Have a 1996 Honda Accord LX Wagon 172k Miles (2.2L 4cyl, automatic, non-vtec) ((f22b2))
Over the past few years of owning my wagon, the fuel mileage has been getting worse, know im about 20 to around 16mpg. (know rough calculation from mileage between fillups)
Lately only been getting like 220 miles to the tank before its at the bottom line on the gauge. Mostly highway driving, around 65mph.
Tires i keep inflated to the rating, replaced fuel filter, full synthetic oil, new air filter, new distributor cap, spark plug wires, etc. Replaced the one O2 sensor by the cat not that long ago also. Car runs fine with no issues. Brakes dont seem to rub, engine warms fine, alignment/ balancing done.

Is 17mpg a normal mileage for the 96 accord, 4cyl?
My v6 94 camaro has been getting better mileage than the honda and just doesn't seem right.

Any common issues known on the 96 accord that causes it to get bad mileage?

Thanks!

 

fill up the tank, set the trip to 0, drive for 250 miles, fill it up, divide the miles by the amount of fuel you just fill up, that's your mpg

 

>Said I already know how to calculate the mileage, as stated by others in other threads.
>Wagon wouldn't make it 250 miles. 220 is where I've gotten before a low fuel light.

 

we have 17 gallon tank capacities, if you can't get 250, you likely got a fuel leak

 

Everything is bone dry from what I can see. Only leak I have is a small oil one from the valve cover by the distributor.

 

Find a scantool. See what the values are. It's possible you have gummy injectors. Is your egr clean.

 

Might take a look into that. and where is the egr located?

(Edited: looked at a youtube vid, doesnt seem you can clean the egr, just the passages. which are located under the fuel rail)

 

Clean the passages, check proper operation of egr valve, check pcv. Confirm timing, (both belt and distributor alingment) check tire pressure against door card. Check transmission fluid. Confirm you are getting good spark (not weak). Do a leak down test and make sure your pistons are sealing correctly

 

Took out the injectors and EGR channel stuff.
Was really packed in there and clogged up. Pain in the butt to get all of it out, vacuumed out the egr holes and the injector ports. Also cleaned off the injectors and pressure tested with some cleaner to make sure they close.
Have to do more cleaning and looking at stuff, but hope it's a step in the right direction.

 

There is something wrong with your engine. Fuel injectors should not have that level of "wet carbon" build up. When I pulled apart the egr passages on my 94, it was just heavily packed dry carbon (very thick, but dry). However judging from the filth collected on each the visible injectors, I would say thats where your gas is going.

 

What would cause that buildup then?

 

It just looks like the valve cover gasket is leaking however something is seriously wrong if you can't get 250 miles from around 14 gallons which is around where your low fuel light should be coming on. That comes out to only 18 mpg.

I would compression test to see if you got a bad cylinder but it could also be your thermostat is stuck open and your car is never going into closed loop which is causing the ecu to dump an insane amount of fuel at all times instead of just when the engine is cold.

Does your heater work well ?

 

Car warms up quick and pumps plenty of heat.
As for compression testing, could probably do if I had the tool, on the first 3 cylinders.
Spark plug is kinda stuck in the head on the furthest one, driver side. Have had a breaker bar to 60 lbs and it isn't budging . Don't want to strip it. (Have tried all the liquid wrench,penetrators, fluids, and etc to try to loosen it) ((another thread I made)).
​​​ have ran the engine and pulled the spark plug wire, car ran shittier with it disconnected, so the plug still fires.
Engine has been running the same since I got the wagon at 148k, from my mother.

 

have you tried tightening it a bit first ? sounds weird but sometimes that helps to break it free, you can also try tapping the top of the spark plug with something to shock it, just don't go too nuts so you don't crack it...a last gap measure is actually to pull the head and hit it with some PB Blaster from the combustion side, i've never seen Denso or NGK plugs stick, it's normally the cheapo brands that somehow rust up

 

A while back I believe I did try.
And I've tried tapping the socket with a mallet. Might try to give a little shock with a impact gun, nothing hard, just see about it.
It isn't that hard to do a hela-coil (or whatever you call it) but I don't want to resort to that.
And taking apart everything would be a lot, but I guess a last resort.
Had a mechanic I know say just to leave it till you have issues. Just leave it as long as it's sparking and running. Which I guess is true. But doesn't do much good leaving an issue alone.

 

you can try just dumping a decent amount of PB Blaster in there and letting it soak overnight...then trying it and if it starts to come, before pulling the plug, clean it out a bit so nothing falls in

 

Ive tried using that, didn't do anything.
Might see if I can get a syringe and some rubber tubing to suck some oil out before soaking , hoping it might help it penetrate

 

If you have oil in the plug tubes, your vc seals are shot for the tubes. This can sometimes cause issues with the plugs effectiveness. The vc can be removed without all the plugs being removed if I recall right. A compression test won't always give the right readings without all the plugs removed, since a faulty headgaket could allow for compression to build in a faulty adjacent cylinder. Suggest additionally doing a leak down test as well after you clean all that crud up. Rave on.