SOL Food

alright, so i did some searching and found some advice/ideas that would help me fix this problem but i just wanted to make sure i didn't miss anything.

car: 95 del Sol VTEC (b16)
motor mileage: 90,xxx
modifications: just bolt ons, fuel pressure regulator (set at 36), everything else is OEM spec
gas mileage: 22 mpg freeway, 21 mpg street

the car's not throwing any CELs, the tire pressure on all 4 tires is at 35psi, the dizzy has been recently replaced, the o2 sensor is NOT dead/faulty

so basically by searching i found out that i can check the following to help diagnose the problem:

fuel injectors
air filter
fuel filter
fuel pump
spark plugs

my question is...even if the above mentioned needed replacing would that cause my car to get such crappy gas mileage? the lowest mpg i heard anyone's gotten with a stock b16 is around 25-26 mpg and i'm not even close to that.

besides what i listed above what can cause such horrible gas mileage? any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.



Modified by SOL Food at 10:17 AM 3/10/2008

Dr. Willy

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SOL Food &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">alright, so i did some searching and found some advice/ideas that would help me fix this problem but i just wanted to make sure i didn't miss anything.

car: 95 del Sol VTEC (b16)
motor mileage: 90,xxx
modifications: just bolt ons, fuel pressure regulator (set at 36), everything else is OEM spec
gas mileage: 22 mpg freeway, 21 mpg street

the car's not throwing any CELs, the tire pressure on all 4 tires is at 35psi, the o2 sensor is NOT dead/faulty

so basically by searching i found out that i can check the following to help diagnose the problem:

fuel injectors
air filter
fuel filter
fuel pump
spark plugs

my question is...even if the above mentioned needed replacing would that cause my car to get such crappy gas mileage? the lowest mpg i heard anyone's gotten with a stock b16 is around 25-26 mpg and i'm not even close to that.

besides what i listed above what can cause such horrible gas mileage? any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

i would start with air filter, plugs and plug wires. when was the last time you changed all of those things? also how do you drive? where do you shift at and do you use fifth around town?

Not saying you do, but a lot of people post bad gas mileage problems, yet they are sticking it long into vtec when they are just driving on the street or whatever.

92slowcivic

could be gas tank or sending unit leak. go outside and look under your car right meow.

crazyguy

do a tune up besides the item that u listed, and also inspect spark plug wires. new dizzy cap and rotor while u are doing the maintainance

Endo-land

Other things to look for would be proper tire pressure and exhaust leak before your O2 sensor that could be throwing the reading off but not a CEL. My header donut gasket got a little worn so I had to tighten between it and my cat.

sleepingegg

your driving also matters. i have a B16a in my hatch and when i drive nice on the highway i get between 35 and 40.. so its all up to the driving

SOL Food

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dr. ***** &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i would start with air filter, plugs and plug wires. when was the last time you changed all of those things? also how do you drive? where do you shift at and do you use fifth around town?

Not saying you do, but a lot of people post bad gas mileage problems, yet they are sticking it long into vtec when they are just driving on the street or whatever.</TD></TR></TABLE>

air filter, plugs, and plug wires haven't been changed since i purchased the car last year from the previous owner. from what i can remember it's always had bad gas mileage since i purchased it.

and as for my driving i take it no higher than 4500 rpms when driving around on the street and i usually shift at 4000 rpm so i don't think that's mashing it too much?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 92slowcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">could be gas tank or sending unit leak. go outside and look under your car right meow.</TD></TR></TABLE>

as in my gas tank's leaking gas? if that were the case there would be a leak near the rear of the car, right? if so that's not the case...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by crazyguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">do a tune up besides the item that u listed, and also inspect spark plug wires. new dizzy cap and rotor while u are doing the maintainance</TD></TR></TABLE>

oh, i forgot to mention that the dizzy (cap and rotor) were recently replaced as well.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Endo-land &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Other things to look for would be proper tire pressure and exhaust leak before your O2 sensor that could be throwing the reading off but not a CEL. My header donut gasket got a little worn so I had to tighten between it and my cat.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ok i'll check that out, but do you really think that would affect my gas mileage by this much?

thanks for the all the suggestions and advice guys. it could be just me but wouldn't there have to be something drastically wrong with my motor for it to be getting such bad gas mileage?

The Lobster

dont forget the most forgetten item.

the PCV valve change it.

SOL Food

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by The Lobster &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">dont forget the most forgetten item.

the PCV valve change it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

what does the PCV valve do and where is it located?

The Lobster

http://www.autorized.com/auto-...shtml

looks like this on the intake manifold runners

grickson

im also having the same problem. SOL food have you had any luck with fixing the problem?

revlimitx04

Well another important aspect of it would be Rim size and tires, if your using larger rims you will lose some mpg, and if the tires weigh more than factory tires youll use more gas.

grickson

i also noticed that my fuel gauge is reading wrong. i filled my tank up completely full, to the point that it's spilling out and it looks like this after waiting and driving it 3miles.

Juggernaut Junior

Can a PCV Valve really hurt your gas mileage. doesn't it just take the gasses from the crankcse? I have a problem with gas mileage to could this be it?

cheesecheda

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by grickson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i also noticed that my fuel gauge is reading wrong. i filled my tank up completely full, to the point that it's spilling out and it looks like this after waiting and driving it 3miles.


</TD></TR></TABLE>

MY gauge looks the same way when i top off the tank, Is that a common thing for del sol?

streamline1

check your catalytic converter too. Just unbolt the connection to the exhaust manifold and inspect to make sure the honeycomb sections aren't melted or fused together causing reduced exhaust flow through the cat and poor mileage.


Modified by streamline1 at 12:24 AM 10/13/2008

Xavien1s

+1 on the catalytic converter

zacatkings

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 92slowcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> meow.</TD></TR></TABLE>
meow

Juggernaut Junior

could the busted honeycombs in the catilytic converter cause a lean and gassy smelling exhaust smell? My 95 civic ex has that smell and the bad gas mileage.

streamline1

Those are two possible symptoms of a failing catalytic converter. It's fairly easy to inspect the cat since all you have to do remove the two bolts holding the cat to the header and check for damaged areas

1stunna

you should try swaping out the o2 with a known good one and try it,
my buddies integra had bad gas mileage, with no CEL, car ran good and pulls very strong, we couldn't find out the problem, but when it came time to do a smog check, it failed, the numbers was all crazy of the charts so the smog dude recomended a o2 replacement, we did that and it pasted smog like nothing, and now hes getting gas mileage


oh yea it was a 94 integra LS with b16a tranny, don't know why but it didn't give a bad o2 cel either


Modified by 1stunna at 11:34 PM 10/14/2008

Juggernaut Junior

Is there anyway to tell if the o2 sensor is good or not?

95civicex5spd

i also need to know if there i a good way to tell if the o2 sensor is bad, my 95 ex is getting like 20 mpg, has a weird smell to it, and i rarely take it into vtec

Juggernaut Junior

I found that the hose under the intake manifold that connects to the pcv valve and the crank case cracked off while i did a head gasket change. Would you happen to know if it is replaceable and what size hose it is or how to fix it? Please help.

1stunna

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Juggernaut Junior &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I found that the hose under the intake manifold that connects to the pcv valve and the crank case cracked off while i did a head gasket change. Would you happen to know if it is replaceable and what size hose it is or how to fix it? Please help.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i don't know how to post pics to show, but all those hose and parts for the breather chamber is replaceable, sounds like your talking about that plastic pipe that connects to the breather chamber broke off. And for the o2 sensor i do not know how to check it, maybe someone else might know. I only found out from a emissions test that my friends o2 was bad.