Ran out of fuel, but shouldn't have..?

Like the OP i have a 1999 TD5.

Your MPG seems about right to be honest. I have a full roof rack, 285/75/16 mud tyres, winch, etc etc.

I have done Tamworth to Penzance in it twice on a full tank. Thats a total 330miles each way but the fuel light was on both times and i must have been within a couple of miles of running it dry I thought i heard it splutter as i pulled into morrisons just off the A30 once.

Like shifty said, your tyres will throw your speedo out so your MPG calculations are not totally correct. At 30mph my speedo is out by 2mph. 28mph on my speedo is actually 30mph.

When LR do these MPG calculations they are just that - calculations and they drive them on the rollers. They dont drive on real roads slowing down speeding up, accelerating a little to pass some one sitting in the middle lane on the motorway, winding the window down to smoke etc. Then you have the wear and tear on the engine and drivetrain that will effect the original MPG.

I dont think you have anything to worry about, apart from sucking up the crap from the bottom of the tank. When i nearly it close mine ran rough for a few miles after.

GINGE said:

Like the OP i have a 1999 TD5.

Your MPG seems about right to be honest. I have a full roof rack, 285/75/16 mud tyres, winch, etc etc.

I have done Tamworth to Penzance in it twice on a full tank. Thats a total 330miles each way but the fuel light was on both times and i must have been within a couple of miles of running it dry I thought i heard it splutter as i pulled into morrisons just off the A30 once.

Click to expand...

OK, so 330 to a tank, good to know. My tank was consumed during very moderate drives, such as steady motorway at 60mph, slow A-roads, etc, however, some of it around town, short drives, cold engine, etc.

GINGE said:

Like shifty said, your tyres will throw your speedo out so your MPG calculations are not totally correct. At 30mph my speedo is out by 2mph. 28mph on my speedo is actually 30mph.

Click to expand...

We've checked the speedo with GPS, and like I said, it's very accurate (most accurate on any vehicle I've owned). I was expecting it to be out due to non-standard tyres.

GINGE said:

I dont think you have anything to worry about, apart from sucking up the crap from the bottom of the tank. When i nearly it close mine ran rough for a few miles after.

Click to expand...

Thanks! If it's the standard to get around 300 miles from a tank, then all is OK, however, if there's people out there who's regularly running closer to 400 miles, or above, then I do have a problem (with the car ).

Thanks again!


I might brim the tank, and reset the GPS, and always have the GPS turned on and then compare the trip meter on the GPS to the speedo trip... Just to make sure.

I only get about 24mpg out of my 1999 TD5 110. If I am lucky I can just hit 400 miles out of a full 75 litre tank. I usually budget for 20 litres of fuel per 100 miles. Depending on driving conditions I sometimes get a little more, sometimes I get a little less.

ratty said:

I only get about 24mpg out of my 1999 TD5 110. If I am lucky I can just hit 400 miles out of a full 75 litre tank. I usually budget for 20 litres of fuel per 100 miles. Depending on driving conditions I sometimes get a little more, sometimes I get a little less.

Click to expand...

Thanks, ratty! 20l per 100 miles would mean 60l to my 300 miles.

I'll take that as another vote for everything being OK and my gauge / mpg being less than perfect.

My mpg got a whole lot better when I had the remap done. More power and torque and better mpg is a win win in my book. Its also nicer to drive now as well.

Shifty1962 said:

My mpg got a whole lot better when I had the remap done. More power and torque and better mpg is a win win in my book. Its also nicer to drive now as well.

Click to expand...

How much was the remap..? :5bdrool5:

TheJoker said:

How much was the remap..? :5bdrool5:

Click to expand...

I dont recall now as I also did a lot of other work at the same time. Gary at Alive Tuning did it for me as the ECU needed a socket soldering in so he could fit the later chips. Have a look at his web site for latest prices. The drive home was very lively after the long slog to get there. Well worth the readies in my book.

Shifty1962 said:

I dont recall now as I also did a lot of other work at the same time. Gary at Alive Tuning did it for me as the ECU needed a socket soldering in so he could fit the later chips. Have a look at his web site for latest prices. The drive home was very lively after the long slog to get there. Well worth the readies in my book.

Click to expand...

I was hoping to fit my tune-it chip before coming away on holiday. It would have been nice to be able to experiment with the settings to try and balance power and economy. Alas I didn't get time before setting off and couldn't bring my gas soldering iron to enable fitting it whilst on holiday as it was in my new truck at a different depot to me at work.

Shifty1962 said:

I dont recall now as I also did a lot of other work at the same time. Gary at Alive Tuning did it for me as the ECU needed a socket soldering in so he could fit the later chips. Have a look at his web site for latest prices. The drive home was very lively after the long slog to get there. Well worth the readies in my book.

Click to expand...

Shifty, you were supposed to say that it cost about £50,000 and took 6 years, and only increased the fuel consumption and made the car undriveable.
I think you've just cost me some money. Thanks.

ratty said:

I was hoping to fit my tune-it chip before coming away on holiday. It would have been nice to be able to experiment with the settings to try and balance power and economy. Alas I didn't get time before setting off and couldn't bring my gas soldering iron to enable fitting it whilst on holiday as it was in my new truck at a different depot to me at work.

Click to expand...

Make sure you report back when you get round to fitting the tune-it chip. Thanks!

TheJoker said:

Shifty, you were supposed to say that it cost about £50,000 and took 6 years, and only increased the fuel consumption and made the car undriveable.
I think you've just cost me some money. Thanks.

Click to expand...

You're welcome What Gary dont know about diesel tunining aint worth knowing.

Right...

So yesterday I filled the tank up and did some maths. Maths point at 42 litres of fuel going into the tank after it ran out with a consumption of 32mpg. All factors add up; trip distance, litres of fuel filled up, fuel gauge.

Therefore question remains; What's wrong when there should be at least 15 litres of useable fuel left in the tank when the the car ran out of diesel?

42 litres of useable fuel out of a total of 60 litres isn't acceptable IMO.

Blocked pump filter or sludge in the tank so you cant use all the fuel. Does the pump make more noise as the fuel level drops? If so pull the pump and give it a good clean. May be worth cleaning the tank as well.

Shifty1962 said:

Blocked pump filter or sludge in the tank so you cant use all the fuel. Does the pump make more noise as the fuel level drops? If so pull the pump and give it a good clean. May be worth cleaning the tank as well.

Click to expand...

Right. So this seems to be the thing to do?
http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f67/fitting-td5-110-inspection-hatch-fuel-pump-181754.html
Anyone know where to make the hole on a 90 hardtop? Or should I just drill a hole from the underside and go from there?

Have a look here

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f7/alternative-td5-90-fuel-pump-access-109114.html

Sorry for the delayed reply.

Shifty1962 said:

Have a look here

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f7/alternative-td5-90-fuel-pump-access-109114.html

Click to expand...

Thanks very much for that!