I was only getting about 20mpg from my townie so I took It to a "boshe fuel system center",They seid that they were now getting a lot of jap imports in that were running a bit rich,the japs do this to get more torque out of the engine to compansate for the speed limiter, so that was probable the reson for the poor economy.
they retuned it for me and seid that the imisions test sould be between 1.3[lean] and 3.0[rich],mine was 12.6.
the richest that he had ever seen ,I am now getting about 30mpg,much better.
how did it get though 2 mot tests[and pass]I ask my self,both carryed out by a toyota main dealer.???? - (#359) kevin, 26 Jun 01

Exactly the same story that I was told, plus some of the importers wind it up a bit. How much did the setup cost, and did they remove the pump from the engine, or just adjust the main fuel screw?
MOT fail is 3.0, AFAIK, but maybe your dealer doesn't do smoke tests? - (#360) David Miller, 27 Jun 01

That's very interesting because I have bemoaned mine for the past 18 months because I only get about 23/24 around town and the best I have had on a run is about 29mpg (crawling along at about 55). I have consulted various "experts" including the local Lucas agent who told me they do the local Toyota dealer's setups. They told me that the only way to be sure of a correct setup is to remove the pump and set it up to original manufacturer's specs on a special machine (the Bosch that you mentioned)which could cost me a few hundred quid.
As it would take a few years to recoup my money, from imprived fuel consumption and as he said there were no guarantees anyway, I decided not to bother. He also said that as I wasn't creating black smoke all seemed ok. The MOT measures smoke I believe and it has been thru two ok.
So I kind of gave up on ever sorting my problem out but you've got me wondering again now. I would be very interested to know how much you paid for the adjustment and as david said, was the adjustment made with the pump on or off the vehicle?
Regards
Ian - (#366) Ian Dunse, 28 Jun 01

I get 35mpg out of my Mastersurf. Majority is m/way driving back & to work at 65-70mph + round town, etc at w/e's. I haven't had anything set up myself.... - (#367) Phil Jones, 28 Jun 01

same mpg if kept below 70mph - (#368) skippy, 28 Jun 01

- (#380) kevin, 29 Jun 01

set up cost me £56.00 but is saving me £10 /£15 a week. - (#381) kevin, 29 Jun 01

hello everyone.i have a MASTERACE SURF TURBO DIESEL AUTO.i only get 20mpg any ideas----DAVE L - (#418) DAVE LINNEY, 3 Jul 01

sorry for sounding a bit thick but what is a- "boshe fuel system center"and where do i take my vehicle,only getting 20mpg --dave - (#426) DAVE LINNEY, 4 Jul 01

Dave
To my knowledge, Bosch are one of the few creators of diesel fuel pumps. I understand the Japanese either use them or copy them for use in Jap diesel motors. They also produce machines for testing the pumps and settings. This is quite a specialised job and to be done correctly, needs to have the pump removed from the car and setup on this machine. Hence the term "Bosch Fuel centre". Obviously in Kevin's case, they managed to setup his system without removal. I would suggest that in your case, you find a local diesel specialist, this may not necessarily be a Bosch Centre, could be Lucas or other. Try searching for a tuning specialist and get a quote for what they intend to do and make it clear that it is a Jap import but that it is a 2CT engine (as used in the Toyota Camry), before letting them loose on it. I have a similar consumption problem with mine but don't have smoke or acceleration problems like you. I'm in the process of plucking up courage to let an "expert" have a go at it.
Regards
Ian - (#428) Ian Dunse, 4 Jul 01

I have kept a very close eye on my fuel consumption. Every time I fill up I have kept a record of the amount and mileage. It varies between 24 and 27mpg. I use to get black smoke from it when the automatic kicked down a notch going up hill but that seems to have cleared since I last had a major service which included a cam belt change at Euro-Spec 2000 (www.euro-spec2000.co.uk/). I own the Master ace Sure, 2 litre, Turbo Diesel, Automatic, 4WD. Does anybody think this is a bit excessive?
Regards
Patrick - (#474) Patrick Adams, 7 Jul 01

hello patrick,i have had similar problems with black smoke,but mainly on acceleration.i am in the process of a complete oil,air and fuel filter change,complete with the addition of SLIK 50.I have answered your posting not to give any advice(there are far more knowledgeable people online ;dave miller,ian dunse and steve judge)but to tell you how i am attempting to remedy my/our problem.i will let you know how i get on.in the meantime any probs you have will surely be answered on this BOARD OF KNOWLEDGE.bye --DAVE L - (#476) david linney, 7 Jul 01

Patrick
Yes I do think it excessive when there are others getting anything up to 40mpg. I too religiously monitor fuel consumption and get the same results as you, 23 - 27mpg. I regularly change oil and filters and I don't get black smoke. I have taken it to so called specialists and am left with taking the pump off and getting it bench tested. Something I am loathe to do as there are no guarantees, the seals have not been broken which suggests it should be near enough set up (as far as one can tell), and it will cost a fortune. It doesn't look like there is a quick fix I'm afraid. I do find that some fuels give better mpg than others. For that reason I don't use Esso anymore.
Ian - (#485) Ian Dunse, 9 Jul 01

Fuel and make a difference, some additives make quite a difference, driving style makes a big difference. I get a difference of perhaps 5mpg between town and country, and if I was ever in a position to do a whole tankfull at say 55mph, the results would be even better. Remember that the aerodynamic loss goes up logarithmically against speed... - (#488) David Miller, 9 Jul 01

Yes of course there are many factors that can effect fuel consumption but I can't believe that the people logging into this site who claim to be getting in the order of 36mpg, all drive along at a sedate 55mph, never kick the accelerator down to get out of awkward situations and never climb hills.
I may not be the world's most economically-minded driver but even being guilty of these on many occassions isn't going to account for some of us getting mpg returns in the 20s rather than the 30s, all the time, irrespective of being urban or long-distance runs. I feel there is something fundamentally wrong and feel frustrated at not being able to stick a colourtune in one of the cylinders and adjust the mixture screw a bit!!
Regards
Ian - (#491) Ian Dunse, 9 Jul 01

I recently had my Lite Ace FXV (H-Reg) tuned down because it was emitting too much black
smoke. The garage explained to me that it was a difficult balance between economy and
performance. Generally, I am OK with what they have done, although it is true the vehicle
got a bit slower off the mark. Only during the recent hot period, I had the impression it
got incredibly slow, really struggling up the hills - until I found out why
I had the air
conditioning on! It seems to have quite an impact on the performance.
Anyone else had this experience?
Holger - (#462) Holger Laux, 6 Jul 01

Funny you should mention that but this week being a scorcher as you know has meant that I have been driving home from work with both zones on and vents on full. I got the impression that performance was down but wasn't sure if I was imagining it. Thought the heat was effecting my judgement! Looks like it wasn't!
Ian - (#464) Ian Dunse, 6 Jul 01

The aircon compressor can take up to 10HP off the engine when it's running. If you floor the throttle to pass or whatever, the aircon is cut off, thanks to the TPS on top of the injection pump. - (#468) David Miller, 6 Jul 01

The aircon compressor can take up to 10HP off the engine when it's running.
If you floor the throttle to pass or whatever, the aircon is cut off, thanks to the
TPS on top of the injection pump.
You seem to know the engine quite well. May I ask you something? As I said, the
garage did not too badly tuning the engine down (although they are just learning all
the servicing tricks on the Ace as well). But perhaps I would like to have it a slight
tick back up, giving it a little bit more power again. Where can I adjust this myself,
without running back to them all the time? I think it is just a matter of trial and error
until I get it just right.
Many thanks,
Holger - (#489) Holger Laux, 9 Jul 01

If it's slow off the mark, and doesn't trail black smoke in the period between flooring the throttly and the turbo light coming on, you should make a fine adjustment to the off- boost fuelling stop. It's the allen screw and locknut arrangement on top of the diaphragm thing on top of the pump. You'll see how it works best if you remove the four screws and lift it off. Don't turn the diaphragm, though, that alters all the settings... You want to turn the stop so that the diaphragm assy is preloaded a bit more- try less than an eighth of a turn, it doesn't take much. - (#492) David Miller, 9 Jul 01

Great tip, thanks. I turned it 1/8 of a turn clockwise this morning and it seems
to make quite a difference.
The screw still had a blob of yellow paint on top which suggests that the garage
did not touch it. But then, if you retune the engine, you have to make sure all
adjustments work together. They still seem to be learning...
Holger - (#515) Holger Laux, 12 Jul 01

Are there any drawbacks to using this fix,as it seems to have a positive effect on my acceleration---DAVE L - (#583) DAVE LINNEY, 18 Jul 01

Fuel consumption? - (#592) David Miller, 19 Jul 01