Fuel consumption Madness!
 

Have I got a story for you... well it's not really a story. I have my 1997 Accord Lx which I am almost ready to blow up... basically, I have had a lot of annoyance with this machine, but the last few weeks have brought me to a level of annoyance that only bad smells can take me. It is very cold out here but I do not let the car run for more than 20 seconds before leaving in the morning... and my fuel consumption has ranged anywhere from 12l/100km up to last week's 14l/100km!!! I'd rather have my father's old gas guzzling Maxima right now! I could even have a Pathfinder! But my anger is that this is not from bad driving... I am extremely gentle on the gas and the brakes... It does not need a tune up considering I just put in NGK plugs and new plug wires... air filter is 4 months old... throttle body just cleaned... new tires which are well inflated... the transmission is bugging me a lot but i don't think that is killing the gas consumption because it does work... shaking at idle but it did do that when I was getting roughly 10l/100km city... I don't get it! Please please help me end my frustration before you find an article in the news with a headline "Honda death by train!"

RE: Fuel consumption Madness!
 

I dont suppose you would mind translating thel/km into miles per US gallon? LoL My conversion skills are pretty rusty.

Do you have a check engine light on? Is everything normal with the car? No fluctuating idle, temp is normal while driving, no strange noises at all, etc?

RE: Fuel consumption Madness!
 

I can give you a rough estimate of the translation... 14l/100km is roughly 17mpg... and 12l/100km is about 20mpg... No check engine light, the car is in pretty good running order. Also, it has been getting 91 octane for the last few weeks... and i've used Lucas fuel injector cleaners several times in the past (I can't find seafoam in Canada)... And it doesn't seem to have any loss of power (not that this car is too thrilling in the first place!) Temperature is quite normal, just on the cold side of the middle...

RE: Fuel consumption Madness!
 

well first use regular gas... its a honda not a race car... next... run the piss out of it... again its a honda... run it like u hate it... a granny car will die way before a person that runs his car... if they wanted u to baby it... the car wouldent be able to rev 7 grand... blow out all the crap stop running the 91 (it hurts ur performance and gas mileage) and have fun with the car... and ur vibration is probably a broken motor mount... front or back...

RE: Fuel consumption Madness!
 

Well, my mounts are recently replaced and so I know thats not the problem... and for the 91 octane thing, I'm not trying make it a sports car, I just thought its better for the engine sometimes... and also, most cars get better fuel mileage with the higher octane gas, why would this car be any different?

RE: Fuel consumption Madness!
 

Honda's arent made to require 91 octane, so I dont think it does you any good to use it. The fuel mileage gain would probably be negligible.

RE: Fuel consumption Madness!
 

go to the general tech help... to the top ( Improve gas mileage ) and read it ,, see if it helps ... also i would use nothing but regular 87 octane no need to waste money using 91 octane ,,

RE: Fuel consumption Madness!
 

Try checking your PVC valve and make sure it rattles and isnt sitcking. You may also have a leak in the exhaust somewhere, but most likely that would trigger the check engine light. Could also be a bad catylic convertor. Make sure though that your check engine light works. When you start your car it should light up.

BTW I have the exact same car and it rattles at idle too. Like the steering wheel visbly shakes n' such.

RE: Fuel consumption Madness!
 

o weird most of the time a vibration is a mount... weird...

91 octane requires a higher compression to ignite properly... thus reducing the volumetric efficentcy of ur engine because its not getting the proper ammount of explosion... 87 octane detonates easyer... thus more powerfull in a lower compression engine...

RE: Fuel consumption Madness!
 

Plus if it was a motor mount, isnt the transmission usually affected? Like it will go into safe mode? At least thats what happened to our Dodge Spirit a looong time ago.