Fuel mileage on 2003 3500 5cyl diesel

Psbuckley

Psbuckley

Member
I have had this vehicle for about 4 months now and have fairly consistently gotten 15-16 MPG.
I use this for work in my remodeling business but don’t have anything terribly heavy in it.

What are others getting and what do you think I should expect?

Thanks for any input you might have regarding increasing mileage!


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autostaretx

autostaretx

Erratic Member
If you have a live-time readout like a ScanGauge, you can get instantaneous reports of MPG and GPH and LOD (load).

Downshift when the load exceeds 70%, and modify your driving habits to push up the MPG and drop the GPH.
(for example: i can get 20% better in-city mileage by shifting to neutral at stop lights)

My 15-inch wheeled lightly-loaded 2005 2500 can consistently achieve over 25 mph on 60/65 mph highways, and about 20 in-hilly-city (16 if i don't shift to neutral and downshift on certain hills). Lifetime average is over 22 mpg.

--dick
 
2

220629

Well-known member
15 - 16 does seem a bit low. I often get that when towing with my 2500 HC models with OM647 engine. When not towing I typically see 21 - 22 mpg. Some other T1N owners report mid 20's as typical.

Do you have the SHC? You don't indicate the miles. Injectors can wear out or have other problems. Has the fuel filter been changed 10 - 20k is recommended depending upon the literature consulted. In my limited experience up to 40k miles can work though.

:cheers: vic
 
Nautamaran

Nautamaran

2004 140” HRC 2500 (Crewed)
What Dick said... I’ve been playing with a LOD/MAF/O2 based consumption gauge and can confirm the consumption jump whenever LOD climbs, and that an early downshift on hills improves economy. Idling in “D” shows about LOD 32% which drops to 22% in Park or Neutral (and that difference goes straight to heating the tranny fluid!). In litres per hour, fuel rate drops from an estimated 1.2 l/hr down to 0.9 l/hr just by bumping the lever from Drive to Neutral. I also see a small (5-10% ?) mileage penalty during winter months when burning low-gell fuel blends, but in summer I average 20-22 mpg around the city.

-dave
 
G

Gabe Athouse

New member
Biodiesel blends also reduce mpg quite a bit. Also, make sure you are calculating your mpg correctly. The correct way to do this is to first find out what your odometer error is, by downloading a gps app and doing some track recording of actual distance travelled vs indicated reading on odometer. I made a sticker for my dash that shows actual ratio so I can do fuel calcs at the pump accurately. I also have a 3500 and my odometer is off by 19.5%! (I do have bigger tyres than some)
Many times in my life I’ve had people tell me that they Calc their mpg by saying stuff like “I get 230 miles between the full mark and the quarter full”. Which is just terribly hard for me to listen to.
One guy actually said he gets 35mpg for the first half his tank but only 15 on the bottom half, so he tries to keep the tank above half all the time :0. He wasn’t the sharpest knife in the block though.
 
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M

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
3500s with original tiny tires and 4.11 gear ratios will get poor mileage above about 65mph due to high engine RPMs. Do you have factory tire sizing? Changing the tire size or going tto 16" wheels (NCV3 style) will cause your odo to be off.
 
Psbuckley

Psbuckley

Member
autostaretx said:
If you have a live-time readout like a ScanGauge, you can get instantaneous reports of MPG and GPH and LOD (load).

Downshift when the load exceeds 70%, and modify your driving habits to push up the MPG and drop the GPH.
(for example: i can get 20% better in-city mileage by shifting to neutral at stop lights)

My 15-inch wheeled lightly-loaded 2005 2500 can consistently achieve over 25 mph on 60/65 mph highways, and about 20 in-hilly-city (16 if i don't shift to neutral and downshift on certain hills). Lifetime average is over 22 mpg.

--dick
Click to expand...

Good info! I’ll try shifting into neutral at stops once I get this thing operating at peak performance otherwise.
I don’t have a ScanGuage. Is there one you would recommend?




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Psbuckley

Psbuckley

Member
Aqua Puttana said:
15 - 16 does seem a bit low. I often get that when towing with my 2500 HC models with OM647 engine. When not towing I typically see 21 - 22 mpg. Some other T1N owners report mid 20's as typical.



Do you have the SHC? You don't indicate the miles. Injectors can wear out or have other problems. Has the fuel filter been changed 10 - 20k is recommended depending upon the literature consulted. In my limited experience up to 40k miles can work though.



:cheers: vic
Click to expand...


Aqua, I’m fairly new to the Sprinter family (purchased 12/2018) and am not familiar with “SHC”. Help me out if you will!
The vehicle has 144,000 miles on it. I have changed the fuel filter and am getting ready to change the air filter this weekend.
One thing I failed to mention is the pesky vacuum leak at the accumulator. The seal at the entrance is pretty bad. I’ve silicone around it once but that didn’t last long. Looking for the replacement part now.
Obviously this could be the largest source for poor performance since the turbo lags quite a bit due to the lack of instant vacuum.
Looking for other vacuum leaks as well, and will be tackling a cold weather leak at the fuel pump in the near future.
Thanks!


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Psbuckley

Psbuckley

Member
Nautamaran said:
What Dick said... I’ve been playing with a LOD/MAF/O2 based consumption gauge and can confirm the consumption jump whenever LOD climbs, and that an early downshift on hills improves economy. Idling in “D” shows about LOD 32% which drops to 22% in Park or Neutral (and that difference goes straight to heating the tranny fluid!). In litres per hour, fuel rate drops from an estimated 1.2 l/hr down to 0.9 l/hr just by bumping the lever from Drive to Neutral. I also see a small (5-10% ?) mileage penalty during winter months when burning low-gell fuel blends, but in summer I average 20-22 mpg around the city.

-dave
Click to expand...


Dave, I’m in awe at level at which you gentlemen research. There is some deep thought going on in this forum! I appreciate this info!

Pete


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Psbuckley

Psbuckley

Member
Gabe Athouse said:
Biodiesel blends also reduce mpg quite a bit. Also, make sure you are calculating your mpg correctly. The correct way to do this is to first find out what your odometer error is, by downloading a gps app and doing some track recording of actual distance travelled vs indicated reading on odometer. I made a sticker for my dash that shows actual ratio so I can do fuel calcs at the pump accurately. I also have a 3500 and my odometer is off by 19.5%! (I do have bigger tyres than some)
Many times in my life I’ve had people tell me that they Calc their mpg by saying stuff like “I get 230 miles between the full mark and the quarter full”. Which is just terribly hard for me to listen to.
One guy actually said he gets 35mpg for the first half his tank but only 15 on the bottom half, so he tries to keep the tank above half all the time :0. He wasn’t the sharpest knife in the block though.
Click to expand...

Gabe, not using biodiesel, but this is good to know for future!
I still have the tiny wheels but will check the odometer soon. Also good info!

I actually do much better than the guy you mention! For a full 2-3 days after I fill the tank, I get infinity miles per gallon since the needle doesn’t move at all ;-)

Pete


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Psbuckley

Psbuckley

Member
Midwestdrifter said:
3500s with original tiny tires and 4.11 gear ratios will get poor mileage above about 65mph due to high engine RPMs. Do you have factory tire sizing? Changing the tire size or going tto 16" wheels (NCV3 style) will cause your odo to be off.
Click to expand...


Yessir! Still have the tiny tires on this thing. Just purchased new for the front so I probably won’t change things over until next time.
That said, I do very little highway mileage - most of my work is 6-7 minutes from my home.

Back to wheels and tires... are there any concerns other than the odometer reading by switching to the NCV3 wheel/tire combo?

Pete


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Psbuckley

Psbuckley

Member
One other thing that will no doubt impact fuel consumption is alignment. My left front tire has uneven wear, so next week new tires and an alignment are on the to-do list, along with the vacuum leak and air filter change mentioned above.

Please keep recommendations coming! I’ll keep you updated.

Thx again!
Pete


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G

Gabe Athouse

New member
Psbuckley said:
Yessir! Still have the tiny tires on this thing. Just purchased new for the front so I probably won’t change things over until next time.
That said, I do very little highway mileage - most of my work is 6-7 minutes from my home.

Back to wheels and tires... are there any concerns other than the odometer reading by switching to the NCV3 wheel/tire combo?

Pete


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Click to expand...
Nope, just buy wheels. You may need lug nuts, the ncv3 are flat and the t1n are spherical, however mine simply had the sphere as a washer part which I tossed and was left with flat nuts.
 
vanski

vanski

If it’s winter, I’m probably skiing..
On my previous Sprinter I was averaging 18-19.. I changed all the injectors and imediately started to get 22-23. The girl who has it now says she averages 25. I also have noticed a pretty substantial difference in my currrent box truck mpg after starting to use liquimolly mso2 in my last two oil changes. Probably 10%. Some feel this stuff is snake oil, I stand by it..
 
Ciprian

Ciprian

Spark Plugs not allowed!
In my experience of hundreds of thousands of miles I have NOT seen any difference in mileage between regular and bio diesel. I used to look for bio diesel for the increased lubricity.

As to the original concerns, how fast are you driving? Even if not fast, how do you take off? Do you step on it and race everybody off the line? That definitely kills mileage.

Try to drive like you have an egg on the gas pedal. I bet your mileage will improve.

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2

220629

Well-known member
Psbuckley said:
Aqua, I’m fairly new to the Sprinter family (purchased 12/2018) and am not familiar with “SHC”. Help me out if you will!
...
Click to expand...
SHC refers to roof/cab height.

Cab/chassis (just a cab and frame. T1N 3500 only in N. America) = "Standard" height roof with smaller windshield.

HC = High Cab which some might consider "standard" for a van.

SHC = Super High Cab aka the high roof model most conversion people prefer.

HC and SHC have the same size windshield.

Were I you I would definitely pursue correcting any vacuum issues. Driving tips can only help so much.

:cheers: vic
 
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