personally not to be like rude or anything..but u having a civic.. you are my age.. although my birthdays in 2 days and ill be 19... but do u race ur car around?? do u have a big *** muffler out the back? do u have any airfoils or body kits creating drag?? if you dont know how to change spark plugs im ashamed.. if you have that much money to spend on getting someone to do it for you then tell me where you are... spend half that much in to getting gas to get here... and then ill do it all and bill you for it then someone other then honda is benefitting from your lack of motor knowledge.. but you have just inspired me to write a diy next time i do up my spark plugs...

alot of ppl at dealerships and lazy ppl will just throw spark plugs in ur car with out being gapped... if ur plugs arent gapped right ull get horrid gas mileage..

throw a thing of drygas in ur tank every 1-2 fill ups.. it will help keep the fuel system clean... (someone correct me if u have better timing on that.. i do it every 2ish fill ups if i can find it lying around)

dont race ur car around like ur the hottest lil thing that decreases gas mileage...

personally im getting like 19 miles to the gallon
but i know whats wrong with my car...i have a leaky oil pan.. i have a transmission that slips like a wet road... i have a fuel filter i have to replace.. i have a leaky exhaust.. and im sure the engines probably timed weird... plus i was racing around here this whole week cause it was my first week with my car... i dont usually drive 115 on the way home from school..but friday i did...cause i wanted to see what she would do...
[sm=icon_rtfm.gif][sm=rant.gif]

 

I don't race my car..I know very little about cars...my tranny slips too I think..I've had the problem for a while..when I accelerate..and quickly let off of the acceleration pedal, I'll hear and feel a thumping noise...

that might have to do with it...when I had my car checked out at the honda dealer he said one of the fuel sensors is broken...I'm not sure which he was talking about...

I don't want to do too much to this car because I'm getting a brand new civic in the spring...

let me know what you suggest..

thanks again!

 

well, after getting spark plugs changed and getting the tune up..I calculated my mpg today and got a wopping 27..mostly highway..that's pretty crappy...what's the best and cheapest thing I could do to get better mileage until may when I buy a brand new civic

 

The thing with that is that you are sending out a bad message. An O2 sensor isn't cheap your pretty much saying that if your check engine light is on, then change the O2 sensor it will fix the problem. That isn't the way i think that cars should be fixed. I think that if there is a problem, you should be at least 85% sure what the problem is before you go changing parts. It makes no sense to go out and spend $100 to change a part when a simple trip to the autoparts store and a free check of the check engine light would give you a better idea. I'm not trying to flame or call you a dumbass or anything, we are learning here. I'm just trying to explain that if you have bad gas milage, or if you have a check engine light or any problem there isn't one solution that will work everytime.

BTW, the most common reason a check engine light is on is because the gas cap has not been tightened or is missing, not a faulty O2 sensor.

 

Does a loose gas cap hamper gas milage? Jw.

Admittedly, "possibly" would have been a better word choice than "probably." I guess I assumed people have enough sense not to run out and buy an o2 sensor without seeing the words "definitely," and even then at least cross referencing other sources, or running a simple test at autozone (or wherever) to make sure that is indeed the problem.

 

 

I don't think the gas milage will go up, but the Check Engine light is not for gas milage. Anything that will make federal tailpipe emissions go up by a percentage (maybe 5 or 10) will make the check engine light go on. THere are codes that can be set but will not make the check engine light go on. Missing gas cap will make the emissions go up.

 

i don't think anything can be both 'best' and 'cheapest.' theres a certain problem affecting your gas mileage, better off finding out what it is for sure and spendin what ya gotta spend than doin somethin 'cheap' and not even fixing your problem. a lot of people waste a lot of money always going for several cheap fixes and never finding their original problem.

might be a dumb question but is your gas leaking?

 

Gas isn't leaking..check engine light never comes on...I just get like...27 miles per gallon city and highway...

 

well if u think your transmission is slipping, that's probably what's causing your poor mileage.

have u ever replaced your air filter? a dirty one will kill your gas mileage.

check your tire pressure. low/uneven tires will also eat up yer gas.


bad spark plugs/wires, dizzy cap and rotor button will cause it too. plugs are easy to remove yourself and its not hard to tell when they're no good.


for about 60 bucks you can get plugs and wires, an air filter, fuel filter and pcv valve. that's basically a whole tune-up minus cap and rotor. you can easily do it yourself and i'm willing to bet it will improve your mileage.