MPG Loss with ULSD- Let's Find Some Facts

[Evan A. Beck]

I haven't noticed any change in MPG since the ULSD change. It still as consistent as ever, right around 20-21 with city driving, and 23. 5 highway. I also buy fuel eery fillup from the same Exxon station, mainly because I just like to keep things very consistent. I keep spreadsheets of each tank, MPG, miles logged, price per gallon, cost of fillup, and cost per mile. Tank gets filled up to the top of the filler neck each time, also for consistency. LOL, I love this mild case of OCD.

 

[DValentine]

I too noticed an increase. Was driving the same 60 miles to work, seven days a week for 8 weeks this fall. Was running 17 mpg. Then it went up to 19. The only thing I have changed is the fuel. I use Howes or P. S. in each tank, summer/winter for pump lube. Kinda caught me off guard... but was interested to see some of the guys here mention an increase. I thought I was crazy.





Dave

 

[cmmns_ptr]

I started seeing the mileage hit last summer in and out of CA and it was the same in Oct when we got the new fuel, about a 10% drop in mileage. More than that now with the winter blend and cold weather. I run a mixture of PS and 2 stroke oil every tank and only fill with premium diesel.

Hello. What type of 2 stroke oil do you use? What is PS and what do you mean by premium diesel - I only see one type at the pumps.

 

[steved]

Hello. What type of 2 stroke oil do you use? What is PS and what do you mean by premium diesel - I only see one type at the pumps.

Some station (few) have two grades of diesel just like there are different grades of gasoline... the Sheetz I tank up at in Falls Creek, PA has regular diesel (40 cetane) and premium diesel (45 cetane) at all the truck islands.



steved

 

[Oasis-3]

Year long average

I just finished my I. F. T. A. paper work for the 4th quarter of this year, and now I got the numbers to show what this new ULSD has cost me or should I say my costumers.

All of this fuel is run in my work truck 2001 Volvo 660 with a Cummins N-14 435HP turned up to 460HP with a 10 speed. running at 54000 lbs. or less



4th quarter 2005 13774 miles 2074 gallons = 6. 64 mpg



1st and 2nd quarters of 2006 41891 miles 6341 gallons = 6. 60 mpg



Now here comes the new fuel mixing in.

3rd quarter 2006 17508 miles 2774 gallons = 6. 31 mpg



Now I am on all new fuel

4th quarter 2006 13357 miles 2189 gallons = 6. 10 mpg



All of this fuel was pumped at the same station Hess on RT. 222 in Kutztown PA.



well that's what this new ULSD is doing for me.



Cliff

 

[mhenon]

Oasis-3, Your mileage and records speak for themselves. Had no idea the fuel would perform this poorly compared to LSD. I also have no explanation for the near 10% mileage drop you're seeing. ULSD is supposed to have 1% or 2% less energy than LSD... not 10%.

A big engine pulling a load is going to be more telling than my little Jetta. I could have easily missed a 1% drop in mileage (53. 5 mpg vs 54) but 8% would have caught my eye right off the bat (49. 5mpg vs 54mpg). My last road trip (the Jetta now. . not the Dodge) of 1200 miles on ULSD netted over 50 mpg @ 75mph which is darn good even for the thrifty Jetta.

My wife and I are about to make another trip from southern Cal to Austin Tx. It's about 1400 miles (Interstate 10 all the way) and I'm in no hurry this time so I'll set the CC on 65mph and keep track of the use. The Jetta consistently gets >54 mpg at that speed so I'll report back in with the results.

Keeps us up-dated, if you can, on your results for '07. Anyone else out there keeping records like this? Let us know your findings.

Mike

 

[steved]

Again, as noted other places, the "older" engines seem to be affected more... by older, I think the general concensus is the non-CRD diesels from what I have read...



And again, I have seen no detrimental side effects (loss of mileage/loss of power) running ULSD in my 04. 5... of course, I do have some "mods", although not many...



steved

 

[Crunch]

One question I am now curious about is this: Is there a source for dissolved sulpher that can be added to the fuel to get the PPM back up to snuff? I'm not advocating breaking the law. I'm just curious.

 

[RustyJC]

Adding sulfur isn't going to do anything beneficial. The perceived problems with seal leaks, lack of lubricity and lower energy content are a function of reduced aromatic content - the aromatics are removed as part of the more severe refining process required to lower the sulfur content to 15 ppm.



Rusty

 

[Mike Ellis]

I am in North Texas, so far I have seen no mileage impact in daily unloaded driving. I have a couple of hundred fillups on the truck and have been tracking mileage with a spreadsheet that entire time. My truck has averaged 20 mpg over that time, with a standard deviation of 0. 8 mpg (i. e. , very consistent results). The last several tanks have been in the same old 20 mpg range, well within the 0. 8 mpg SD so looks like no effect so far.



The only thing I have noticed is that my truck doesn't light off instantaneously like it did before the ULSD showed up. With the regular blend on start up the starter would barely engage before it fired up, now it takes about a half second before it fires up. Not much of a change, but noticeable to me. I'll throw some Marvel Mystery Oil or Stanadyne in it on one of my next couple of tanks and see if the start speed improves.

 

[mhenon]

Oasis-3, Your mileage and records speak for themselves. Had no idea the fuel would perform this poorly compared to LSD. I also have no explanation for the near 10% mileage drop you're seeing. ULSD is supposed to have 1% or 2% less energy than LSD... not 10%.

A big engine pulling a load is going to be more telling than my little Jetta. I could have easily missed a 1% drop in mileage (53. 5 mpg vs 54) but 8% would have caught my eye right off the bat (49. 5mpg vs 54mpg). My last road trip (the Jetta now. . not the Dodge) of 1200 miles on ULSD netted over 50 mpg @ 75mph which is darn good even for the thrifty Jetta.

My wife and I are about to make another trip from southern Cal to Austin Tx. It's about 1400 miles (Interstate 10 all the way) and I'm in no hurry this time so I'll set the CC on 65mph and keep track of the use. The Jetta consistently gets >54 mpg at that speed so I'll report back in with the results.

Keeps us up-dated, if you can, on your results for '07. Anyone else out there keeping records like this? Let us know your findings.

Mike

OK. . We made it to Texas. Total of 1358 miles. I had a tail wind on the second day of the trip so the mileage is better than expected... >57 mpg. I know that's hard to believe but I was very careful with the calculations.

Anyway, tail wind or not, ULSD isn't hurting our mileage and it may have actually improved. We're off to Costa Rica for a few weeks but I'll be making a return trip in March; Austin to LA (1358 miles) and LA to Idaho (1100 miles). We'll see if the numbers change.

Mike

 

[steved]

There are way too many threads about this right now... gets confusing...



I almost feel we will see differing mileages, just as we saw with LSD (at least I did) due to quality control between suppliers... while one might make a sweet fuel, another might not be as good, and hence, your mileage and power will suffer...



I know for a fact that I saw up to 5mpg swings from tank to tank of LSD fuel in my 99... a single tank of fuel dropped me to under 10mpg, in a truck that usually pulled 22+.



So seeing varying mileages doesn't really strike me as odd in a single truck, but seeing most of the CRDs seeing no difference and the older 24-valves seeing a decrease does.



steved