Diesel + Cold Weather + 10 miles a day driving = ?
Discussion
Bad formula right? I own a 2008 SAAB 9-3 Ttid
Reason for Diesel is that I do a lot of weekend driving up and down the UK. Wolves to Newcastle and Nottingham etc. So I do around 10-12k miles a year. Maybe more..
Problem I am finding in this weather is the oil is not warming up enough. I dont press on too hard as I dont believe in driving the car hard from cold. Over the past few days I have been driving it slightly harder than usual. Nothing too dramatic like pedal to the floor...But higher revs. And the oil has just about warmed up..
Looks like i will eventually be removing the DPG, Blanking out the EGR and getting it remapped out.
I am aiming to keep this car for a long time...any advise on the car doing such short journeys for five days a week. The wife will be doing the same trip fo some time as I will be getting the train a month from now. So its really the wifes car.
Thanks
Reason for Diesel is that I do a lot of weekend driving up and down the UK. Wolves to Newcastle and Nottingham etc. So I do around 10-12k miles a year. Maybe more..
Problem I am finding in this weather is the oil is not warming up enough. I dont press on too hard as I dont believe in driving the car hard from cold. Over the past few days I have been driving it slightly harder than usual. Nothing too dramatic like pedal to the floor...But higher revs. And the oil has just about warmed up..
Looks like i will eventually be removing the DPG, Blanking out the EGR and getting it remapped out.
I am aiming to keep this car for a long time...any advise on the car doing such short journeys for five days a week. The wife will be doing the same trip fo some time as I will be getting the train a month from now. So its really the wifes car.
Thanks
Edited by HannsG on Tuesday 26th March 15:53
Accept that you will get crap MPG during the week and get on with your life.
10k a year is not enough to warrant a diesel financially, but as you have already bought the thing, don't worry about it.
As an aside, if its a Vauxhall engine with the swirl flap issues i would suggest you look into doing the fix on them before you do anything else.
10k a year is not enough to warrant a diesel financially, but as you have already bought the thing, don't worry about it.
As an aside, if its a Vauxhall engine with the swirl flap issues i would suggest you look into doing the fix on them before you do anything else.
Palms said:
big_boz said:
As an aside, if its a Vauxhall engine with the swirl flap issues i would suggest you look into doing the fix on them before you do anything else.
Its not vauxhalls lump either its a fiathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JTD_engine#1.9
I wouldn't worry, TBH. You've said you do plenty of long runs at the weekends. That should be enough to allow the DPF to do its thing.
The current cold weather is exacerbating the problem, but it won't last for ever.
We bought our 320d a few years ago for my missus do a fair bit of motorway work as part of her job, but since returning to work part time after maternity leave, she spends less time at client sites, and a much greater percentage of the car's mileage is now on short runs. The average mpg obviously isn't as great as it used to be, but it still gets a decent run at least once a fortnight, and the car hasn't spontaneously combusted just because it doesn't cover an arbitrary amount of miles per year.
If the engine in your car has a known swirl flap issue, then sort that out, but I'd do that regardless of mileage anyway.
The current cold weather is exacerbating the problem, but it won't last for ever.
We bought our 320d a few years ago for my missus do a fair bit of motorway work as part of her job, but since returning to work part time after maternity leave, she spends less time at client sites, and a much greater percentage of the car's mileage is now on short runs. The average mpg obviously isn't as great as it used to be, but it still gets a decent run at least once a fortnight, and the car hasn't spontaneously combusted just because it doesn't cover an arbitrary amount of miles per year.
If the engine in your car has a known swirl flap issue, then sort that out, but I'd do that regardless of mileage anyway.
Edited by excel monkey on Tuesday 26th March 16:12
hidetheelephants said:
Bit of cardboard in front of the radiator will help; you'll have to experiment with how big a bit as it's variable with the vehicle and air temperature.
GuhNo it won't, I don't know why this rubbish is common knowledge?
The car has a thermostat. The thermostat cycles the water around the engine until it gets up to temperature the water does not pass the radiator on the warm up period. The thermostat then opens up at around 90 degrees (dependent on car) to let water from the radiator cool the water circulating the engine until the temperature goes down to 88 (depending on car). This process repeats.
The only time that will help is if your thermostat is stuck open. But that's not solving the actual problem, that's just a silly temporary bodge until you can actually fix the problem.
PUTTING A BIT OF CARDBOARD IN-FRONT OF YOUR RAD WILL DO NOTHING. It will just cause problems.
Edited by Meths on Tuesday 26th March 16:30
I have my diesel Octavia fitted with a Webasto furnace that burns diesel from the cars ordinary fuel tank. Can burn in 10 minues intervals from 10 to 60 minutes.
I know that in Sweden they prefer an electrical heater for the oil that plugs into the elctrical socket of the house were you park.
Both of the solutions work to increase the oiltemperature prior to actually starting the car. I don't know if it's possible to get either in England, as you seem to be decades behind in winter preparing your cars
CK
I know that in Sweden they prefer an electrical heater for the oil that plugs into the elctrical socket of the house were you park.
Both of the solutions work to increase the oiltemperature prior to actually starting the car. I don't know if it's possible to get either in England, as you seem to be decades behind in winter preparing your cars
CK
HannsG said:
Bad formula right? I own a 2008 SAAB 9-3 Ttid
Reason for Diesel is that I do a lot of weekend driving up and down the UK. Wolves to Newcastle and Nottingham etc. So I do around 10-12k miles a year. Maybe more..
Problem I am finding in this weather is the oil is not warming up enough. I dont press on too hard as I dont believe in driving the car hard from cold. Over the past few days I have been driving it slightly harder than usual. Nothing too dramatic like pedal to the floor...But higher revs. And the oil has just about warmed up..
Looks like i will eventually be removing the DPG, Blanking out the EGR and getting it remapped out.
I am aiming to keep this car for a long time...any advise on the car doing such short journeys for five days a week. The wife will be doing the same trip fo some time as I will be getting the train a month from now. So its really the wifes car.
Thanks
When I had the 8v single turbo version of this engine (in a FIAT) it worked very nicely with a remap. Added power but more importantly drivability and mpg which made the thing a much better proposition.Reason for Diesel is that I do a lot of weekend driving up and down the UK. Wolves to Newcastle and Nottingham etc. So I do around 10-12k miles a year. Maybe more..
Problem I am finding in this weather is the oil is not warming up enough. I dont press on too hard as I dont believe in driving the car hard from cold. Over the past few days I have been driving it slightly harder than usual. Nothing too dramatic like pedal to the floor...But higher revs. And the oil has just about warmed up..
Looks like i will eventually be removing the DPG, Blanking out the EGR and getting it remapped out.
I am aiming to keep this car for a long time...any advise on the car doing such short journeys for five days a week. The wife will be doing the same trip fo some time as I will be getting the train a month from now. So its really the wifes car.
Thanks
Edited by HannsG on Tuesday 26th March 15:53
I suspect with the 16v head and two turbos a remap could result in a something interesting.
CK_N4S said:
I have my diesel Octavia fitted with a Webasto furnace that burns diesel from the cars ordinary fuel tank. Can burn in 10 minues intervals from 10 to 60 minutes.
I know that in Sweden they prefer an electrical heater for the oil that plugs into the elctrical socket of the house were you park.
Both of the solutions work to increase the oiltemperature prior to actually starting the car. I don't know if it's possible to get either in England, as you seem to be decades behind in winter preparing your cars
CK
You can get heaters but they are not worth the money as it never gets cold enough here, especially for the OP and the tiny miles described.I know that in Sweden they prefer an electrical heater for the oil that plugs into the elctrical socket of the house were you park.
Both of the solutions work to increase the oiltemperature prior to actually starting the car. I don't know if it's possible to get either in England, as you seem to be decades behind in winter preparing your cars
CK
Meths said:
Guh
No it won't, I don't know why this rubbish is common knowledge?
The car has a thermostat. The thermostat cycles the water around the engine until it gets up to temperature the water does not pass the radiator on the warm up period. The thermostat then opens up at around 90 degrees (dependent on car) to let water from the radiator cool the water circulating the engine until the temperature goes down to 88 (depending on car). This process repeats.
The only time that will help is if your thermostat is stuck open. But that's not solving the actual problem, that's just a silly temporary bodge until you can actually fix the problem.
PUTTING A BIT OF CARDBOARD IN-FRONT OF YOUR RAD WILL DO NOTHING. It will just cause problems.
Thermostats usually have a little hole which lets some water through.No it won't, I don't know why this rubbish is common knowledge?
The car has a thermostat. The thermostat cycles the water around the engine until it gets up to temperature the water does not pass the radiator on the warm up period. The thermostat then opens up at around 90 degrees (dependent on car) to let water from the radiator cool the water circulating the engine until the temperature goes down to 88 (depending on car). This process repeats.
The only time that will help is if your thermostat is stuck open. But that's not solving the actual problem, that's just a silly temporary bodge until you can actually fix the problem.
PUTTING A BIT OF CARDBOARD IN-FRONT OF YOUR RAD WILL DO NOTHING. It will just cause problems.
In Nordic countries they tend to blank off the air inlets on the front of the car to stop cold air blasting over the engine. I suppose blanking off the rad goes some way towards doing that too.
Deva Link said:
Thermostats usually have a little hole which lets some water through.
In Nordic countries they tend to blank off the air inlets on the front of the car to stop cold air blasting over the engine. I suppose blanking off the rad goes some way towards doing that too.
What he said; blanking the radiator also blanks off the engine bay to a large extent, which is particularly important with very low air temps, engines get windchill too. In Nordic countries they tend to blank off the air inlets on the front of the car to stop cold air blasting over the engine. I suppose blanking off the rad goes some way towards doing that too.
big_boz said:
Palms said:
big_boz said:
As an aside, if its a Vauxhall engine with the swirl flap issues i would suggest you look into doing the fix on them before you do anything else.
Its not vauxhalls lump either its a fiathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JTD_engine#1.9
Lovely engine apart from the above.
big_boz said:
CK_N4S said:
I have my diesel Octavia fitted with a Webasto furnace that burns diesel from the cars ordinary fuel tank. Can burn in 10 minues intervals from 10 to 60 minutes.
I know that in Sweden they prefer an electrical heater for the oil that plugs into the elctrical socket of the house were you park.
Both of the solutions work to increase the oiltemperature prior to actually starting the car. I don't know if it's possible to get either in England, as you seem to be decades behind in winter preparing your cars
CK
You can get heaters but they are not worth the money as it never gets cold enough here, especially for the OP and the tiny miles described.I know that in Sweden they prefer an electrical heater for the oil that plugs into the elctrical socket of the house were you park.
Both of the solutions work to increase the oiltemperature prior to actually starting the car. I don't know if it's possible to get either in England, as you seem to be decades behind in winter preparing your cars
CK
Some cars just don't generate enough waste heat to have a decent heater in winter, even though the thermostat is working properly.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff