Fuel consumtion

[rScotty]

I have an L3940 it seems to be using more fuel than it was, same fuel i have always used BP Diesel. Any idea how to check how much fuel i am using? I have some ideas but not sure what it should be using, just general digging and mowing with rear finishing mower ?

Well, I'm betting that you really are using more fuel even if you can't outright prove it.

Fuel consumption is not something most of us actually measure. It's subliminal - below the surface - like something that kind of sneaks up on a person's consciousness. One day you "wake up" to the suspicion that you seem to be using more fuel than before. And maybe the exhaust has changed smell or color under load. Or it starts a little differently. At least that's how it works for me.

But I bet we can narrow it down, and I'll bet it'll be simple.

Firstly, all diesel fuel is a mixture. Diesel is not a specific compound; diesel is a mixture and can have different percentages of different length and different energy molecules depending on the supplier. If the percentages are skewed enough toward short or long molecules it used to be called #1 or #2. Most of what I see today around here at the pump is just called "pump diesel". It could be either.

Is there anything special recently about your BP Diesel? Does it have any bio-diesel content? Has your station changed suppliers? I'd ask those questions at the BP station first. The answers might surprise you.

I say that because when the local station where we buy fuel changed suppliers we could tell immediately that the tractor was a little different. There's no magic to that, it's because us tractor guys are right there with the engine & the exhaust. We live with diesel fumes all the time....
Folks with trucks or cars probably didn't even notice.
So without expecting much, I asked at the station and sure enough they had changed suppliers. Even the cashier knew it was a different supply truck.

Does your tractor start and run in cold weather about the same as always? Or is it harder to start when cold?
Is the L3940 turbocharged?
Any special Emission Controls on the L3940? Does it have an EGR valve? Especially a valve-modulated EGR valve?
Are you absolutely sure it isn't leaking fuel somewhere? It could be a real tiny leak when parked or none then at all. I just fixed a hydraulic hose leak on mine that I wouldn't have noticed except that the sun hit the hoe just right and I saw a shiny (wet) spot on the dipperstick.

If we knew the answer to those things I bet we can work up to why it's using more fuel now.
rScotty

 

[nybirdman]

Recent changes in diesel contributes to an uptick in usage.You think you use a lot of fuel;my neighbor buys it 100,000 gallons at a time.His big equipment now uses "twice" the fuel it did a couple years ago.

 

[eddieirvine]

ok thanks to all that posted, i am in the process of trying to check my fuel in a better way, and the post helps. one question does any of the diesel fuels do better than others? or do they all seem to be the same?

 

[rScotty]

ok thanks to all that posted, i am in the process of trying to check my fuel in a better way, and the post helps. one question does any of the diesel fuels do better than others? or do they all seem to be the same?

I can remember when you had a choice of diesel #1 or diesel #2 at the few stations that sold diesel. There was a difference: #1 started easier in the cold & was "winterized". #2 made more smoke but cost a few pennys/gallon less & was thought to lube the upper end better. #2 could be winterized with additives, but didn't always come that way. Most tractors used #2 in the summer and #1 in the winter.

Now lots of places sell diesel for cars and light trucks. Around here we call it "automotive diesel" and it all seems to be the same. Maybe it depends on where you live.