Fuel Economy (ha ha) in a GQ

Joined: 15 Nov 2002 Location: Driving my GU in Melbourne

Ok just got back from an Easter trip around Wyperfield. The GQ LWB 91 petrol performed beautifully in the sand, no dramas there. However. What can be done to improve fuel economy on the pig.

Currently I'm running 33 x 10.50 MTs and want to keep on running them so a tyre change is a not on. I am looking into geting approriate diff gears. I had it tuned 7 serviced before going and this did make a differenece. I also have a dual fuel setup. For the trip I got 480km out of the standard tank coming home which is probably the best I have gotten out of it but around the sand I was getting way less than that.

So what have people done to improve their economy as I would like some hints for an upcoming Cape york trip.

Cheers

Joined: 10 Oct 2003

"So what have people done to improve their economy as I would like some hints for an upcoming Cape york trip. "

I got around this problem by putting in a TD42 in my shorty.

Chris

Joined: 25 May 2003 Location: Redbank Plains, QLD

extractors??

Optimax??

Snorkel Rolling Eyes

Big bore exhaust??

a good tune??

Running rich??

All these things come out of my head Rolling Eyes

but no idea if applicable to your situation armsup

Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Location: Melbourne Australia

swbpatrol wrote:

"So what have people done to improve their economy as I would like some hints for an upcoming Cape york trip. "

I got around this problem by putting in a TD42 in my shorty.

Okay, but if you don't want it to go really slow and blow smoke... what can you do to improve fuel economy?

Joined: 10 Oct 2003

i had a dual fuel 4.2 petrol in it b4 hand and i think there is not that much difference there both slow.

Joined: 15 Nov 2002 Location: Driving my GU in Melbourne

GQ wrote:

extractors??

Optimax??

Snorkel Rolling Eyes

Big bore exhaust??

a good tune??

Running rich??

All these things come out of my head Rolling Eyes

but no idea if applicable to your situation armsup

keep em coming not used to a gas guzzler as my other 4wd is a zuk. Also curious as to what has worked for some people.

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2004 6:47 pm

Is it a 3.0 or a 4.2? EFI or carb?

Joined: 24 Oct 2002 Location: ACT

LPG. these engines love LPG.

slightly larger exhaust makes a marked improvement, 2.25" or 2.5" something around that size. don't worry about extractors, they just make annoying noise. just run bigger tube from the manifold back.

pissing the engine fan off and running electric fans is supposed to make a big difference, but I haven't tried this personally.

they suffer dramatically from lack of spark, bend the rotor button up a few mm to make the coil's life a bit easier, and to really help it out, go the high energy, electronic ignition route.

Joined: 15 Nov 2002 Location: Driving my GU in Melbourne

thanks guys keep em coming.

It's a 4.2 efi

Joined: 24 Oct 2002 Location: ACT

91 efi? must have been one of the very first off the line..

Joined: 27 Oct 2003 Location: Redcliffe

mine WAS a petrol. HAd everything i could think to make it more economical, snorkel, k&n filter, electronic ignition blah blah blah. Was a great motor that went like a rocket but SHIT it was thirsty especially in the sand & off road. Forget it if you get over 4.5 km per litre think yourself lucky and off road 3-3.5 kms per litre. THANK GOD FOR THE DIESEL. I reckon with the usage it's getting and the money i will save i might buy a 4800 twin supercharged vortec ex v8 supercar patrol!

Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2004 11:35 pm

You can try all the tricks under the sun to improve fuel economy but the bottom line is that you will have to live with 18-21 litres per 100 if you are lucky...
And very careful in the water crossings on the way to Cape York because i took every precaution but didnt consider that a piece of crap sensor under the car could stop it dead in 600mm every time...(4.2efi)...
Since then i have seen the light and gone TD4.2...

Joined: 13 Jan 2004 Location: Canberra

6.5 litre V8 chev turbo deisel. 11lt per 100klm in a Ford F100. Need I say any more?

Joined: 25 May 2003 Location: Redbank Plains, QLD

mkpatrol wrote:

6.5 litre V8 chev turbo deisel. 11lt per 100klm in a Ford F100. Need I say any more?

A CHEV IN A FORD ??????? Shocked

Joined: 13 Jan 2004 Location: Canberra

Yeah, I knew that would get a reaction. When I bought it off the bloke he reconed it was all he could get at the time. It still went well though. Only good ford I ever owned, all the others were heaps of shit Very Happy

Joined: 23 Feb 2004 Location: Brisbane

A wise man once said . . . "You can't get shit out of a rocking horse." Accept the (poor) fuel economy, mitigate it by getting a long range tank. Alternatively, go the diesel way . . . the trade-off is: a noisy, heavy, underpowered engine that is expensive to service. You might need to chuck another $3k at it for a turbo if you want petrol performance. Twisted Evil

Joined: 27 Oct 2003 Location: Redcliffe

expensive to service? Both take 10 litres of oil approx. at least you don't have leads, points, spark plugs etc. Ok i know diesels have injectors but they last for ages if looked after properly, but hey i hear what u are saying. After having a turbo diesel MK, then a petrol gq i'm back to turbo diesel & god bless it. NEver again will i have a petrol patrol. Just too damn thirsty

Joined: 25 May 2003 Location: Redbank Plains, QLD

And isnt diesel injectors about 60 dollars changeover for cleaned and serviced???

- quoting from parts peddler magazine.

TOM

Joined: 24 Oct 2002 Location: ACT

Red Rover wrote:

expensive to service? Both take 10 litres of oil approx. at least you don't have leads, points, spark plugs etc. Ok i know diesels have injectors but they last for ages if looked after properly, but hey i hear what u are saying. After having a turbo diesel MK, then a petrol gq i'm back to turbo diesel & god bless it. NEver again will i have a petrol patrol. Just too damn thirsty

but you are changing the oil at least twice as often in your diesel, plus you have an extra filter, and bigger dearer filters. and when somehting needs to be repaired it is always a specialised, expensive task. talkng fuel pump type stuff here.. plugs, leads and points definitely don't add up to an amount worth considering expensive.

an LPG TB42 running reasonably well uses about $8.50 LPG to every 100kms. I'd hazard a guess and say that that is similar to, or better than, a TD42 diesel.

Joined: 27 Oct 2003 Location: Redcliffe

WOW i wish i was getting that outa mine when it was gas. You use around 18 ltrs of gas for 100 based on a price of .45c which equal 5.5kms per litre. I never even got that out of solid fuel so u r doin very well. I use approx 12-13 ltrs of diesel for 100 kms so there you have it youre way out in front with a petrol LPG!

By the way i serviced my petrol every 5000 with rx super. Ran like a dream, except for the fuel.

Joined: 27 Nov 2002 Location: Lost in Melbourne.

Wendle wrote:

... plus you have an extra filter, and bigger dearer filters.

$10 per filter dearer?

Joined: 24 Oct 2002 Location: ACT

Red Rover wrote:

WOW i wish i was getting that outa mine when it was gas. You use around 18 ltrs of gas for 100 based on a price of .45c which equal 5.5kms per litre. I never even got that out of solid fuel so u r doin very well. I use approx 12-13 ltrs of diesel for 100 kms so there you have it youre way out in front with a petrol LPG!

By the way i serviced my petrol every 5000 with rx super. Ran like a dream, except for the fuel.

paying 33.9c a litre at the moment. don't know how long that will last though.

last time I owned a diesel truck diesel was about 30c a litre cheaper than petrol.

Joined: 27 Oct 2003 Location: Redcliffe

diesel is dearer now. 4k's a ltr sounds more like it though still good, but what about off road? so at 20,000 kms per year you will use approx 5000 ltrs of gas = $1750 of fuel not counting off road econ.

Diesel @ 20,000 kms will be 2350 ltrs at 8-8.5km per ltr = $2000 approx at .85 c/p/ltr

However diesel doesn't change that much off road where a petrol drinks it goodly.

Don't forget to add in the cost of the upper cyl lube as i believe if working properly u should use about a bottle every two tanks. That adds up two.

just my opinion, providing my math is good

Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 1:40 pm

mkpatrol wrote:

6.5 litre V8 chev turbo deisel. 11lt per 100klm in a Ford F100. Need I say any more?

one of our sales crew has a chev diesel in his tojo and get similar economy and he hammers it fully loaded and 230 litres of diesel...