Mercedes sprinter 312d consuming too much fuel

[Gafa]

Hi guys. First time i am ever using this so please do be gentle on me if i have posted in the wrong place. Ok my problem is my mercedes sprinter 312D is consuming way too much fuel and i really do not know what to do. I have changed the oil, oil filter, air filter, thermostat, fanbelt and pollen filter. After all this still no luck in mpg. Vehicle is not smoking, misfiring or underpowered. I cannot think of anything else. Also its giving me about 40 miles to £20 diesel @ £1.35 per litre. I only bought this as i was told the are good on diesel and have bullet proof engines. Engine has 260k. Im confused what else it could be and was thinking to may throw in some injector cleaner on my next fill up. Any help would be great as i am totally out of ideas and really do not want to be spending much more on this.

Thanks in advance

 

[V12]

Sprinters are terrible on fuel. All engines drink diesel. The 312D is the worst of the lot! Whoever told you they were good is having a good laugh.

They are pretty bullet proof though.

Is it getting 40 miles around town? Fully oaded or empty? So many variables.

 

[Gafa]

Sprinters are terrible on fuel. All engines drink diesel. The 312D is the worst of the lot! Whoever told you they were good is having a good laugh. They are pretty bullet proof though. Is it getting 40 miles around town? Fully oaded or empty? So many variables.

Yeah 40 miles around town. I guess that works out to under 15mpg (max) which is awful. Iv had the mk2 sprinter and the newer shape 646 aswell as the 651 engine which were great on fuel. Used to get about 90 miles to £20 easily but the 312d definantely should be giving me alot more then it currently is. Also i have been driving it around unloaded. Iv also checked tyres and brakes. My old transit t350 used to give me more and injectors were leaking on that. Thanks for the reply

 

[guydewdney]

I had a 312d camper lwb. It weighed about five tons. I got low 20's iirc.

 

[V12]

Transits always give better mpg in my experience. So do the fiat ducatos.

We have a 313cdi with the awful 6 speed sprintshift box. It makes you drive gently and has much better ratios than the 5 speed. That will get around 25mpg around town.
It replaced a 312d that we ran for years and years up to 600,000miles and that wouldn't do more than 20mpg around town.

We've had 9 sprinters in total including 1 petrol 2.3 and one that was converted to V8.
I can tell you that none have been as good on fuel as the competition but they have mostly been bulletproof apart from rusty bodies.

 

[Gafa]

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated. I still am 100% sure it should be giving me better mpg. Maybe i will try and see if injector cleaner makes a difference. I hope its not as bad on the motorways. Iv wasted enough money on it as it is.

 

[guydewdney]

Chuck some atf in instead of inj cleaner. Or two stroke oil both well documented

 

[Gafa]

Just wondering does anyone else have any ideas what it could be causing high consumption?

 

[MCFastybloke]

is it smoking?

 

[Gafa]

is it smoking?

No mate its not smoking. It is idling ever so slightly a little rough but then again it is 15 years old. Iv been advised to use bf244 system cleaner. Will a injector cleaner really make any difference? Also this bg244 is quite expensive at over £20 for a can. I did take it on the motorway today and it was alot better on fuel. Gave me about 70 miles to £20 which is almost double to what its giving me locally. Any ideas what it could be?

Thanks in advance

 

[Gafa]

is it smoking?[/QUOTE

Sory thats bg244 not bf244. typo

 

[G.P]

Sprinters are terrible on fuel. All engines drink diesel. The 312D is the worst of the lot! Whoever told you they were good is having a good laugh.

MY 98 312D sprinter 27mpg on motorway and 23 around town.
A 1995 transit we had did 28 around town and 22 on a motorway, but the motorway trip would require hearing protection..

 

[Bro]

Is the engine management light illuminated?? The only thing I can think of that is causing poor MPG without any noticeable defects is the Co2 emissions sensor, the engine will go into limp mode and over-consume fuel as it can't properly ascertain how much fuel is being injected into the engine.

 

[Gafa]

Is the engine management light illuminated?? The only thing I can think of that is causing poor MPG without any noticeable defects is the Co2 emissions sensor, the engine will go into limp mode and over-consume fuel as it can't properly ascertain how much fuel is being injected into the engine.

No mate no lights on dash, well apart from the handbrake light which only came on today and goes off when i put handbrake up but comes on when i release the handbrake, im guessing it must be a sensor. Will changing the fuel filter increase mpg?

 

[guydewdney]

Try adjusting the nut behind the wheel? Look up ecomodders and or hypermiling. These are techniques for driving in a fuel efficient manner, which is more important for big heavy vehicles around town. As you have said, motorway driving is giving you "reasonable" mpg then theres nothing wrong with the engine.

Some of these tips apply, like the slow before traffic lights andvtry not to stop at the bottom of a hill, others dont, like cycle to work!
100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics for better mpg - EcoModder.com