T180 Fuel Consumption Problem

[timdee]

Hi, I'm a new member and this question has probably been asked before... I have a 2006 Rav4 T180 and my fuel consumption is horrendous, no matter how I drive. I get about 24 mpg combined. Is this normal? If not what could be wrong with it? Mileage is 42000. Any suggestions welcome.

[kammy1975]

Hi, I'm a new member and this question has probably been asked before... I have a 2006 Rav4 T180 and my fuel consumption is horrendous, no matter how I drive. I get about 24 mpg combined. Is this normal? If not what could be wrong with it? Mileage is 42000. Any suggestions welcome.

Hi, I just purchased a T180 last weekend, and have found the MPG to be some way off the quoted 40mpg that Toyota claim. Oddly I seem to be able to manage to get better mpg around town (approx 32mpg) in comparison to Motorways and A roads. Still early days yet, so may be my driving style, but 24 combined sounds awful. Are you doing a lot of short journeys where the engine is still cold?

Theres a number of posts regarding ECU update and EGR valve replacement to improve mpg, hopefully one of the more experienced and knowledgeable chaps will be along soon with further advice.

[kammy1975]

Hi, I'm a new member and this question has probably been asked before... I have a 2006 Rav4 T180 and my fuel consumption is horrendous, no matter how I drive. I get about 24 mpg combined. Is this normal? If not what could be wrong with it? Mileage is 42000. Any suggestions welcome.

Timdee, just spotted that your from Huddersfield, like me !!! Great place to live !

[local hero]

HI Timdee + Kammy, the T180 fuel consumption is well documented on here use the search facility, around mid 30s seems to be the norm, you should not be getting 24mpg however hard you drive it, is this figure a true figure or what the obc shows because they are very inaccurate.. keeping the revs below 2500 seems to vastly improve things, but then whats the point in having a T180 + not using the extra power..

[sywy]

Oddly I seem to be able to manage to get better mpg around town (approx 32mpg) in comparison to Motorways and A roads.

Glad i'm not the only one that has found this!!

For the record, I'm currently getting low 30's in mine. Used to average mid 30's, but seems to have come down over the last 6 months or so.

[vivianM]

Hi, I'm a new member and this question has probably been asked before... I have a 2006 Rav4 T180 and my fuel consumption is horrendous, no matter how I drive. I get about 24 mpg combined. Is this normal? If not what could be wrong with it? Mileage is 42000. Any suggestions welcome.

I get 34/36 mpg around town on very short runs and over 40mpg on long runs (all OBC figures) I do not think I could get as low as you get even using all the performance. Have you reset your OBC each time you fill up.

Hope you can get it improved

Guy

[Mereside]

Hi Timdee and welcome to the club.

My T180 is used for mixed driving but normally starts with a 4 mile run into Wakiefield to work. I do the occasional run over to Honley to my sisters and have been on decent runs up to Cumbria.

I have a K & N air filter on mine as I belive it helps it breath better and rev cleaner. The consumptio is much the same as before if not a bit better.

Bimbling about withn revs under about 2100 I can get around the high 30's. On the run to Cumbria on M1 A1 A66 M6 then across country I got 39 going steady at 65-70 and on the way back it dropped to about 35 as I went a bit faster using the same roads with only 4 or 5 cars passing me the entire journey.

Mine has 14k on the clock and has improved mpg with the improved weather. When it was freezing I was down to the low 30's.

If you are getting low mpg and the car is running ok I can only suggest you check the air filter is clean and run some red-x or similar through it to clean the injectors.

Someone more technical than me may have somem more items for checking but it seems best to check the simple things first. Do this first then re set the average mpg and see if it helps.

Good luck and let us know how you go on.

Regards

[boilerman]

Hi

Could someone explain the merits of Huddersfield to me, i've been here far too long, place is full of scumbags,wasters and layabouts !! The sooner I can sell my house I'm off !!

[local hero]

NOT KEEN THEN!! :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

[Mereside]

I think Huddersfield is a nice place to come from..... I never said it was a nice place to go to!

All places have pro's and cons and strangely enough my siblings house is also up for sale as is my sons girlfriends who also lives in Huddersfield.

So anyone wanting to buy a lovely house should definately look in Huddersfield.

Anyway back to topic, Any news on about Timdees fuel consumption problems.

[stevenson]

I think Huddersfield is a nice place to come from..... I never said it was a nice place to go to!

All places have pro's and cons and strangely enough my siblings house is also up for sale as is my sons girlfriends who also lives in Huddersfield.

So anyone wanting to buy a lovely house should definately look in Huddersfield.

Anyway back to topic, Any news on about Timdees fuel consumption problems.

I have no opinion about Huddersfield, but am getting over an obsession with RAV4 T180 fuel consumption (56 reg, 30k miles, software has been upgraded alledgedly but no sticker).

I have just returned from Shetland (ie a very long run) and have learnt the following:

Air temperature makes a dramatic difference (15% between 10 and 20 Centigrade).

A grossly contaminated air filter makes a slight difference (5%).

Driving so carefully that it annoys almost all other road users gets me~40 mpg just (calculated, even though my meter agrees) on long runs no urban 20 Centigrade new air filter.

Using the cruise control makes little or no difference (except to keep below 30 mph in 3rd gear).

It is reasonable to expect 35-37 mpg at 12-15 Centigrade in 15 mile journeys mixed A road and urban. My urban is Leicester, famous for the density of its traffic lights.

stevenson

To get less than 30 you must be a boy racer or have the handbrake on (or have a serious problem).

[OldSkoO1]

I accelerate quickly up to speed and stick at the speed; but don't use cruise control on hilly roads.

So... the less time i spend drinking fuel accelerating (it drinks even if you accelerate slowly) the more time i spend sipping it at a cruising speed.

I agree, air temp makes a difference

But, if you have a plethora of traffic lights / junctions / roundabouts etc no matter what you do you will struggle to get good economy.

Please bare in mind that the rolling road tests that they do to determine official MPG figures don't take into account air resistance which increases with speed, and the test is performed completely flat and without stopping and starting. So if you encounter small hills or quite a few junctions, instantly knock of 5mpg; another 2mpg if its cold.

[chillyjeff]

I have had my T180 from new and it is just coming up to 3 years old. I have done 47,500 miles with an average consumption of 38.7 mpg, calculated by brimming the tank every time.

[Lordy1]

Hi, I'm a new member and this question has probably been asked before... I have a 2006 Rav4 T180 and my fuel consumption is horrendous, no matter how I drive. I get about 24 mpg combined. Is this normal? If not what could be wrong with it? Mileage is 42000. Any suggestions welcome.

Hi, being a new owner of a T180 myself mileage 30000, I am having similar problems getting about 28 mpg combined, been back to Toyota and they can't find anything wrong with it, no fault codes etc, wonder whether timdee you have any update re your problem ?

[kammy1975]

Thought I would add an update since this post seems to have gone a little cold. Having had the RAV4 for just over a month now, and having driven a variety of miles, I seem to have seen an improvement in the MPG.

I had spotted another post on this subject talking about checking basic things like air filter, etc, so thought I would give the air filter a look over. The previous owner had serviced the car approx 7 months ago, and covered 6,000 miles since then, so I had automatically discounted the air filter as a possiblity. How wrong I was !!! The thing was a mess, I've never seen an air filter in such a bad condition ! There was half a tree in there, as well as the filter being virtually black throughout. I tried to clean it, and vacuumed the excess leaves etc from the airbox, but got myself down to Toyota and bought a replacement ( a snip at £21). When I was purchasing the filter, I got to questioning the sales assistant, who pointed out that the air filter was only checked on a 'Minor' or A service, not replaced. So at a guess, mine had done a minimum of 16,000 miles, but looked far worse. This may be due to the fact that this is the first oil burner, i mean diesel vehicle I have owned , so not sure what state the air filters can get into... Havent done enough miles on the new air filter, but engine seems not only quieter, but so far the computer is reporting 34mpg.

Prior to this, I had done a number of journeys, resetting the trip each time, and altering my driving style. Have to say, mpg seems to be a lot better when the vehicle is driven slightly briskly, and gears are held a little longer, to ensure that the turbo is still spinning as you change up. However, whatever I do, i couldnt get a decent mpg on the motorway when trying to average 75mph, this was reporting about 29mpg.

Hopefully the new air filter might give me some improvement, but will be pestering Toyota if it doesnt for an ECU upgrade, as I dont have any stickers to suggest this has been performed. Only problem is the car is out of the 3 year manufacturers warranty, so is anyone aware of whether they will still honour this upgrade? Read on another post that they honour the EGR replacement for 5 years, 100,000 miles, but no mention of the ECU upgrade.

[anchorman]

Good question.

This TSB suggest that it will only be done under warranty but I would talk to your dealer and ask if they can do it as a policy claim. If not come back to us - there's more than one way to skin a rabbit ;)

4.3_ECM_flash.pdf

[petee99d]

Good question.

This TSB suggest that it will only be done under warranty but I would talk to your dealer and ask if they can do it as a policy claim. If not come back to us - there's more than one way to skin a rabbit ;)

4.3_ECM_flash.pdf

What if you bought a used RAV4 (like me), with a full dealer service history, that has not had this done when it's been serviced according to the correct schedule? Surely, that would be negligence on the dealers' part and grounds for having it done out of warranty?

[anchorman]

Good question.

This TSB suggest that it will only be done under warranty but I would talk to your dealer and ask if they can do it as a policy claim. If not come back to us - there's more than one way to skin a rabbit ;)

4.3_ECM_flash.pdf

What if you bought a used RAV4 (like me), with a full dealer service history, that has not had this done when it's been serviced according to the correct schedule? Surely, that would be negligence on the dealers' part and grounds for having it done out of warranty?

I would say that if this is the case then you could go back to any dealer and claim that it wasn't done. At the end of the day if the EGR valve fails TGB are going to have to cough up about £500 under the terms of the extended warranty so it is in their interests to do it.

You could phone TGB on 01737 363633 and they may well authorise it for you.

Keep us informed

[toondoug]

Hi All

Just back from a 3 day trip to uk and checked the mpg, I registered a reasonable 37 mpg thats motorways and urban.I thought that was fine considering lots of high speed driving and acceleration. Living in Jersey theres not a lot of chances to use the full power of the T180 and normaly get about 28 mpg

[kammy1975]

Another quick update on this post. First serious motorway miles since the new air filter, and on a trip to London which is 400 miles return, the computer averaged 37.4mpg. When I calculated the actual usage, it was approx 35.2mpg. There was a mixture of speeds involved, was sat in a traffic jam for 1 hour 10mins and managed only 0.4 miles, but when I had clear motorways, I would stick the cruise on at 75mph (speed on my wifes sat nav claimed 71mph) and sit back !

So as well as air temps having an affect, i defo reckon the air filter is a starting point for anyone.