My car is sucking gas like crazy!

aitkenstyle

Registered User
Guys i need help. ill go put a half a tank in my sc and drive it, now when i say drive it i dont drive it alot here and there around you know.. well ill put a half tank in and it'll be almost gone when i get home from school the next afternoon. I dont drive it that hard either.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what could be wrong? This gas is KILLING me! and being a sophomore in highschool doesnt help becasue i dont have much money.

My dad said that the fuel pump is brand new.. so i assume that doesnt have anything to do with it.

ANY help at all will help me out a great deal because I need to get this strightend out..

Thanks guys.

Mitchell
 
What up!!! im a sophomore in HS too. ha ive got a better one for you, i have a 85 f150 beater that i have to drive while my car is down and i have to fill one tank up about every 4-5 days and it is in perfec condition hahaha. i feel your pain, 45 bucks a week on gas is murder to a 16 year old. and insurance sucks too. good luck with your SC. one quick thing do you have a CEL light? ive heard that if 02 sensors go out that that will cause bad gas milage but i wouldnt think that bad. thats the only thing i know of, any way see ya
 
cool thanks for the help man... Ill check out the 02 sensor stuff.. my winter beater WAS a 2nd generation integra.. but when the trans axles went out and had some valve problems it kinda just sits in the driveway now.

having the same goal and both being a sophomore in hs is pretty crazy. the best thing is having the fastest car in the parking lot and its stock heh.

about the CEL light... not exactly sure what that is? I'll do a search on it i dont know much about electronics like that i jsut know whats in the engine lol.
 
try to keep it under 4 pounds of boost thats when mine goes in to open loop, the cold weather uses a lot of fuel under boost , every 10 degrees colder is 10 % more power so prob 10% MORE FUEL ALSO
 
CEL = Check Engine Light. How many miles are on your SC? Sounds like it could be your O2 sensors. They are cheap (somewhere around $45 each). O2 sensors go out around 100K, so if your car has close to that many miles on it, it would be a good bet to replace the O2 sensors.

Shane
 
Before you go and change the O2 sensors, get a code scanner and find out what exactly is wrong with your car. You might end up finding out that the O2s are not what the problem is, and it could save you some cash.

Shane
 
Well I guess I need to find a code scanner.. Casue I don't have much money to be blowing on stuff it doen't need. Thanks for the help Guys.

Mitchell
 
Check at some parts stores if you don't have a friend with a scanner. Most of them will scan it for free. Just don't let them sell you anything till after you get the codes and come back here for suggestions. 50% of the time the code is caused by something else that went bad and it's throwing the other sensor off that is triggering the CEL.
 
Wow it's good to see there are some High School guys that don't drive Honda's or Eclipses.... when i was a sophmore in high school honda's were NOT cool... um, yeah...this was in 1979 :) .
But anyway..... The O2 sensors are definitely a good possibility and probably should be changed as a maintenance item anyway, but many things can cause bad fuel economy, and you MAY have codes stored even if your "Check Engine" light is not on. Could be something like a Coolant Temp Sensor or maybe something in your EGR system ( IF your SC even has egr, mine does not but some year SC's do...) Or it could be that you need a general tune up. Change the Oxygen sensors but also ask around in your area and find a good shop that can hook it up to a scantool and see if there's anything else wrong. The scantools that a shop has ( around $3000.00 tool...) is NOT the same as the code readers you can buy at WalMart for $30.00.... and sometimes it takes an experienced tech to do the troubleshooting once a code is found... Anyway good luck man, it's always good to see there are some young guys into real cars still!
 
wow!....just a few years ago the Snap On scanner WAS about 3 grand!.... but that link just reinforces my point , which was that the $30 piece of crap code reader you get at WalMart or AutoZone is NOT the same thing.... and there's a reason that you have to pay for diagnostics at a good shop with good equipment and a tech that knows how to use it....
 
rlong said:
try to keep it under 4 pounds of boost thats when mine goes in to open loop, the cold weather uses a lot of fuel under boost , every 10 degrees colder is 10 % more power so prob 10% MORE FUEL ALSO

what do you mean it goes into a open loop?
 
now i thought when the car first starts up it is on open lop then after a few minutes it goes into closed loop, open loop is for start ups only if you boost it, it wont matter, closed loop is better than open

correct me if im wrong...
 
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I think only cold engine and WOT are open loop. If you use 50% throttle and make 5 pounds boost for example, EEC should still be closed loop. Cold weather will help the car make more power and more power means more fuel so yeah I can see gas mileage going down under power. Also, don't forget about extra idling in the morning and then extra length of time before going into closed loop kills gas mileage.

Jerry
 
hehe i go to a rich kid school:( i wish i had the fastest car. couple of cars that go to my school: 99 cobra with mods, 95 lighting with mods, 2 ls1's, a couple of 5 ohs and tpi's, a turbo coupe, a turbo rx-7, a lot of old chevy trucks with built engines, 2 GTPs, a turbo grand prix (dont know if its fast but it looks cool) and the newest car that says hes fast, a el camino SS with a small block 400. i want to be the best, but as many of these guys are in the low 13s, its not any time soon. everyone that goes to my school wants a piece of my car. o well.
 
I go to a rich kid school too.. all they drive are suvs with 20s :rolleyes: But i have the fastest car in the parking lot as of right now.. my friend and his dad are building a 347 stroker with a T66 turbo in his 94 mustang which will do like 9s... thats just a little bit faster then my 15.5 :rolleyes:
 
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