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Setok



Member Since: 16 Jan 2009
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 415

Finland 
Fuel consumption when idling?
I had a thought today... if one were to end up unfortunately spending the night in the middle of nowhere, and perhaps temperatures were -20 or -30 centigrade, could you simply keep the engine running all night to get a few hours sleep? That would offer at least some heat and you wouldn't have to worry about it no longer starting in the morning (at -30C I'm guessing that could be a real issue). I assume a diesel engine could go on almost indefinitely, purring away, but how much fuel would it use?

One of those things which would be handy to know before you actually need to know it.
Post #59699 17th Feb 2011 10:03pm
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Peter Td4



Member Since: 23 Oct 2010
Location: Antwerp, Belgium
Posts: 227

Belgium 2008 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 HCPU Santorini Black
Not sure really but I guess this would be something around 1 to 1.5 liters / hour.

In case you have to do this, just make sure you don't get any exhaust gases inside your Defender. Peter,

Defender 110 StaWa - Td5
Defender 110 HCPU - Puma
Defender 90 Soft Top - Td5
Post #59703 17th Feb 2011 10:08pm
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diesel_jim



Member Since: 13 Oct 2008
Location: hiding
Posts: 6041

United Kingdom 2006 Defender 110 Td5 SW Epsom Green
It's also suprising how cool the engine gets at idle... after an hour or so, the heater really just blows out cool air.

you may have to block off the radiator to get it to warm up a bit.(but keep an eye on the temp guage!)
Post #59705 17th Feb 2011 10:11pm
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robpenrose



Member Since: 15 Jan 2011
Location: Hampshire or Cornwall
Posts: 338

United Kingdom 
is it as little as 1-1.5 l an hour? I thought it would be much more than that.

Also i rad muff would help, i cant see it overheating especially if its in -10,-20,-30 temps with the heater blowing out hot air (well on a TD5 anyway) Current:D4 HSE
Gone: BMW Z4MC
Gone: Defender TD5 90 CSW
Previous: Discovery TD5 ES (Gone)
Post #59708 17th Feb 2011 10:16pm
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Setok



Member Since: 16 Jan 2009
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 415

Finland 
diesel_jim wrote:
It's also suprising how cool the engine gets at idle... after an hour or so, the heater really just blows out cool air.

you may have to block off the radiator to get it to warm up a bit.(but keep an eye on the temp guage!)


Yeah, at -20 in Helsinki it's doing that even just slowly driving around town. The gauge can go all the way down into blue territory, so I've been thinking about us getting some kind of rad muff. It's not just Landies that suffer from this either as it's not at all uncommon to see vans and even some cars with cardboard covering the front grill. I prefer the MOD look, though!
Post #59712 17th Feb 2011 10:22pm
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Lorryman100



Member Since: 01 Oct 2010
Location: Here
Posts: 2686

diesel_jim wrote:

It's also suprising how cool the engine gets at idle... after an hour or so, the heater really just blows out cool air.


In the recent cold snap up here (Scotland, was waiting at the Train station on my missus who's train was late) the scangauge showed -19c and the Landy started blowing cold air after 10 mins. The coolant temp (scangauge measures this in the cylinder head and not the radiator) dropped from 88c down to a steady 38c at tick over, in essence the heater was blowing cold air! I don't have a radiator cover fitted. Also from memory my Puma ticks over at 800rpm and the LPH is 0.96 (scangauge again).
Post #59716 17th Feb 2011 10:30pm
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Setok



Member Since: 16 Jan 2009
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 415

Finland 
Yeah, so any plans to sleep in the car with the engine ticking over have to be supplemented with a rad muff... Of course it still saves you having to worry if the car will fire up at -30C. Temperatures last night were around -23C and it took a good few seconds before the Landy spluttered into action. While it doesn't have a Webasto (yet!), it does have a pre-heater that you plug in. Unfortunately I found out in the morning that I hadn't pushed the plug in all the way Embarassed

1–1.5l per hour sounds very reasonable. If that's all it uses then it could make a lot of sense to keep it running overnight, if one ever ends up in a situation like that.
Post #59724 17th Feb 2011 10:46pm
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Glynparry25



Member Since: 16 Feb 2009
Location: Miserable Midlands
Posts: 3015

Wales 2009 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 XS DCPU Tonga Green
Re: Fuel consumption when idling?
Setok wrote:
That would offer at least some heat and you wouldn't have to worry about it no longer starting in the morning (at -30C I'm guessing that could be a real issue). I assume a diesel engine could go on almost indefinitely, purring away, but how much fuel would it use?

One of those things which would be handy to know before you actually need to know it.


A rad muff is the way ahead to keep the heat in the engine. Thumbs Up

It will start as low as -30 Wink ... I know from experience, we were hitting -35 without wind chill in Austria and the Defender started every other morning without an issue- as long as you have the correct grade of fuel which you will there Mr. Green

Glyn Dog Sheep
Post #59727 17th Feb 2011 10:48pm
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Setok



Member Since: 16 Jan 2009
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 415

Finland 
Would it still be normal for it to have to turn the engine for a few seconds before catching at below -20C? Modern petrol cars tend to still fire up quite quickly even then, but obviously that's a different combustion process, and you'd expect them to.

Just wondering if it's an early sign of something that could be checked. I've never used a diesel in temperatures like this, so it's all new.
Post #59733 17th Feb 2011 11:03pm
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Glynparry25



Member Since: 16 Feb 2009
Location: Miserable Midlands
Posts: 3015

Wales 2009 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 XS DCPU Tonga Green
It does take a little longer. in temperate conditions the engine starts in a second where the colder it gets the longer it takes (maybe 2-3 seconds). Another trick is to do the glow plugs 2/3 times before starting Very Happy

Glyn Dog Sheep
Post #59736 17th Feb 2011 11:08pm
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chopdogs



Member Since: 10 Mar 2010
Location: Wiltshire
Posts: 108

United Kingdom 2008 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Stornoway Grey
Modern diesel engines actually run very cold (compared to older engines) Hence why Discos (and others) have fuel burnng heaters fitted.

Unfortunately, I would guess most don't actually work* and the owners don't even know they have them............





* for example, they lock out after three failed attempts to ignite. They will not ignite if the car is low on fuel. So, it'll lock out if you stop the car twice on the way to the petrol station if SWMBO brings the car back running on empty
Post #66319 5th Apr 2011 9:14pm
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