my 2001 S60 T5 90k miles gets what seems like it gets really bad millage

I drive about 98% city, yea lots of stop and go. But I drive very very lightly now days. Keeping it under 2k RPM as much as possible. and my car only gets about 300-350 miles per tank of gas. The LCD reads an average of 14.8 to 16.6 mpg most of the time. I use Premium 91 octane from either Chevron, Citgo, or Shell.

-I do regular oil changes with 5w30 sync blend
-I have new plugs (botch mid range) (Mileage was bad even with the previous stock Volvo plugs)
-New air filters regularly (paper)
-New Fuel Filter (2 months ago)
-All 5 Coil packs have been replaced within the last year (botch)
-new alternator not that it matters
-new motor mounts (all of them) Not that it matters
-New tires, nothing fancy, but not too cheap ones.
-Wash the car weekly (for those who think it helps on MPG)


Anyways, it just seem like it is crappy mileage. its not really killing me as I done drive enough to hurt the bank, I only fill up like 2 times per month. But I just feel like I have been trying really hard to drive nice for liek 3 tanks nows and its not makeing a diffrence. If this is normal, I will be fine with it, but if there is somethign I can do pleas elet me know!

 

Hmm Somethings not right, Are the Brakes grabbing... Slowing you down.

The ECU has Learning software, What I would do is Disconnect both leads to the battery, then take the 2 leads and touch them together for 10 Secs, This is suppose to reset the ECU.

I would then Run Fuel Injector Cleaner, and Possible Clean the throttle body (big Task)

Also Check for boost leaks, And possible replace vacuum lines

 

yea I ran Lucas injector cleaner for 4 tanks a while back and then just recently I ran the Chevron tecron cleaner with a full tank of Chevron 91.


How to I check for boost leaks.

 

Just remember don't be running Cleaner all the time.. That stuff can be bad for your engine

Also I would be running Full Synthetic in a Volvo

To check for boost leaks
[ol][*]Take the hose from the intake box and Measure the Inner Dia.[*]Go to HomeDepot and buy an Elbow With threads on one end (an a end cap that threads on the elbow) and an O.D. that matches the intakes I.D.[*]Drill a hole in the End cap to attach an air line from a compressor[*]Put the contraption into the intake hose and tighten the hose clamp[*]turn on the air compressor and Regulate the air to 6-10PSI[*]Feel around all hose connections for air escaping
[/ol]

 

Thanks for the advice but I don't have a compressor..

What about the MAS? (or MAFS)

Can a bad or messed up MAS cause such bad Mileage?

 

Instead just go around to all the hose clamps and make sure there all tight

Yes a bad MAF could cause bad mileage but you would/should have a check engine light

 

soo umm... which hoses? lol


How about the Spark plugs.. I just used the mid range Botch plugs, do I need to change the gap? Autozone told me there pre-gaped...


Also does anyone have more details on resetting the ECM? I used to drive a lot harder on it, but lately have completely changed my ways (I want goo mileage and my car to last.) I wonder if the computer is used to my odl diriveing.

 

Just follow the Intake hose to the turbo - Charge Air Pipe (Black Pipe over engine) - To intercooler - Out of intercooler to TB

Im also running Bosch Plugs, And I had to regap them, The gaping specs are in the owners manual

 

You know, I have notice a air-blowing noise (like a exaust leak) in the front of the car in the morning when driving past a wall (echos)

I started noticing it after I have the Turbo seals worked replaced. I took it back they said everything was fine, so I didn't worry about it.

 

Hmm, It could be Vacuum Lines, Bad Gasket, Intake Plumbing

Vacuum Lines are pretty cheap fix at $1.50 for a foot normally

Bad Intake/TB gasket is less common but possible



Did you recently flush the transmission at 75k? (if you have an auto)

 

So I got in there today, this is whaat I did.

-I gaped the plugs to .030 (manual said .028-.032) they were all different, smallest was .040 largest was .058,
-Removed MAS and cleaned it with CRC MAS cleaner form autozone.
-Disconnected the battery and held the +&- together for about a min. (the batt was disconnected threw the entire job)
-Checked the Turbo tubes.. they all look intact

Here are some things I noticed while doing this stuff.
-I removed the Turbo tube going over the engine to get to the plugs and noticed what looked like oil in the tube coting the inside. On the rubber hose in the front of the engine the oil was in there but it was very thick. Like it had been there a while. A while back the dealer replaced the tourbo seals as they were leaking, could this have cause the oil build up inside the tubs going to the intercooler?
-I also notice clean oil very faintly around the top portion of the top of the shaft the spark plugs go down. (the oil looked very clean, I did just get it changed) So obviously there was a little big around the spark plugs. The #5 cylinder was the worst.
-the top the pistons were black... yuck...


Any thoughs? where do I go with this?

 

Oil inside the intercooler and the pipes is normal for any turbo car, I had oil in my lines also, the rubber elbow I took off and put engine decreaser that was safe for rubber, then I took a scrubbing brush and cleaned out the oil, I did this with most of the pipes and the results were good, The turbo seems to sound better and smoother

the oil on the top portion of the head is from the rubber hose that comes up from the intake and is between cylinder 2-3. Volvo's hose clamps arent that great and I would recomend going to a local hardware store and picking up a new one Size 1/2-1" should work, but make sure it is small in width

With the oil on the top of the head, leads me to believe that maybe your oil trap is clogged, it can be replaced, the oil trap itself is about $40, but the trap is under the intake which is a bigger task, you need intake gasket, a volvo fuel line disconnect tool ($16), 1/4" & 1/2" universal. about 5 hours possibly, but while your down there theres the ETM bolt to clean, you can clean all those lines goin to the trap, and clean the TB

The top of the pistons could be running black from running rich (= bad mileage), the injector clean maybe had something todo with it, however maybe the valves are a little stick, have you run any oil cleaner through it like seafoam?

Chris

 

I will look into the seafoam stuff, but the oil trap is over ym head.. (not really, I just don't have the time)

This morning the car ran really really ruff when I started it, but after a 20 secounds it was back to normal, I dont think anything I did helped at all. I think it was because I tried the comptuer reset.. I needed to find a idel point or something.


the car is paid for, im really tempted to upgrade to a 2009 s60, but me and my wife are trying to get a house right now and a nother car payment might really hurt that.

 

Have you calculated mpg by hand?

Seafoam can be bought at meijers, auto parts stores its about 6$

 

Well, after a week or so, I managed to count the millage myself..

I put 12 gallons in it a week or so ago (it was dead empty), reset the trip and have gone 153 miles since. My light is on now and form experience I have about another 40-50 miles left in it. So yea doing the math, it seems like cars computer is right. I am getting 15-16mpg tops!


This sucks, I really don't know what to do now...

The car is still under a 3rd part warranty that has been very good to me in the past (fixed lots of things I didn't think they would) But do you think I can bring it in saying the milage is bad and expect them to work on it?



so a little recap on what I have done.
-I do regular oil changes with 5w30 sync blend
-I have new plugs (botch mid range) (Mileage was bad even with the previous stock Volvo plugs)
-New air filters regularly (paper)
-New Fuel Filter (2 months ago)
-All 5 Coil packs have been replaced within the last year (botch)
-new alternator not that it matters
-new motor mounts (all of them) Not that it matters
-New tires, nothing fancy, but not too cheap ones.
-Wash the car weekly (for those who think it helps on MPG)
-I gaped the plugs to .030 (manual said .028-.032) they were all different, smallest was .040 largest was .058,
-Removed MAS and cleaned it with CRC MAS cleaner form autozone.
-Disconnected the battery and held the +&- together for about a min. (the batt was disconnected threw the entire job)
-Checked the Turbo tubes.. they all look intact

 

That sounds normal. Remember, this is a Swedish car. It is not geared for driving in heavy traffic, it loves the open twisty back roads andis economical on the highway. Which is also why we have headlight wipers: it's a Swedish car. It's for wiping off the snow and the mud.

At low speed and in the low gears, in the stops and goes, it does not do too well.

If you switch to instantaneaous MPG, you will see for yourself that it really gets the most MPGs in top gear, at around 65 MPH, while cruising on the highway.

If you drive at 20 MPH, the instantaneous MPG will drop dramatically.

If you bought this car to achieve great MPG in the city, you bought the wrong car.

Also, you have a T5, not a standard S60 or 2.4T, it is more of a performance engine, and therefore burns more gas, even if you don't race it.

Note that in Europe Volvos sell mostly diesels, and they get really good gas mileage, and their turbo diesels are known to really kick *** (with a monstrous amount of torque).

 

like AzNick said...thissounds normal.
City drivng will "kill" your gas milage. These cars do better on the highway.
Only thing I would do differently is start using fully synthetic oil Mobil1 5w-30.

 

Well that makes me feel better. Really I figured that was the case, but so many people seem that claim 20mpg city.

Like said in the OP, if this is normal, im ok with it, but I just wanted to make sure something was not wrong with my car..


And yes when I watch the instant MPG, it very very low untill I get to about 35, just in time to stop again for the next red light.

 

There is city and city. If your commute involves a little bit of freeway to and back from work, your MPG may improve a lot, especially if the traffic is not too slow or not too fast.

This is my case and I average 25MPG with 91 premium. And I do floor it for the thrill of it (I have a turbo, after all) once in a while.

If your commute is city only, with lots of red lights, then you're not going to save a lot of gas.

 

hi all i also have a s60 t5 on a 2001 plate mympg never goes below 20mpg always 25s
when i got the car i had probs realy bad starting in the mornings but after a while it went away just like yours got the etm cleaned and updated software changed plugs and gave it a service still no good finaly volvo had a look and they were baffled for a while but evetually found the prob it was the cold start sensore was covered in sh**t cleaned it up and been fine ever since hope this helps
roy