Winter Blend Blues

[dyn blin]

' curious for sage commentary from the collective experience :

Every year between Oct and Nov around these parts of Nor Cal, the pumps start stocking the winter petrol formations, and mileage takes a nosedive no matter how conservatively I drive.

This year seems a bit more pronounced than most, with my MPG dropping fron 24 to 19.

What do others see in their neck of the CONUS woods (& parts further flung)?

[abscate]

That's too much for the fuel change. You might see 1-2 mpg drop at most.

Is your hot air pipe and air cleaner thermostat all in place and working? Make sure those vacuum lines are in place and the little connectors aren't torn.

Check your air cleaner for chipmunks

warming up car I morning can kill your mileage as well

[jblackburn]

Yup, it's moreso the winter driving conditions than the fuel blend. Yes, you do lose a bit of energy from winter blend, but it is in the neighborhood of 2-5% depending on the specific blend (more in fuel formulated for very cold climates to aid in cold starting).

Colder weather impacts alone can be in the 20-25% range.
-Long idle and warmup times (cars run rich to compensate)
-Cold fluids
-Denser air
-Tire pressures

Then there's always the possibility of something amiss with your car itself like a bad thermostat never allowing full operating temp. Or a bad temp sensor somewhere (air temp or coolant temp).

[dyn blin]

Thanks for the pointers.

No heat pipe or thermostat in my model,. No uninvited mammals either (but one year, I had a mouse fill my motocycle airbox with cat food).

I just replaced all my hoses and elbows last year. Worth a look to make sure everything is as it should.

Always worth paying attention to tire inflation, too.

Much obliged.

[jblackburn]

My S70 has been through no less than 4 thermostats in the 10 years we've had it (at least one was a knock-off - learned my lesson there). How long does yours take to the 1/2-way point and does it cool down if driven on the highway?

[dyn blin]

I went through a couple of thermostats in short order too, in 2013. I believe I'm OK there, temp is pretty steady. I don't rely solely the cluster gauge as I've heard the tribal wisdom the "normal" range has a good amount of margin built into the threshold. Instead, I track it on my torque app. Generally she warms up within 5 minutes to operating temp and stays in a range of 208-215 F with the aux fan kicking in appropriately.

I've presumed the sensor feeding Torque is positioned downstream after thermostat opens, but if someone would point out the location, I'd appreciate it.

[jblackburn]

The sensor is that copper plug literally right next to the thermostat. Sounds like everything there is working well!