(re)introducing myself - Econetic

[greenfoam]

Originally Posted by EcoSqueeze

Hi DJ1979, from what I know the engine management monitors the driving conditions (number of short stop start cycles/ distance etc) and to prevent damage to the engine from oil that is no longer useable it comes up with Service Now and goes into limp mode so you HAVE to get it serviced.
I reckon what happened was that the person who serviced it forgot to reset the (oil changed) parameter in the computer and because the engine management relies on this to monitor the oil condition it thought you still had old oil in the engine. When you took it back they reset the ECU.......(not going to admit they forgot something though).
As I am a licenced mechanic I intend to do my own servicing but will have to get the ECU reset on the Ford Diagnostic Laptop every service because of this oil monitoring feature.
Regards Mark

There's mention of this in the manual for the current American Fiestas including how to clear it but no way would it throw the car into limp mode. Limp mode is only for a quite serious sensor error.

To clear the code you put your feet on both the accel and brake pedal, switch the car to accessories and then wait 20 seconds, then take your feet off the pedals and switch the key off

[EcoSqueeze]

Hi Greenfoam,
when I service my Econetic I won't reset the computer and I'll wait till I get the 'Service Now' message to see if it runs any differently. Thanks for the info on how to reset the 'Service Now' message. The dealer told me $80 to put it on the diagnostic laptop and reset.
Really pleased with this car....no probs so far (7000kms). The first Econetic did a few strange things and had a noticably noisier gearbox and the wheel alignment was WAY out from new.
Regards Mark

[mik]

regarding the damaged wheel thing, its not uncommon on many cars these days , some of it is no doubt due to our crap roads, i do think also part of it is the trend in modern cars to run the lower profile tyres you just don`t have that extra bit of cushioning buffer when a nasty pot hole is encountered, i suspect there may be a bit more weight on the front tyres with a fwd compared to rwd,(would love to know the weight on the the f&r axles of these cars).

[Trevor G]

Originally Posted by sim_in_mel

Hi there,
This has been an interesting thread and thought I would post in this thread instead of starting a new one.
My wife bought a Fiesta Econetic car December 2010 and she loves it. Now understands what zippy means.
What is troubling us a little at the moment is the fuel consumption.
In general running around here trip, to work and back is around 30km she is getting around 4.6l which seems reasonable.
Early on we had a journey which was mostly freeway (150km round trip) and returned 3.9L with only about 1200km on the clock
We have just come completed a trip Melbourne to Adelaide a round trip of 1500 km, the fuel consumption was 4.6L
..
I was hoping for around 4.0 – 4.1 so to get 4.6 which we get with normal running was pretty disappointing.
Anyone got any comments. I have spoken to the local Ford Dealer and it would seem that there is not a lot to check without an engine check lights…………

I'm planning to buy a Fiesta diesel and might even get an Econetic yet, because it is geared higher which means it will use less fuel.

Your experience fits in with the new LX sedan I test drove: on a section of road where I get about 5.3 on my Citroen C4 1.6 HDi (same engine as the Fiesta but putting out 80kw instead of 66) I got 5.2 with the Fiesta. That is uncorrected, just on the trip computer. I find trip computers to vary wildly on the optimistic side, but here's hoping!

I would expect the Econetic to be slightly better because of its higher gearing.

In other words, at 110kmh you could easily be pulling 5L/100km.

The thing I liked especially about the LX sedan was that around town, where the C4 shows 5+ the Fiesta was in the low 4s. We do maybe 50% around town so that will hopefully produce a benefit.

You will only get lower fuel consumption by running at lower speeds.

Regards

Trevor G