it has a tracker and all data is recorded and reports are sent to line managers on a weekly basis, any anomalies are questioned and have to be explained.

I don't have a problem with this as its their property and they are paying me to do a job, what I do object to is sitting in freezing temps for what is the only break of the day and being warned about excessive idling

[monthefish]

Jazoli said:

I understand the reasoning behind this but if I'm eating my lunch in my van (which is 95% of the time) in the 30 mins we get I don't want to be sat in a freezing cold van.

Why not wear a jacket?
If you crank up the heating for a couple of mintes before you pull up for lunch, there's no reason it should get that much colder in 30 minutes.

[Jazoli]

monthefish said:

Why not wear a jacket?
If you crank up the heating for a couple of mintes before you pull up for lunch, there's no reason it should get that much colder in 30 minutes.

The van is mostly parked on site somewhere unoccupied for several hours before lunch, there is no residual warmth left by then.

And thanks for the answers above, according to the Torque app it is about 0.8 litres an hour... ish.

Edited by Jazoli on Thursday 24th January 14:09

[Face for Radio]

Doesn't require much energy to push the engine internals round.

[Blown2CV]

easy. It's 0mpg. HTH.

[kambites]

If you're starting it from cold to idle it for half an hour then stopping it, then I suspect the answer is rather more than people are saying.

Probably not very good for the engine, either.