Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Hi Folks,

Still a complete newbie here.

And as ever, stoked at the reads I get 'till late in the evening.

I'm writing tonight (and this morning to correct my mpg - kms conversions) because I've looked over the club for improving my 1993 StarWagon (Turbo Automatic ) diesel mileage because I'm only at best (highway driving), getting about 16.6 Liters per 100 km or 17 miles per gallon (U.S.).

Also, I didn't see a thread, "How to improve your MPG" but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it probably points to my less than stellar search skills.

Driver behaviour (me):

In any event, I don't think I'm that heavy footed, yet I admit, I do get it up to 120 K for a bit now and then, generally I find myself cruising at around 105-110 (65-75 mph). And I run the A/C often. Also, I try to keep my RPM in the 3000 range (+/- 100).

Car stuff (New Deli)

My EGR is now blanked / extricated (thanks to a cool kit from the Australia: http://www.ebay.com/itm/EGR-BLANKING-RE ... 97&vxp=mtr),

I have a 3.5 inch exhaust outlet (is that the right word, outlet? /

no it's not the right word, looked it up, it's an exhaust tip!.

Just changed oil, fuel filter, air filter, tran. fluid, radiator fluid. Prior to the EGR block, I was getting on my bad days, 19 L per 100 kms or 15 mpg.

Also, I also added a little fuel injector cleaner and some diesel additives (different one each time) to fill ups recently, and will do so again shortly.

Possible Remedies:

Maybe from Falco: injection timing and injection cleaner?

or valve clearances.

I dunno.

I also came across this at another site:

"I suggest anyone with a Delica can improve their MPG significantly by doing the following......
Regular servicing with fuel and oil filter changes. Injector cleaner every so often in the fuel tank. Fit an easy breathing Air filter like the Unifilter lifelong foam one from Millis Performance Cars (cheaper than an original and much better). Tyre pressures at maximum recommended. " from club delica:

http://www.mitsubishidelica.com/forum/v ... de090e63e4

So what now? I would love to get much, much higher numbers (wouldn't we all!)....

Thoughts?

1. Valve clearance check

2. Injection timing

3. Injection cleaning

4. EGR meter to slow me down (sorry Konna dog)

5. Tire pressure (increase)

6. Larger tires (ok, not till I run these ones down), but slower starts to speed

7. ?????


Peace

New Deli

A couple thoughts.

1) Adding 2-stroke oil always gives me better fuel economy
2) changing the air and fuel filters
3) I get the best fuel economy at about 80kph and get horrible fuel economy above 95kph.
4) 120kph will often get me in the danger zone for EGT's depending on wind, hills, etc.

PS. I can get my fuel economy up to 17L/100km pretty easily. If I really tried when the van was stock, I could get it down to 8L/100km (half the fuel usage really helps the pocket book!)

High speed, fast starts from stops will kill your fuel mileage.

auto or manual?
either way
coast to stops from further away.

EDIT: don't do this where it's illegal: put it in neutral going down steep enough hills and let momentum do the work(i've heard this is bad for automatics)

DWL, driving with load, leads to great results on motorcycles i haven't tried it in a cage though... find a throttle position that cruises at the speed you want on flat ground and hold that throttle position even up hills.... to an extant of course if you're getting passed by semis going up a mountain pass it may be time to accelerate.

higher tire pressure will help to a point, too much and you wear the tires faster and have less traction.

i think ecomodder has a list of mods and driving tips, not delica specific but most of it should apply

minimotos95 wrote:put it in neutral going down steep enough hills and let momentum do the work(i've heard this is bad for automatics).

It's not bad for the vehicle in either, but illegal to do in both.

oops my bad not familiar with road laws north of the border, that's a pretty screwed up law

minimotos95 wrote:oops my bad not familiar with road laws north of the border, that's a pretty screwed up law

It's in place because you have less control of the vehicle in an emergency if it is coasting.

When I did new air filter and a seafoam treatment in the new fuel filter I dropped 3L/100km instantly.

Thank you so much folks for the generous / ample thoughts!:

1) Mat – Seafoam -- I'm really intrigued with this and despite the great healthy science skepticism of Mr. Flibble. http://www.delica.ca/forum/seafoam-disc ... 22-90.html

So, when I'm ready to do the Seafoam and add to the data (blind or not), I'll keep track of mileage and performance notes before and after; maybe I'll make a table too!

That being said, I just want to do Seafoam right now, it just sounds so bloody cool, but atlas.... I'm not completely convinced that I could wallet justify it as less than 500 km (300 miles ago) I just did an oil change, oil filter, fuel filter, air filter, trans fluid change and radiator fluid change, so I'll wait another 5,000 Kilometers (approx 3,000 miles).

2) In answer to minimotos95's question, yes, "New Deli" is an automatic and I've corrected the initial post thanks to you.

3) Firesong: well, am I going high speed (yes sometimes as indicated, but I do almost always have fairly slow starts, with a nice little warm up).

Also, a bit off track, I'm going to start letting the car idle for 30 seconds when I pull in -- this according to some of the threads here (http://www.delica.ca/forum/turbo-talk-14584.html) in order to "by stopping the car and letting it idle the turbo can spin down before the oil is shut off. Turbos can spin at some silly speed, over 100k rpm IIRC" [yojimbo]

And off the subject, Firesong, I like the avatar you chose.

4) Nxski; I guess I can throw in 2 stroke oil immediately. I'll go with legionnair's "2 stroke oil, the proper mix ratio is about 500-600 ml " (but 1/2 quart seems like a lot, n'est pas?). Maybe 300 ml (10oz) seems less radical? And how does the "Petrolabs" fuel additive work?

5) Thanks minimotos95 for the ecomodder tip; I just saw this chart there:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.p ... 15182.html

and all because of you. Slow down, New Deli, would seem to be the message!

Also, minimtos95, how do you like your gas engine?

So another question:

What tire pressure is recommended? I have Yokohama GEOLANDAR A/T-S Off-Road 215/80 R 15 (1028, what does that number mean, 1028?) Performance Tires.

And one more New Deli fantasy for today: I want the double side exhaust, especially since it should make room for a veggie box down the road. I measured my current one (diameter at end and it's 3.5 inches). Also, as at least one contributor wrote that the dual side exhaust looks mean (and tres cool)!

Peace and much thanks

Josh

jbsocdelica wrote: 4) Nxski; I guess I can throw in 2 stroke oil immediately. I'll go with legionnair's "2 stroke oil, the proper mix ratio is about 500-600 ml " (but 1/2 quart seems like a lot, n'est pas?). Maybe 300 ml (10oz) seems less radical? And how does the "Petrolabs" fuel additive work?

I just add 300ml to each fill and I add half a cap of Petrolabs (it lubricates and cleans the fuel which no longer has as much sulfur in it).

jbsocdelica wrote:And one more New Deli fantasy for today: I want the double side exhaust, especially since it should make room for a veggie box down the road. I measured my current one (diameter at end and it's 3.5 inches). Also, as at least one contributor wrote that side exhaust look mean (and tres cool)!

That's a huge exhaust, 2.25" with mandrel bending or 2.5" without is the largest you NEED to go in order to get better flow. Any larger than that doesn't hurt and does look pretty cool, but will reduce your ability to 4x4. I also personally wouldn't go with a Stainless exhaust, because although it won't rust, it's just as easily damaged by rocks, and I can have a standard exhaust system built and installed 6 times and it still won't have cost as much as SS.

jbsocdelica wrote:


Also, minimtos95, how do you like your gas engine?

Josh

i still haven't got to take it more then around the neighborhood but i did rack up about 7000 miles in a mighty max 2wd truck with the same motor minus jet valves, it had a bit more get up and go due to the weight and auto vs manual and got about 30mpg cruising at 70mph, they are pretty solid motors, the lash adjusters go bad so do peripherals like starters, and alternators, a lot have died from timing belt abuse(applies to almost all mitsu motors) and owners blame it on the motor not themselves for ignoring the service schedule.
i would be surprised if i get over 20mpg in the van. it's not as slow as a VW but still pretty slow.

on a side note i run 2 stroke oil in everything i own because it reduces carbon build up(redline does at least) and that little bit extra lube doesn't hurt. it's interesting to hear people are running it in diesels

i don't think i can be of much more help here so good luck, i'll butt in if i think of anything else.
.

I put in 50-80 ml of 2-stroke oil in a Fill with 1/4 can of sea foam. Per complete fill.
Question. Where you are located do you get winds or just moderately so?

Highway or city driving?

In all honesty I now simply drive my van and don't worry about the mileage. It's always better away from the prairies (wind) and better on the highway than city. My old std tranny. L300 was the reverse , better in the city with the tyranny and gearing.

Firesong;

My 'New Deli' calls home in Victoria / Tofino,

This summer the States and hopefully Mexico...

This week, back in California and mostly highways, sometimes a little city driving,

Not too much wind....

Peace

New Deli

jbsocdelica wrote:Thank you so much folks for the generous / ample thoughts!:

1) Mat – Seafoam -- I'm really intrigued with this and despite the great healthy science skepticism of Mr. Flibble. http://www.delica.ca/forum/seafoam-disc ... 22-90.html

So, when I'm ready to do the Seafoam and add to the data (blind or not), I'll keep track of mileage and performance notes before and after; maybe I'll make a table too!

You can't trust that Flibble guy. I sure don't. And going for recorded results? You are on a slippery slope towards science there buddy. Next thing you know you will be begging for change just to titrate or formulate hypothesis.

There's lots of fiddling you can do, but given the hp to weight ratio of these vans, I suspect the biggest problem you are having could be lead foot. If you aren't showing clouds of black exhaust, it idles and runs nice and smooth, and has appropriate power, you can probably say the engine is working fine. I get about 25 imperial miles to the gallon with my L300, and that's dealing with mountain roads. But I'm a fairly conservative driver and rarely go over 100 and let her slow down on steep hills. If you were dealing with an engine issue that dropped your mileage down that far, I'm pretty sure it would be noticeable in how the engine was running. Try going slow and easy for awhile and see if it doesn't significantly improve your fuel consumption.