JackSparrow

We have a lot of snow here, and I think this started after driving through medium depth, heavy, sandy snow.

I have a Scan Gauge II and it used to say that when I reached operating temperature,
the fuel flow at idle would be 0.23 to 0.24 gallons-per-hour.
Yesterday, after getting warmed up, I checked the gauge and it says at operating temperature,
fuel flow is 0.40 to 0.45 gallons per hour.

I also got a round-trip of combined city and highway economy of 19.5 mpg,
a round-trip distance of 60 miles, and I was not driving fast.
I experimented with changing the speed on the highway
and the economy and throttle response seemed sluggish across the rpm range.

Today it finally went above freezing (34 F) and when I got it up to operating temp.,
fuel flow was down as low as 0.36 gallons-per-hour at idle (750 rpm)
but that's still higher than what I saw before it started to snow and at similar ambient temperatures.

Is it possible that some snow could be clogging part of the air inlet,
and this could explain the feeling of sluggishness?
It feels like I've left the parking brake on or have a nearly-flat tire.

If so, where is the inlet?
I've looked in the driverside fender and in the engine bay
with a flashlight and mirror and could not find the opening for the air intake.

*The "Owner's Manual" that they gave to me is a thin book briefly descibing the operating procedures and some basic maintenance, but it no way goes into detail about the majority of the different systems components. (not a "shop manual", not what you would read if you were trying to fix the car)

FijiBlueFG2

Check tire pressure.

JackSparrow

Tire pressure is fine, in fact I just added pressure...

But fuel flow at idle is irrelevant to the tires, since I've been reading it when it's out of gear and sitting still.

Zeusone

sounds like its to cold outside.

FijiBlueFG2

When are you due for an oil change? I noticed that my car was more sluggish in the cold with older oil. (20% life)

i-VTEC_DOHC

the main and obvious factors i see in your situation are:

1.) temperature - the grade of oil you are using might not be suitable for the environment.

2.) humidity.

JackSparrow

1) Orginal oil, probably conventional but I've had zero troubles getting the motor started over when it's been as cold as -5 F.
Starts up nearly as easily as it did at 35 F.

but this should be irrelevant, because I'm only comparing the economy and power after the engine is at operating temp.
(8 temperature ticks on the "dummy" Honda indicator or 186 F on my Scan Gauge II)

2) Same relative humidity (%) roughly, only slightly lower temps than before it started to snow.
*most of the time it's 15-25 F, instead of 25-35 F when I bought it.

JackSparrow

My oil life is still at 70% after 4000 km. (divide by 1.6 to get mileage)

JackSparrow

I really feel suspicious that this might have started while driving on residential streets with 6-8" snow clumps.
I think it might have turned sluggish after I hit a big clump (maybe 1-2" taller than my ground clearance) of snow.

But it's very hard to tell...
It's not like I was staring at my Scan Gauge while driving through my neighbourhood
to notice a dramatic change in fuel flow or economy.

I'd really like to inspect the inlet for the air intake,
but I can't find it and don't want to buy a $300 shop manual just to read about it myself.
(Owner's manual is not nearly detailed enough, and that's all that came with the car)

Greg50Lt

If you want to look at the intake inlet pop the hood and look at the factory intake. youll notice that at the botton the of the filter box there is a tube that run down towards the bottom of the car. Follow that to the end and youll have inlet. I never really looked for the start of the intake so i cant tell you exactly where its at. I put on a SRI so i never touched the lower half.

JackSparrow

I saw the tube, but I tried following it with a mirror and flashlight and still couldn't find it's beginning.
The battery, battery tray and a variety of other lines, pipes and hoses seem to be blocking the view.

i-VTEC_DOHC

the inlet is between the wheel well lining and the foglight area if u have an fg2.
all u do is remove the clips on the front of the wheel well and pull the lining down and u should see the inlet. its going to be a vertical oval i believe

2008fijibluesi

I think the OP has an R18 Civic, but it doesn't matter because the intake piping runs very similarly, and the resonator and intake portion are in the same place.

Here is a link to a DIY for a CAI on an R18. http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/engin...lots-pics.html

OP...you can either take off the resonator box, as shown and I believe the pipe going from the resonator toward the center/front (not upward back into the engine bay) of the car is the intake pipe. Alternately, to view this intake pipe, you may be able to take off the bottom plastic underneath the car, and view it this way.

But, I doubt highly that you have anything in your intake. I would check in your engine bay first. Check to see if all vacuum hoses are hooked up and that you MAF sensor has somehow come loose.

JackSparrow

I have a 2008 LX-SR sedan. Is the fg2 the Si model?

Thanks for the link.

Resonator box... hmmm.
Did Honda put anything into the stock air inlet to just make it quieter?
Is there something I can remove for more power, or is this resonator not only good for making it quieter, but flow nicer too.
(louder airflow usually means a lot more turbulence which may or may not be a good thing)

Vacuum hoses? MAF sensor?
Where are they located?
*I really wish Honda gave me a manual that would describe in detail every component,
free-of-charge with the purchase of my new car. I asked the salesman and he had no answer...

Maybe I should just bring it into the dealer about this sluggishness...
(if it was something simple to fix and snow related I'd rather do it myself; save me some time)

i-VTEC_DOHC

lx-sr??? i know we sure dont get that here in the states!
and yes the fg2 is the si coupe.
i wasnt aware of which model you have

JackSparrow

LX-SR here means LX with a sunroof, though I don't think this model exists for 2009 here. (mine's a 2008)I believe it's got all the options minus the leather, audio controls on the steering wheel and the 6 or 7 speaker audio system that comes with an EX. So it comes with 16 inch alloys, rear-disc brakes, heated mirrors, outdoor temp. display, 60/40 folding rear bench w/armrest, and perhaps a few other features.

jonezen1

You might want to try looking at your ect. Engine coolant temp sensor. (the one with 2 wires not one) If the sensor is faulty or simply corroded, it can tell the cpu that the motor is always cold, and in turn keep the motor running rich. (like a cold start up) try that.

JackSparrow

If it believed the motor was staying cold, wouldn't it stay idling fast?

When I turn my car on, it starts out around 1300 rpm,
when the temperature bars start to fill it's around 1000 rpm
and by the time it's warm idles around 750 rpm,
just like before the snow.

Civic2005

I have a 2005 Civic which does the same thing. Unfortunately it gets worse and worse every winter. I went from around 32 mpg to 20 the next year, now I'm down to 15. I take it to the dealer every year and their answer is it's winter and you're idling more or you're using gas with too much ethanol or some other lame excuse. I was told at one point that it was the MAF sensor, so they replaced that, it helped for a little while, but not long. My car also feels like it's breaking on it's own after taking my foot off the gas and it doesn't shift correctly...feels very sluggish. Good luck if you go to the dealer. I wasn't able to get anywhere with them.

JackSparrow

Went to the dealer and had them check it out...They found nothing. They want me to let the tank run to empty and fill up six times.I'll keep you all updated...

jdeemseerx

what is a scan gauge 2 exactly and how is it hooked up? when you took it to the dealer did you road test with the tech and have him feel what your complaint was?

JackSparrow

Couldn't. The road was so slick today you wouldn't be able to feel anything related to engine power or acceleration. It never stopped snowing all day until 4 pm. There was 2-4 inches of snow everywhere when I took it in at 11 am, even on the major roads.

My scan gauge II is plugged into the OBD II port under the steering wheel, slightly to the right.

i-VTEC_DOHC

hmm how much is that scan gauge 2??

JackSparrow

$169.00 plus 13% sales tax (Cdn dollars) or $197.00 Cdn

Our dollar is worth less (0.82 U.S. dollars to a Canadian dollar at the moment)
So you should be able to find the same price or lower.

*Actually, the site listed the price at $169.00 U.S.,
so I was amazed that the price they charged me was the same as the listed price.

JackSparrow

I believe my problem might have been the scan gauge II, itself.
Maybe I accidentally pushed something while resetting the gauge for a tank fillup.
I had no idea that the gauge could be reading totally different fuel flow readings at the push of a (still unknown) button.

So today I tried resetting the scan gauge II this morning as I was warming my car up to burn off more ice and snow.
(I seem to be doing that a lot lately) I selected the factory default settings
and I was once again getting 0.23 gallons per hour at operating temp and at idle.

*This sluggishness could have been in my head, as I was pushing the throttle,
glancing at the gauge and being disgusted with the engine performance.

I have no idea how far my last fill up took me (no indication of real-world fuel economy)
but this time when I filled my tank, I made sure to reset my trip "B" odometer.