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Fuel Consumption increased after service

2K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  jalalski 
#1 ·
Hi Guys,

I recently had my 2004 Sprint ST 955i serviced for 60,000kms which was a major service.

* Valve Clearances checked and adjusted
* Throttle Bodies cleaned and adjusted
* Coolant replaced
* Brake Fluid Replaced
* Engine Oil replaced
* K&N air filter cleaned and re-oiled
* New spark plugs

I took the bike to scrub the new front tyre in and in the run of over 600kms in this trip I noticed that my fuel consumption has increased after this service was done. I used to get close to 345kms out of a full tank before the low fuel light would come on. This time the low fuel light came on at exactly 305kms on the trip meter and it happened twice in this trip.

The bike felt much spirited after the service, so could the higher fuel consumption be possibly caused by the performance increase or is there something else I should check.

Hooked-up the OBDII reader and no error codes present.
 
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#2 ·
Way too many variables to definitively pin it down, but I've just noticed the opposite and have to wonder if they're related...

Our fuel formulations in the US change with the seasons, and I'm apparently getting slightly better mileage with the Fall/Winter formulation than I was with the Spring/Summer stuff. Is it possible you have the same thing going on down there, but you're getting worse mileage because you're going into Spring?

(Note that I'm going on anecdotal info here and have no hard facts to back any of this up. I just mentioned to a friend that I had started getting better mileage and he said they had just changed the fuel additives.)

Cheers,
-Kit
 
#3 ·
I doubt it Kit, I was getting exactly the same mileage all year around in the previous years. I am just putting it down to maybe a more spirited riding in that particular trip trying hard to scrub that new front tyre. I am going on a long trip this coming weekend, so it'll be interesting to see what I get. It'll be a group ride, so I should get pretty good indication if it was my solo riding style that caused the fuel consumption "discrepancy" :)
 
#4 ·
I've the opposite 'problem'.

I took my bike in for the valve check, and asked them to check the throttle bodies for sync and tune. Got it back and I've somehow gained roughly 5 miles a gallon. Haven't changed anything, and use the same gas station.

12 years, low fuel lamp came on at 183 miles. Now I commonly get over 200, and that's even when I steal fuel for the lawn equipment!

Curious!
 
#5 ·
It might just be the effect of more air (new filter) equaling more fuel. Especially since you said it feels more spirited. The more air you feed it, the more fuel the engine management will give it (to it's limits of course), to keep the air/fuel ratio in trim. Plus there's that pesky twisty thing on the right handle bar :)
 
#7 ·
I usually have the opposite reaction to winter gas. My millage goes down in the winter, and up in the summer. Does this in all my vehicles.

But I'm guessing between oil and air filter/fueling is the cause. But if you want good data, try monitoring more than 1 fill up.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk
 
#8 ·
Another downside to 365 day riding seasons in Florida....... we are stuck using that corn liquor stuff all year.


Luckily there is a Wawa store near me that sells ethanol free gas (for boats) in 89 RON+MON/2 octane.

The Sprint seems indifferent to it, but my TT and work van do run slightly better and get better mileage too.
 
#10 ·
Looked for the loose "nut" behind the handlebar but couldn't find it. hahahaha :) ..... cheeky buggers LOL :)

Anyway, got back from my long weekend trip and the fuel consumption across 5 full tank fill-ups was consistently bad, I was getting short-changed by about 45kms per tank before the low fuel warning light came on.

The bike stalled on me a couple of times in slow traffic, so something was wrong...

Took it back to the mechanic and got them to check it again and they done their tests and they think the problem was with an airlock in one of return fuel lines, hence the increased fuel consumption. They fixed that and also changed the fuel line clamps.

Taking it for a run tomorrow to see if the fuel consumption will improve but I'll be mindful of the "loose nut" :) :)
 
#11 ·
Many years ago I sold one of my bikes to a new rider and he was driving me crazy for weeks with little weird nitpicking stuff which was mostly his imagination.
There was nothing wrong with the bike, he was just totally crazy about the bike and he didn't know much about it.
At any rate, one day he called me up to complain about some noise or something and I told him that the problem was the loose nut behind the handlebar.
He spent an hour with his girlfriend looking for it and finally he asked one of his neighbors if he could find it and the guy burst out laughing and told him what I meant!
He settled down after that.
 
#14 ·
Sorted indeed

Yep Dave, I can now confirm that my Trumpy is back to normal fuel consumption. Am getting 345kms out of a full tank before the low fuel lights comes on, which is exactly what I was getting before.

Glad to see everything is running smoothly, even with the loose nut behind the handlebars LOL :grin2:
 
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