Terraclean as seen on Wheeler Dealers...my results!

UPDATE>>>>>

Ok, so having filled my tank with Shell V power and running it through after the Terraclean treatment, I believe I'm starting to see fairly significant mpg improvements ( albeit its early days )
I will return here and post updates as and when I've completed a full tank and also further fill ups moving forward, for those that may be interested.

As previously stated the absolute best mpg I ever actually attained was approx 695 miles
This was ALL motorway and I was hypermiling to try and achieve the best results possible.

This current tankful of fuel, has been a mix of approx 60% city driving with 40% dual carriageway / motorway thrown in.
Although I'm trying to see what is the best mpg I can get, my boot is crammed full of workgear including files / boxes / jackets / hard hats & boots etc as it always has been.
I'm driving carefully and to the limits, no harsh revving, perhaps one slight burst of speed for a little while

The first results are shown below.
The fuel gauge although it cannot be seen has not moved from full at this point.

Distance travelled 76.6 miles
DTE ( Distance to Empty ) 655 miles
Instant MPG - 44.7mpg




Further through the tank of fuel ( still no pic of the fuel gauge - sorry, but at around halfway between full and 3/4 )

Distance travelled 130.6 miles
DTE ( Distance to Empty ) 645 miles
Instant MPG - 48.6mpg




Having eventually learned, the fuel gauge can be clearly seen in these pics and this is where I'm at to date.
The fuel shows clearly that its well above the halfway mark. Usually I can predict around 240 miles - perhaps 280 at halfway position!

Distance travelled 335.9 miles
DTE ( Distance to Empty ) 455 miles
Instant MPG - 51.2mpg




Incidentally, the lifetime mpg counter has been at 36.6 mpg for as long as I can remember, and has since started to climb, currently at 37.1mpg.
From experience ( unless reset ) this will be a very slow n steady climb if there's a continuing upwards trend.....we'll see.

If, and I know it is If I can achieve anywhere near the targeted 790 miles range + whatever is left in the tank it will be the best results achieved over 5 years of ownership AND through a mix of motorway and city driving, not just motorway miles( I'll try and be as accurate as I can with the mix when I post of course )

In the meantime, I've started a fuelly account to try and cross refer my findings
I'll post again when I have more info.

UPDATETODAY 14.08.2012 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

History first
I used to get decent mileage but then I travelled mostly motorway miles. The best I ever achieved was one day when I had a particularly long run ( approx. 700 miles to cover in one day ) This was with me 6'3" 17 stone + a workmate at 6'7" 19 stone,work gear and a boot crammed full of work related items.
I managed 695 miles covered with 40 approx left in the tank + reserve fuel meant I could have got about 850 miles at the 52.2mpg rate had I run her dry.
Incidentally when I refuelled the DIS told me to expect a 915 mile range if I travelled in the same manner going forward.
915divided by 52.2mpg = 17.6 gallons so it all seems to work out fine!

Recently
My mpg is shot to bits, I travel a mix of city and motorway now, probably 60/40 or thereabouts, maybe even a little more city stop start than that even. The car doesn't always get up to temp and the instant mpg usually hovers around the mid 30's range, high 30's to low 40's if I'm lucky on motorway jaunts.
The average for the lifetime of the car was recently showing36.6mpg.
Based on the fact I usually get around 500 - 550 to a tank + whatever isleft in reserve it kinda works out about right.

Past week or so
As you may know I recently cleaned my EGR valve, switched to Shell V power and had a Terraclean treatment done on the car. I've been monitoring my mpg etc ever since and recently started a fuelly account to help with this. My first fuel up showed 36.7 mpg which is scarily close to the average showing on the DIS in my car.

My second fill up I looked even closer and decided to see what I could get out of her and if the steps I took had any effect. I topped her off with Shell V power and reset the instant trip, but left the lifetime trip meter as is at 36.6mpg

Over the course of the full tank I probably did a mix of 75% motorway and 25% stop start town driving. I was careful, not exactly hypermiling as the boot was still crammed full, the AC was on and the drivers window open slightly as I am a smoker.

I managed to get 750.2 miles on a full tank and this left zero miles in the DIS so I was essentially on reserves at that point.



I refuelled almost exactly the same as the last fill up at £104.01 for 70.80litres of Shell V power diesel. On the basis that my instant mpg had seen 52.2mpg but settled at 51.2mpg and the the fill up showed me that 9.2 litres (2.03 gallons ) remained in reserve, meant if I had run her dry I was looking at an 854 mile range….not bad!



This turnaround in a week or so is impressive, at least for me

From past experience the car's computer slowly builds mpg when driven sensibly and economically but reduces it drastically when the lead foot appears. 5 years of ownership has taught me once its way down at the kind of levels I mentioned earlier it takes a long time, lots of regular motorway miles and very economic driving to get the upward trend back on track

The only part I don't understand is the DIS after refuelling showed a DTE of 715 miles?
I was sure this was based on the level of fill x the instant mpg which would have meant approx. 910 mile range NOT the 715 miles as indicated.



Anyhow in the matter of less than a week my mpg isup from 36.6mpg to 42.4 according to my fuelly account, even though my instant trip on the DIS shows 51.2 and the average for the lifetime of the car is now at 37.1mpg

This shows a huge improvement for me as far as I'm concerned and I further believe that if I can continue the trend and drive enconomically I can achieve even better results.

A friend with an N reg M3 with 85K miles on the clock told me about the Terraclean process and the vast improvement he had noticed in performance. I did some browsing about the diesel process and, given the favourable comments, I decided to give it a go.

My 2004 S-Type 2.7D has mileage of 58K and when last MOT'd in September 13 the emission results were excellent. The car runs well and has always produced plenty of poke when I've asked for it. I don't pay much attention to MPG as my annual motoring is only around 5,000. I just enjoy driving the cat.

I arrived at Auto Lube in Letchworth yesterday and they hooked the car up to the kit. I couldn't believe how quiet the diesel sounded running on the cleaning fluid. I expected to see clouds of smoke pouring from the exhausts, but there was nothing.

The process took about an hour during which time the engine was set at 1,200 rpm and there was a period of 'soak' where the engine is turned off and the cleaning agent is allowed to do it's stuff. The engine is then started again for the final 20 minutes or so.

The emissions were tested before the clean and endorsed the results from the MOT mentioned earlier. The technician road tested the car before the clean and drove it afterwards, remarking that he'd noticed more urge, but said that I would have to make up my own mind.

So does it work?

In short - yes it does. I took a drive up the A1 last night and the diesel is noticeably smoother with more power. I guess the effect may be greater with higher mileage cars?

Hi BuckMR2 and many thanks for the warm welcome.

Have to admit I was expecting to see the workshop full of smoke, but the only detectable element was the sweet aroma of the clean passing through the system. The Technician did mention to me that the clean will continue for 2-3 days after the process, as the cleaner is slowly flushed out of the system by the normal diesel. Because it continues to work, the more stubborn deposits will loosen and he did warn me that there may be some blue smoke in the early stages afterwards. I did notice some as he pulled away for the test drive and there was a slight puff when I started the car this morning, but this only lasted for a couple of seconds. The engine definitely sounds sweeter on tick over and I couldn't hear it at 70 mph.

The clean cost me £108 and I would recommend this to anyone wishing to keep the valves etc in good condition. My local Jaguar garage, where the car is serviced, quoted me £200 for their 'clean', but I'm not certain whether it does the same thing, i.e. all the way through. Apparently the Terraclean process is good for the Cat Converter etc, but I'm no mechanic by any means and have to accept advice I'm given. I read various forum posts before taking plunge, just to make sure it wasn't going to do damage. I was assured it wouldn't and this is echoed on a number of forums I've visited.

Perhaps a word of caution to drivers with high mileage cars, as I have heard that damaged valves etc, which can be 'held together' with soot, can have weaknesses found by the process and I'm sure this has been mentioned by others.

I did not keep a note of the emission test results and was told by the technician that the results immediately after the clean can be poorer than before, because the agent is still clearing out the rubbish. In any event he said that the car would pass an MOT emission test with flying colours and that's good enough for me.

I had not heard about the process until less than a week ago and here I am with a car running sweet as a nut. I'm so pleased with the results - money well spent in my view

Finally, because my annual mileage is pretty low, I've decided to pay the extra for Ultimate diesel and hope this will help preserve the good work done. I've read threads on the virtues of using the higher grade and, as usual, there seem to be mixed views on this topic. Any thoughts anyone?