Washers jamming (frozen?) and worse mileage?

cormie

Hi,
I filled the van up on the quays in Dublin for 89.9 which was great to see, There was a bit of a rush so I just let it cut off the once and went to pay, usually I can get about 8-10 more litres after it first cuts off. So I had about 70 litres in and was on the way to Bandon in Cork, and drove back last night and was dangerously low until I finally found a 24hr garage in Portlaoise. Dublin-Bandon-Portlaoise is only about 300 miles, I used to get about 400 miles at least from a fill of 80 litres before the light would come on, that's quite a difference is it not? The van only had a few things in the back, not a heavy load at all, it has a roofrack and it was freezing outside. I was foot to the floor most of the time but that's not unusual on a long journey. How could it be that I'm getting such bad mileage compared to before? What could be the contributing factors besides being heavy on the pedal (because I didn't drive any different from before). Could there be something wrong with the engine that's causing this?

Also, my windscreen washers kept jamming once I got going, if I was stopped for a few minutes at a garage or whatever, they'd start working again. I'm thinking it could just be the cold air freezing the holes? First time it's happened...

Any feedback appreciated

CJhaughey

Use some alcohol in the washer fluid to counteract freezing conditions.
Mileage, check tyres are pumped to correct pressures, Airfilter cleaned.
Apart from that, you could try slowing down

cormie

Must check the air filter, is it easy/expensive to check/replace if need be?

It was worth the time it saved going top speed in yesterday considering I covered 600 miles

Would anti-freeze be ok to use in the washer thingy or would that clog it up and cause horrible streaking? Where would I get the alcohol you're talking about?

itarumaa

Usually if you have an issue with the milage, the reasons could be:

-air filter
-brakes are slightly stuck

Even those two can raise the fuel consumption about 1-2l easily.

I once changed an air filter and fuel consumption when from 11l > 9l.

cormie

jaysus, could be that so! Would the freezing conditions have anything to do with it too? (ice forming on brake pads-rubbing off wheels?)?

L1011

You can have all the non-freezing stuff in the world in your washer fluid but if the jets are frozen with water, they're frozen with water. I've had to pick away lumps of ice before setting off before.

peasant

1) you cannot accurately measure fuel consumption if you don't fill up properly
2) you can get concentrated washer fluid (incl. alcohol) by the gallon at a motor factors
3) driving in cold weather, with lights, wipers, fans at full blast will increse fuel consumption

now stop worrying and get back to work

cormie

Seems like a huge increase though. The heat could be a factor, doubt it would use that much though.

I have washer fluid from aldi, didn't put it in when I topped it up with water because it was buried in the back of the van so I'll check if it has alcohol, thanks It must have been freezing, they would stop working within 5 minutes of using them and in the UK the water froze before the wind even blew it off the windscreen!

And I'm did 1,200km driving and 300km/7hrs on the ferry in the space of 35 hours so I'm taking it easy today :pac:

Furp

The Temperature dropped to -7 in some parts of the Country last night.

This morning in Navan it was -6 and my washers where frozen my whole trip to Dublin not to mention having the heater on full blast and even then my windscreen took nearly 20 minutes to completely clear of ice.

Before I set off this morning I cleared the windscreen of frost, and ice, went back into the house, came back out to find it had frozen up with ice again 2 minutes later.

3ps

when you clear your windscreen put the wipers on intermittent. ice can't form if the screen is dry.