hey ppl im a high school student who lucked out on a nice '93 Accord. so far i only have a new muffler, alarm, and sony xplode system that all came with the car. (new to this car tuning stuff)

the downside is that i dont think myfuel efficiencyis very good at first i payed $15 on gas (it started on empty)and i had half a tank. after driving it the first one or two days i think maybe 16 miles or more and it was almost on empty! (the refuel lamp did not light up though)the mileage on the car is 151k miles but i was told by the small dealer that the engine was rebuilt (original I4 engine),so this has led me to believe one of a problems (but i know it is not limited to these of course)

1) the ecu was not resetted after the muffler was installed (maybe, not sure)
2) the fuel tank may have been switched and the car is still used to the old tank (not likely because i'm more than sure that the meter is moved by pressure in the tank, i may be wrong)
3) the seller lied to me and did not rebuild the engine (maybe)
4) the engine is too old! (most likely but im looking for an alternative plz)

I am sure i want to change the engine but i cant rite now because i am saving up for it lol, if anyone has suggestions on what the problem might be plz tell me i dont want to resort to having engine problems so bad that i need a new engine. like i said i want to change the engine when i can get enough money to get it and install. my uncles a mechanic but it may take a while since hes usually busy. plz help!
ps: sry for the long post

 

First, welcome to the forum! Your motor, if taken care of properly will/should have lasted longer than 150k. Its not surprising to see 200k on a well maintained Honda.
Here is what I would do. First, unhook the negative terminal of the battery, and open the doors for about 20 minutes, then hook the battery back up and the ECU will have been reset. Next, buy a $1 bottle on carb/fuel injector cleanerm and put it in when your gas is low, which it probably is since it used all your gas. After driving your car for a few galloons worth to make sure the stuff has had a chance to do its work, reset your trip odometer, remember where your gas needle was, fill up your tank with at least 4-5 gallons, and actually see what your gas mileage is. Diagnosing the problem, should always be the first step. It could always be your dist. cap, spark plugs, wires, dirty air filter, broken pvc valve, bad o2 sensor (the check engine light should be on, so the next time you start your vehicle make sure it does its test and that it lights up so you know the bulb isnt burnt out)

Lastly, after your problem gets fixed, try to keep your gas about the 1/4 mark, as this will make your fuel pump live longer.
I hope to have helped a little! Let us know how it goes, and what you discover! Glad to have you here at HAF!

 

A much easier way to reset the ECU is to remove the backup fuse for 10-15 seconds.

Now your post says that you had the car at a half tank, drove sixteen miles or so, and then it was on E? So thats what, 3 mpg tops? Sounds a little extreme. The best way to test fuel mileage is to fill the tank to the top, reset the trip odo, drive til you are between 1/4 and 1/2 tank, and then fill it up all the way again. Then just divide the mileage on the trip odo by the gallons you filled up the second time, thats your mileage, and I imagine its gotta be at least 20, unless you race from stoplight to stoplight every time.

 

I highly doubt your engine is "too old". I bought my 91 Accord Wagon with 231500 miles on ita few weeks ago and it looks to have been badly neglected and it got more than 20 mpg even when I first got it and hadn't started to fix things yet. As a previous poster described you should fill the tank completely and reset your trip odometer - then drive a few days and refill it. Divide the miled driven by the gallons it took to refill and that will give you your mpg. Good luck!

 

Unless you have a leaky fuel tank or let the car sit/idle for an hour each day I'd say it's a bad fuel guage....Do any puddles form on the ground if you leave it parked in one place for an extended period of time?

 

I noticed my gas mileage was not so good when i bought my Accord. I put a new fuel filter and had a fuel injector service. Now it gets 30mpg with mixed highway/city mileage

 

The advice for the fuel injector helped big time i used it on an almost empty tank and payed $20 that got me 3/4 of the tank and i have driven a mix of highway and city for 34 miles and i only used 1/3 of the gas i filled it with (1/8 of the total tank) by my guess a full tank will be around 272 miles per tank. i still havent reset the ecu, but i did get a better look under the hood than when i looked at the car. i kno i have an f22b2 engine (i think that is right) and the trim is LX. it comes automatic but the engine and the transmition will all change with time

in short this car is stock except for the exaust tip, the sony xplode system (almost blew out my right ear...), window tint, alarm, and new white paint.

one side note to my problems but i will make a new post, is that there is a funny sound when my engine is around 2,000 rpm on the spot ima hopefullysee my uncle this weekend and see what it is but i would like to be inlightened on the possible problems

thank you all for ur support and any more is greatlyappreciated

 

a lil more on the car, it is closer to perfection but it recently overheated 4 times on me and almost did again today. turns out the fuel was bad, and one of my valves i loose/off/something (this explains the weird sound at 2,000 rpm), the fuel effiency is still good and i made all other check ups on the engine, are there any more likely problems to a used car that i may have missed that someone can tell me?

 

Overheated 4 times?! Never let your engine overheat. How high was the temp. gauge. Those 4 times may have just shortned the life of your engine. On a side note, if the temp. gauge starts rising above normal then turn on your heater to full blast. This will take some of the heat off of your engine. I would have your radiator checked out. Is it leaking? Check the fluid levels but NEVER mess with the radiator cap or overfill container when the car is still warm. If you do, it could shoot out and five you some burns.
If that bottle of fuel injector cleaner helped that much, you may want to run another one through it again. Serious carbon build up may requirea few bottles to get rid of it. Just read the directions and make sure you dont overdo it.
I would have the dist. cap checked out, or the spark plug wire, or spark plug, checked out on the faulty valve.

 

Forgot to mention, if its having those problems you really should have the car checked out by a professional. If you are tight for money then do the basics:
Change the:
Oil
Oil filter
Air filter
Transmission fluid
Those are the BASICS. There are also the plug wires, plugs, dist. cap, fuel filter.

Overheatings your engine may be sparring you a few dollars from getting it fixed right away, but its shortning the life of your car, in turn soon forcing you to buy another. Just get it fixed.