Hey guys,
If you've been around here for quite some time youve prolly seen my numerous posts on my milage.... pretty much before i got around 14mpg(STOCK), right now after i spent almost 1k on engine tuneup im at about 16 with a CAI, and a greddy muffler(not full exhaust). This is really pissing me off because im going broke filling up ever week and fuel prices here are $2.15/87 now lets not make this a how much is your fuel thread. I'm really conserned on whats going on w/ my car. Here's some of the things I had done on the tuneup: timing belt, water pump, valve timing, distributor cap, rotor, spark plugs, spark wires, ignition wire, oil change, oil filter, AEM CAI. Right now I have 17's on which are balanced and aligned less then a week ago. The wheels are about 32lbs a peice w/ tires. I also have subs in my trunk which weigh in at a little over 120lbs. True this will decrease my milage but not that much. Also I dont drive w/ a heavy foot. Maybe 3 or 4 times on a tank i open it up for those moments. The car's supposed to get 31mpg/hwy and 28mpg/city..... Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks for your time H-T!

 

14 mpg stock??? are you serious?

Did the fuel consumption go down in an instant? or was it gradual?

fs

 

you sure you don't have any fuel leaks? i've seen that happen a lot...

and are you running at a proper A/F ratio?

don't know much of anything else to try out... if it were my car and i had that bad of fuel mileage, i'd sell it, too...

 

You might try putting everything back to stock and see how you fair with gas mileage then. But damn, that's pretty bad. I don't really know what else it could be since you covered all the basics already.

 

if your transmission were slipping, youd get complete *** for gas mileage.

since you don't mention it, did you replace the O2 sensor. that would kill your mileage too. things can break withoug throwing a code or the bulb could be blown out.

 

damn and i thought my car was bad... i get 205-215 till light comes on....

i never had a chance to test the car out now since the snows here to see if the mileage increased, but i changed a few parts back to oem (exhaust + piping,ex manifold) and daily drives is alot more fun this way.

 

Tranny slipping.... could auto's slip? ...as far as fuel leaks...not that im aware of, no smell of gas, the car has been garaged for almost 1 year and i didnt smell anything... as far as o2 censors and me running rich...could be, i know my accord pulls amazing for being almost stock, i had one of the guys from the autoshop test it out...he thought it was a v6, so i could be running rich. My check engine light works because i see it when i start up the car and i recently went to autozone and had them run a test and they said no codes showed up. Yeah im at a point now where i stopped driving my car..... im so confused and have a really big headache about it.

 

BTW here's a pic of it

I love this car..... but $70-90/mo on fuel is crazy.

 

Are you running the original 02 sensor? Sounds like you are just dumping mega-rich A/F.

 

Wouldn't he get a check engine light if the O2 sensor was malfunctioning?

 

Depends on the voltage reading.

I would check that and any gas leaks along the line.

 

Have you checked to make sure none of your brakes are dragging? And you have the correct temperature thermostat? When I did the rear brakes on my moms '94 Accord (discs), it had aftermarket pads on it and I put new OEM pads on it, which fit tighter than the aftermarket. Due to the looseness in the aftermarket pads, and the roadsalt (she lives in IL not far from you), the caliper brackets rusted enough that the new OEM pads would not fit in the bracket easily. I could get them in, but they fit sooo tight they would barely move, thus would not release and were dragging the brakes. I had to take the dremel with the wire brush to the brackets and they fit like a charm. This would cause a huge drop in MPG. Also a thermostat that isn't allowing the engine to fully warm up will kill your gas mileage too. Something is definitely wrong though for it to get that low of mileage. Even my old school Accord with 363k miles still gets 33 mpg on the highway, and usually 28 in town.

 

I would replace the O2 sensor. They tend to get "lazy". They will put out enough signal to keep the ECU from throwing a CEL but make your milage go down the tubes. Replace that and report back if it fixes the problem. If that doesn't work, it seems like you've tried everything else so it might be a good idea to sell it then.

 

no car gets the gas mileage that is advertised. with the toyota prius, if you run the defrost gas mileage goes down by 50%. 14mpg seems a bit low but if youve got an auto, heavy wheels and subs I wouldnt see 18-9mpg as bad mileage.

 

Jake u got a 96 accord w/ a h22 what milage are you getting?

O2 Sensors are fairly expencive right? About the thermostat how would i check that, is there anywy for me to check my o2 censor b4 replacing it?

Thanks for all your help guys!

 

I will repeat, when did this start happening? Was it gradual, or it happened in an instant? DId you do any mods or repairs prior to this happening?

Bad fuel mileage can be caused by a bunch of stuff, this is what you need to check:

1. Are your brakes dragging?
2.Make sure you have the correct thermostat, coolant mixture and enough coolant in your system. Now if you have never changed the thermostat, your thermostat is probably corect.
3. How is the timing on your car?
4. A lazy O2 sensor can give you bad mileage. Yet there is no way of testing this. Yo basically have to swap it out.
5. malfunctioning map sensor or circuit?
6. Excessive fuel pressure?
7. What do your sparkplugs look like (black, tan, grey....)
8. What about fuel injector leaks?
9. What about if you disconnect the battery to reset the ecu and then take for a good spin, is your mileage improving?

Now it may be a good thing to bring it down to a shop for diagnostic since it is difficult to monitor sensor performance. They would be able to see if something is going on.

fs

 

re: filthy

This was not a gradual thing, my sister drove the car for a bout 1/2 year and when i got it back it was locked in at that, i did some things that improved the milage by putting in a short ram air intake. Here are the answers to your questions:
1. No my breakes aren't dragging
2. My whole cooling system was flushed, and the thermostat has never been changed to my knowledge
3. Timing was adjusted allong w/ the valves about 2 weeks ago
4. Dont know about the o2 sensor, the light does not turn on and autozone didnt find any problems
5. No idea....how would you check that?
6. No idea.... i'd need a fuel pressure meter but is there a cheaper way to check that?
7. Brand new OEM spark plugs
8. No fuel leakes
9. The battery has been disconected a bunch of times when i had to rewire some stuff but it was disconected then reconected w/o trying to start the car, also my battery has died a couple of times because i forgot to shut off my subs in a hurry to get somewhere

As i stated in the 1st post I had a performance shop (APG makers of KONG) take a look at and they fixed everything that looked like it needed fixing...

P.S. I guess my milage has imporved a little more, i'm pretty sure everyone knows how the 5th gens have a weird fuel guage, well it read 1/4 full @ 178 miles and i thought yeah this is where it drops that 1/4 in 20-30 miles.... well it diidnt it went down a little the tank is maybe 3/4 of that 1/4 full with 213 miles... I'm guessing i have another 40 - 50 miles left, if that, before the light comes on.

Thanks for your time!

 

**BUMP**

 

To avoid frustration and unecessary repairs or parts, i would bring it down to shop for diagnostic. I would suspect, at this time, and without seeing the car, that you may have a lazy sensor. I am aware that this would cost you over 50$ for this, but it may be necessary. But then again, they might not tell you much...

fs

 

Thanks a lot FS!

I'll consider it if I dont sell the car. I think I have a serious buyer but if not then that's the 1st thing I'm doing after putting on my moldings.

Anyone else's oppinionis?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dima &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">as far as o2 censors and me running rich...could be, i know my accord pulls amazing for being almost stock, i had one of the guys from the autoshop test it out...he thought it was a v6, so i could be running rich. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Running rich will hurt performance, not enhance it.

 

Dima, My h22 isnt going in my accord until April 15th!!!! Ill let you know though.

 

Really i thought it'll give your engine more fuel causing it to operate better...well move the pistons more.... sorry nyquil talking

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dima &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Really i thought it'll give your engine more fuel causing it to operate better...well move the pistons more.... sorry nyquil talking</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not unless you are adding more air (FI or nitrous) to burn the increased fuel. Otherwise you're "blowing it out your rear" so to speak.

 

No...you'd be washing the rings if you run rich for too long...after a while, you'd need a rebuild.