Improving VCT consumption?

4vxc · 10-12-2015, 03:42 PM

I have a very low km 2001 Fairlane Sportsman VCT,great car but around town driving it uses as much as 19L/100 about the same as my 351c XC and nearly double that my FG uses.
Steady cruise on freeway using cruise gets low to mid 10's at best
Is there much that can be done with these engines to improve fuel economy or are they just crappy engines

T MAN · 10-12-2015, 04:00 PM

yes, replace the 350kpa vct fuel reg wth either a 300kpa hp xr6 or a std 275kpa reg from a std au...

4vxc · 10-12-2015, 04:14 PM

so the VCT runs higher pressure for some reason
does it create any other issues bu lowering the fuel pressure

mik · 11-12-2015, 10:22 AM

That does seem a high even for a fairlane that without being rude .....would be ......a bit more on the pudgey side with the extra kit imo, unless you are a bit of a lead foot

,

these are getting a bit long in the tooth and probably with all original fuel system,
i dont know for sure , just a theory on my part, but i suspect 14 or 15 year old injectors may not meter as well as they once did , i would be interested to know if anyone has done a new injector replacement and noticed better fuel consumption ?

that being said my vct xr6 still does reasonable economy when i drive it gently,

around my neck of the woods (melbourne north) , im still get around 13 litres per 100 around the burbs with two fatty`s in the car air con running with big heavy wheels and with 235xxx k`s (unopened)on the clock most weeks driving it easy.

19 litres per hundred would have to be pretty terrible traffic or lead footing it ,
by the same token in melbourne it wouldnt surprise me to be in stuck in car parks all week on the freeway and get terrible economy like that in any car.

i haven't done a highway run for a while, but im confident it would do considerably better than what your getting on the highway, if your not sitting in traffic all week or lead footing it, id say something needs attention..

**PridenJoy** · 11-12-2015, 11:55 AM

Oxygen sensor?

david lee · 11-12-2015, 02:39 PM

my 2002 xr6 uses the same and thats not stuck at traffic lights or in traffic and im not a lead foot driver i need answers too. my old hj 308 statesman had better consumption. how can you tell if its the oxygen sensor.mine is regularly serviced 17000 kms.i dont want to throw away money with no results

Maka · 11-12-2015, 03:49 PM

Hi 4vxc, when was your vct serviced last? I've just fixed this issue in my vct xr6, i replaced o2sensor, fuel pump, plugs, inlet manifold gasket, cleaned the throttle body & iac valve, Techron 5000 fuel treatment, three bond engine conditioner (upper cylinder cleaner).

After all that i reset the ecu & took my xr out on the hwy for a 900km jaunt to reestablish its hwy fuel economy. Today I get mid to low 12's city & mid 7's hwy on 95 vortex.

Ps, they are not crappy motors at all, my xr6 vct goes really well for a na sohc now lol!

cheer's, Maka

4vxc · 11-12-2015, 08:03 PM

was just serviced by the previous owner but I will put it on the scan tool next week
mid 7's is amazing

4vxc · 11-12-2015, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by david lee

my 2002 xr6 uses the same and thats not stuck at traffic lights or in traffic and im not a lead foot driver i need answers too. my old hj 308 statesman had better consumption. how can you tell if its the oxygen sensor.mine is regularly serviced 17000 kms.i dont want to throw away money with no results

are you in a suburban area?

david lee · 11-12-2015, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4vxc

are you in a suburban area?

yes canterbury sydney.it has used $30 of fuel at $1,14ltr since last sunday and basically havent gone anywhere. just in my area

4vxc · 11-12-2015, 10:14 PM

I feel your pain

david lee · 11-12-2015, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4vxc

I feel your pain

and my wallet too

david lee · 11-12-2015, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4vxc

was just serviced by the previous owner but I will put it on the scan tool next week
mid 7's is amazing

can u post your results thanks

4vxc · 12-12-2015, 08:47 AM

will do

Drecian · 16-12-2015, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4vxc

I have a very low km 2001 Fairlane Sportsman VCT,great car but around town driving it uses as much as 19L/100...

That seems quite high for petrol (I get similar consumption for LPG).
I have a '99 Fairlane VCT, around town on petrol I get 14-15L/100km, and that's in heavy peak hour stop-start traffic, all at 60kph or under.
I drive like a grandpa though, hardly revving over 2000rpm.

4vxc · 17-12-2015, 05:32 PM

Scanned the car today no codes
Bought a new set of NGK leads and plugs, should fix it.
A pain to change leads on these but will do it tomorrow.

4vxc · 18-12-2015, 04:14 PM

All done with ECU reset went for a run much better

Drecian · 18-12-2015, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4vxc

All done with ECU reset went for a run much better

Good to hear!

Report back after a a few hundred km once you've established a new baseline. Pumps that click off early make it look like you used less fuel that for tank and vice versa with pumps that shut off late.

Blue Shadow · 18-12-2015, 04:24 PM

MIK- I changed my injectors, fuel reg and rail didnt do much for consumption. It is a bit better about 15 per 100L

Maka · 18-12-2015, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4vxc

All done with ECU reset went for a run much better

Be good if you take it on a couple hwy runs too, most important Imo.

Good luck & well done so far!

cheer's, Maka

4vxc · 19-12-2015, 02:46 PM

put a couple of hundred km's on it mix of urban and a small amount of freeway, so far 14.1 worked out by filling at the pump
doing a trip tomorrow 90%freeway driving
BTW is the K&N pt-no. for these 33-2015, are there any snorkels that make a difference?

Blue Shadow · 19-12-2015, 03:23 PM

I have a bigger snorkel and scoop that fits behind the bar got them from ebay a place called lyn2lyn about $40 ea seem better

Phil2360 · 20-12-2015, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4vxc

I have a very low km 2001 Fairlane Sportsman VCT,great car but around town driving it uses as much as 19L/100 about the same as my 351c XC and nearly double that my FG uses.
Steady cruise on freeway using cruise gets low to mid 10's at best
Is there much that can be done with these engines to improve fuel economy or are they just crappy engines

XR8 220 inlet snorkel.
Extractors & 2 1/2" System.
Two separate trips to ChipTorque to Dyno custom fuel maps.

Initially the air & exhaust mods dropped power & it burnt bucket loads of fuel.
The explanation I was given was that it was breathing too easily for the standard maps to compensate.

Now easily get 7.6l/100 at highway cruise of 115/120k's.
Hard country driving about 12.5 at worst.

Town cycle can still easily drop to 18+ l/100 as these's a lot of that where it doesn't get out of Open Loop.

Dyno graphs showed it putting out 4kw more than a tuned XR8 220 after they'd tuned it with a standard exhaust.

Phil2360 · 20-12-2015, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T MAN

yes, replace the 350kpa vct fuel reg wth either a 300kpa hp xr6 or a std 275kpa reg from a std au...

Or just check the original Reg.

A known issue at one stage was the Cadmium plating (Gold Stuff) flaking of the inside of the fuel rail & blocking the reg causing high rail pressure.

Ford actually replaced my rail & reg 2 years outside warrant for this reason.

Son's 1999 ute suffered a similar problem, checked the rail pressure & it was 70psi (480kpa). Replaced the reg & back to normal.

My 2000 wagon was also thirsty at 130,000km. Oxy sensor brought it back to normal.

XC50077 · 20-12-2015, 09:02 AM

Oxy sensor on AU are supposed to have a service life of 150,000k, a friend is a BMW tech and tells me age also deteriorates O2 sensors so 130K on a 15 year old car maybe that's their service life. My I6 AU2 SR ,134K,has a miss under heavy load in O/D at 100-115k/h lately and I removed the FPR this week and was clean with only a dark stain that wiped off with a fine brush. Fuel consumption is OK but may replace the O2 sensor cause I had one go in an EF that caused it to miss down low and at Hwy speed.

Maka · 20-12-2015, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XC50077

Oxy sensor on AU are supposed to have a service life of 150,000k, a friend is a BMW tech and tells me age also deteriorates O2 sensors so 130K on a 15 year old car maybe that's their service life. My I6 AU2 SR ,134K,has a miss under heavy load in O/D at 100-115k/h lately and I removed the FPR this week and was clean with only a dark stain that wiped off with a fine brush. Fuel consumption is OK but may replace the O2 sensor cause I had one go in an EF that caused it to miss down low and at Hwy speed.image

Same as mine in my old au futura, fuel in vac pipe & black smoke out the tailpipe is THE indicator to when to remove the fuel reg. I ended up removing mine for diddly sqat lol!

The new o2 sensor will definitely help, be sure to reset the ecu & go for a couple hwy drives too. Good luck!

cheer's, Maka

Maka · 20-12-2015, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil2360

Or just check the original Reg.

A known issue at one stage was the Cadmium plating (Gold Stuff) flaking of the inside of the fuel rail & blocking the reg causing high rail pressure.

Ford actually replaced my rail & reg 2 years outside warrant for this reason.

Son's 1999 ute suffered a similar problem, checked the rail pressure & it was 70psi (480kpa). Replaced the reg & back to normal.

My 2000 wagon was also thirsty at 130,000km. Oxy sensor brought it back to normal.

Was that because of a faulty batch of fuel rails or water / corrosion in the fuel system?

cheer's, Maka

Bill M · 20-12-2015, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil2360

A known issue at one stage was the Cadmium plating (Gold Stuff) flaking of the inside of the fuel rail & blocking the reg causing high rail pressure.

Ford actually replaced my rail & reg 2 years outside warrant for this reason.

Son's 1999 ute suffered a similar problem, checked the rail pressure & it was 70psi (480kpa). Replaced the reg & back to normal.

I doubt it was Cad plated, this is a restricted chemical process. My guess is it would be poorly applied Passivated Zinc plating that degraded. Good to know and thanks for the info.
My VCT has been rather thirsty lately so this thread is well timed!
cheers
Bill.

Phil2360 · 20-12-2015, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maka

Was that because of a faulty batch of fuel rails or water / corrosion in the fuel system?

cheer's, Maka

My XR had one from the faulty batch.

Spoke to customer service about the ongoing problem that wasn't resolved during warranty....

His response "But did you specifically ask them to check the rail pressure"?

Spoke to someone a bit more senior & said "I shouldn't need to explain that the rail pressure needs checking". "I'm just a dumb owner".....

End result Rail & Reg replaced at no cost.

Phil2360 · 20-12-2015, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill M

I doubt it was Cad plated, this is a restricted chemical process. My guess is it would be poorly applied Passivated Zinc plating that degraded. Good to know and thanks for the info.
My VCT has been rather thirsty lately so this thread is well timed!
cheers
Bill.

Pretty sure they are Cad plated, that gold finish you see on a lot of auto products....

http://www.electroloh.com/cadmium.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maka

Was that because of a faulty batch of fuel rails or water / corrosion in the fuel system?

cheer's, Maka