Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

hey all,
guess ill jump right in to it.

symptoms
-no power up hills, 30-40 km/h max even up small ones (the slight hill out of Squamish heading to Whistler, most probably dont notice it)
-can go fast on flats and downhills 120 km/h
-regular RPMs
-no smoke of any coloration what so ever
-horrible fuel economy 350-375km per tank
-starts awesome
-can hear turbo whistling

past work
-engine rebuild
-glow plugs replaced
-timing belts
-deli tune
-IP re-build
-all fluids regularly changed
-airfilter and housing changed
-just removed exhaust pipe 5 days ago

its been going on for along time now and i kind of started thinking this is how a deli regularly runs like, until my time at home over the past two weeks where i have seen other deli drivers passing me up hills and generally having more power. direct example was hanging out with adrock the other day driving around port moody. he was surprised at the lack of power saying that many of the hills he could do much much faster.

any comments?

im off to try and stop my door seals from pissing on me while i drive

What is your boost at? Also I had noted a decrease in power after having my IP rebuilt until I got in and adjusted the fuel pressure.

Could be some sort of fuel restriction or pinched fuel hose.

Erebus wrote:Could be some sort of fuel restriction or pinched fuel hose.

X2

but why would a pinched fuel line cause also cause crappy fuel economy?

patty wrote:but why would a pinched fuel line cause also cause crappy fuel economy?

not sure but usually anything that throws the system or ratios in that system out of whack make it less efficient, you are having to run at full throttle a lot more than you probably used to. it's a place to start anyways, fuel filter and or any kinked or clogged lines. try changing the filter if it persists, try blowing air through all the the sections of line you can you should be able to tall the difference when on has a blockage, and also check for any minor or major kinks in the lines (flexible and metal lines) just my 2 cents since your IP was already rebuilt that is where I would look.

loki wrote:

patty wrote:but why would a pinched fuel line cause also cause crappy fuel economy?

not sure but usually anything that throws the system or ratios in that system out of whack make it less efficient, you are having to run at full throttle a lot more than you probably used to. it's a place to start anyways, fuel filter and or any kinked or clogged lines. try changing the filter if it persists, try blowing air through all the the sections of line you can you should be able to tall the difference when on has a blockage, and also check for any minor or major kinks in the lines (flexible and metal lines) just my 2 cents since your IP was already rebuilt that is where I would look.

X2
may need to check/replace your fuel line,and replace injector nozzle,fuel filter if needed.

-horrible fuel economy 350-375km per tank

Could you give that in actual efficiency numbers, because if that's per 30L you're doing awesome, if it's per 75L it's not so great... different people on this forum put different number of litres in to different size tanks. It is very frustrating when anyone tries to compare based on such a subjective measurement as L/tank.

Beyond that, I'd be looking at fuel restriction, either hoses, injectors, filter, or pump (and filters CAN clog up badly from even a single "bad" fill, so just because it's "new" doesn't mean anything)

Another possibility is air restriction, though I think I would expect smoke if that were the case, but might be worth double-checking that all the air hoses and filter are still in good shape

Did you replace your exaust with a stock or aftermarket or used.
I would do a compression differential check of your engine you might have leaking valves or valve seals...
Just a thought...
Cheers.

Hello Patty,

Before you go on looking at the engine, it might be worth your while to check the following, you said that it goes ok on flats but doesn't have any oommph going uphills. Is the acceleration also slow? I am asking as it might be the transmission, if it's a manual it may be the clutch needing repair/replacement as it may be slipping causing the power loss, or you need to look at the ATF if it is an automatic, maybe needs an ATF change.

Gilbert

Green1 wrote: Could you give that in actual efficiency numbers, because if that's per 30L you're doing awesome, if it's per 75L it's not so great... different people on this forum put different number of litres in to different size tanks. It is very frustrating when anyone tries to compare based on such a subjective measurement as L/tank.

Frustrating? You could just ask....

I'm sure patty is sorry for wasting your time, but even his description is enough to make an educated guess.

As you say:
if that's per 30L you're doing awesome, if it's per 75L it's not so great...

Since patty is complaining about his van being not so great it makes sense to assume that your second scenario is the correct one.

He drives an automatic L300, and a "tank" for him is when that thing on the dash goes from F to E

Frustrating? You could just ask....

I thought that's what I was doing.

I'm sure patty is sorry for wasting your time, but even his description is enough to make an educated guess.

who is wasting whose time? I didn't say my time was being wasted, I simply asked for more detail to try to help.

He drives an automatic L300, and a "tank" for him is when that thing on the dash goes from F to E

Which still tells me nothing.
Does he fill up when the orange light has been on for 60 km? or when the needle first touches the top of the E? does he squeeze every last drop possible in to the tank? or stop when the pump first shuts off?

This can make a difference of 15-20L easy, which is a substantial amount when calculating economy.

km/tank is NOT a recognized measure of fuel economy, you can't tell anything with that measurement.

The original poster stated in his post that he doesn't know what "normal" is for a delica (in fact he thought his WAS normal until he saw other vehicles passing him) which means that he may, or may not, know what "normal" economy is. I was simply trying to help by finding out what his economy is to know if it is in the normal range or not, and to try to diagnose the problem further.

Hey Patty,

As some have already suggested, check your fuel lines coming to and from the tank. Make sure it's all clear. You may wanna try and blow some compressed air from the Injection pump to the tank on both the feed line and return line and see if it flows freely.

Or else, drop by the workshop and lets see what's going on.

Best regards,

Butch

thanks all for the tips, ill look for fuel restrictions.

....and for the record (guess i could have made myself clearer) i do know normal fuel economy is 22 to 24, i was more so referring to that i thought all delicas suck as bad as mine does up hills. i dont know my exact numbers but its far below that for sure.

on the up side, once i hacked the exhaust off the delica it sure sounds faster!