Advice For Doing Higher Mileages

[Johntheshop]

Hi all,

I have had my latest citroen ( long line of cars and vans) for about a year its a 2.0HDI 2004 on 80,000. Its  in extreemly good condition and everything works as it should. Engine is smooth, no drips and all fine. I always manage to find good low mile cars and  service and maintain as I have always done above average miles. I will be doing even more miles for a few years at least 25k a year. Working from previous experience (last xiantia went to 278K and the dispatch van 220K) I know I have a good 4 years and 100K left in her. For me its the ideal motorway car. Comfy, armrest, quiet at speed, no DPF, Depreciation is cheaper than servicing  and cheap to run.   I would like to get to 200K with as few problems as possible and its all motorway mileage so I am after advice from other high milers and taxi drivers etc.

 

 

Would you -

1. Delete the EGR to reduce chance of sooting up engine and turbo?

2. Remap to get better mpg ?

3. Clean the MAF regularly?

4. Use any fuel treatments?

5. Anything else?

 

Before I have left it to the gods and standard serviceing. This time I have less local mileage and mostly national so I feel I need to be more forward thinking.

 

I am only now doing a brim to brim MPG check, the digital readout moves between 38.2- 42. Seems a bit low, but engine runs perfectly. Does the readout normally under read? Saying that I dont hang around and if I get the chance I will happily sit on the motorway at 80-85 so may be about right. I may be able to get more MPG from another car but in my experience bigger depreciation often wipes out the benifit and some more.

 

Any hints and help gratefully recieved.

 

John

 

 

 

[Johndouglas]

If maintained well, the 2ltr HDI will last for mega-miles. My colleague, Steve will probably be along shortly and he will tell you the same. He has a fleet of C5s which he operates as taxis and all of them have a mammoth amount of miles on their clocks. Since it is now against the law to remove particle filters and block off the EGR, we don't recommend doing so. A good quality oil changed more often than the suggested interval will probably do more to keep the engine sweet. I also use an additive from time to time.

 

Your mileage consumption is about right. My present read out on my C5-X7 is showing 50mpg on a 200mile mix of urban roads and motorway over four days of driving. But I take it easy away from the lights and I keep just below 70 on motorways.

 

Also check that tyre pressures are correct and that brake pads are releasing correctly.

[Johntheshop]

Thanks, I managed to get the guage to show 43.9 yesterday but traffic was heavyier so slowed me down a few mph. I will experiment more with a happy speed. Like many commuters  I have a sweet spot time I have to achieve in various on route locations to miss the common traffic build ups  I dont suppose the egr is such an issue with the C5's as the part is quote cheap ( compared to others I have bought) and I believe its has a fixed vane turbo. My Vw vans  in the past have always had the egr deleted as they have variable vane turbos which always clog up and causing overboost faults , The wifes Vw car is suffering from it now, hers isnt deleted. Its a common Vw issue. Its one reason why I like the citroen is that little bit of a technical step back that makes it more reliable. I can put up with a electrical glitch here and there just not the engine conking out.

Thanks for the advice.

[coastline taxis]

just regular servicing and fully synthetic oil.  itl do 3 to 400k no problems at all without the need to alter anything. if yours is a mk2 then the only pain youve got is replacing the sidelight bulbs

[paul.h]

The mark 1 C5 2.0 hdi 110 bhp hatchback official fuel figures are 38.2/61.4/50.4 mpg urban/extra urban/combined from a 2003 sales brochure. I would have expected you to get about 50 mpg unless you are doing mostly round town driving, I used to get about that from a 2.2 hdi hatchback but by keeping just below about 70 mph on motorways and its official figures are 32.5/58.9/44.8 mpg.

 

So by your style of driving you may be using about 20% more fuel, and at 25k miles a year that is equivalent to 5000 miles a year, around £600 a year. So maybe you are working an extra week or so a year to pay for the fuel so you can drive quickly. Something to think about. You could try different driving styles resetting the trip computer each day (hold in the button on the end of the wiper stalk), one day your usual style, another day driving smoothly with no hard accelerating/braking, leaving a good gap so you do not need to brake much, lifting off the accelerator sooner when slowing down, keeping your speed down, do not accelerate up hills too much. As well as the fuel cost savings, unless you are late for something it is often less stressful for you and others on the road if you do not drive fast.

 

You need to check if the timing belt has been replaced yet, should be done at 10 years if it has not reached the mileage limit. Also replace the water pump and tensioner at the same time.

[Johntheshop]

Thanks guys for all you answers.  I am still on my brim to brim test as I have worked from home the last few days.  The indecator is still showing 42.8. Ill post up what I calculate after my test is done.  Slowing down is actually a  bit more stressful for the first leg of my journey as I get lorrys and middle lane hoggers for the first bit. The fast lane athough faster is free flowing and you dont have to keep changing lanes.  For the second half though slowing down is an option, plus there is a 50mph average camera section.

 

Timing belt was done last year and I always use fully synthetic oil  so should be ok there.

 

In an effort to regulate my heavy foot on the 50mph and second section I have bought a cruise control stalk to retro fit.. I have checked under the steering cowling for the plug and under the glovebox for the brake switch configuration and Hardware wise I am ready to rock. I will be buying lexia next so I can turn it on ( from that chap reccomnded on this site) .  Hopefully should be relativly straight forward. I have been follwing this excelent guide. http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/TechDocs/C5/c5cruiseretrofit.pdf

 

I seem to collect car diagnostic software between all the VWs, Alfas and others I have had. Fingers crossed the old girl will remain super reliable  but I am sure Lexia will come in handy for the next citroen in a few years that will have all the emissions bells and whilstles that I have managed to avoid with the old model C5.