Poor Fuel Economy and Occasional Hesitance - KR Engine

[Martin_B 10]

As per above,

 

Last Wednesday I started a roadtrip from Oxford to Bristol, then on to Barnstaple on Thursday evening and back to Oxford on Sunday morning. Roughly 380 miles. This cost me £80 in fuel (or thereabouts).

 

First problem - queing in rush hr traffic in Oxford the oil temp got up to 102deg (MFA reading) then it became very hesitant and I had to pull over and let it cool down as I wasn't getting anywhere fast.

 

Second problem - motorway running at 82-86 deg - is this normal? My thermostat has gone and needs replacing - is this a contributing factor? I had a Golf Bluemotion in the summer and it would cruise at circa 100deg (from memory)

 

Third problem - is a goosed thermnostat damaging my fuel economy?

 

I usually cruise with a light foot between 70 & 80 mph - i've read around and established that the KR isn't the most economical engine but i'd have thought 35mpg was achievable?

 

Can anyone shed some light on this? I'm new to the KR engine!

 

Thanks!

[davidwort 0]

...

Third problem - is a goosed thermnostat damaging my fuel economy?

 

yes, with the water temp too cold when you are cruising (stat stuck open) the engine will be running rich

[Faisal Hamed 10]

I've heard they can have faulty temp sensors too...

 

I have an mpg issue with mine but drives fine. But it could be my MFA, watch this space....

[davidwort 0]

just take a spark plug out, if it's running rich they will be black and sooty, give it a good run though if you usually do a lot of stop start town driving (which kills mpg anyway - lucky if you get over 25/30)

[Faisal Hamed 10]

just take a spark plug out, if it's running rich they will be black and sooty, give it a good run though if you usually do a lot of stop start town driving (which kills mpg anyway - lucky if you get over 25/30)

 

Great idea, I'll check plugs