1996 honda odyssey gas milage not good

[carriage]

Hi I just bought this van, and check the mileage after the fist 150 miles and I got 19 mpgs. I did mostly highway driving too. So i check the tires they seemed fine a tad bit low, added the recommended pressure. Now i went to check after 240 miles and I got 16 miles to gallon doing all highway driving what is going on? What could i do to find out what the problem is, or check and or do I need to replace something?

Thanks

Nicholas

[spano]

What maintenance has been done? I would run thru everything including Air Filter, Fuel Filter, Spark plugs, ect...Do you use Cruise control or throttle back and forth?

[carriage]

I use cruise control, susposed to have been tuned up with plugs and wires 15k miles ago. will check air filter tonight, anyway to check the spark plugs to see if they are bad, and or the wires?

Is there muiltiple fule filters? were would I look for a fule filter and how would I know if it is bad or not?

thanks

Nicholas

[wiseguy01]

fuel filter should be on the firewall on the driverside has two hoses coming out of it find the fuel rail and follow the hose coming off the fuel rail and youll find the filter also the filter wouldnt be the prob it sounds more like plugs and or timing

[carriage]

I went through and changed the plugs, the wires look good. But I noticed when I took one of my spark plug wires off, it had oil driping off of the threads of the plug. Is that something that I should be concerned about. I am going to check the plug again tomorrow after I drive a couple more miles, Thanks

Nicholas

[wiseguy01]

uh yes thats caused by your spark plug tube seals leaking into the combustion chamber and causin your gas mileage to suck but you might notice the occasional white\blue smoke caused by the oil being burnt what you need to do is change the valve cover gaskets and spark plugs if the end of your spark plug wires are swollen then the wires need replacing too by swollen i mean the boot that goes on the plug also the seals come with the valve cover gaskets and do not use silicone on the valve cover gasket

[carriage]

What is a valve cover gasket? and is it hard to change out? Its not the head gasket is it? Were is it located, is there a place to read online that would show how to replace and or fix?

Thanks

Nicholas

[wiseguy01]

your valve cover gasket is self explanatory find the top of your motor where it says honda that big emblem that is the part that has to be removed and your gasket is underneath it once oil gets on it its no good its supposed to keep oil in the motor but its just a couple of bolts 10mm and make sure tho old one is completely off before you put new gasket also the seals make sure they are seated in the valve cover there is a groove for the gaskets and the seals in the valve cover and where you take off the bolts there are grommets that have to be replaced they come with the valve cover gasket they might ask you with grommets and seals or not you want the seals and grommets

[carriage]

It wasn’t that bad at all. Thanks for the information on how to replace and fix it.

Do I have to worry about replacing those new spark plugs I just put in 2 days ago. Like could they have gotten ruined by any oil leaking in?

I cant wait to see the mileage jump up.

Thank you I'll post mpgs soon, maybe by Sunday or so, depending how much driving I can do. And if my wife doesn’t go into labor.

Thank again

Nicholas

Nicholas

[wiseguy01]

what did u do just clean the oil out?

[carriage]

I took the 4 nuts off and pulled the plugs and took the cover off. Then I replaced the big gasket that fits in the cover and applied some high temp silicone, as well as 4 circle gaskets that fit in the cylinders holes, and the gromets/washers that the bolts go through to hold on the cover. All of that came in a package I bought from napa. I cleaned the oil off of the cover as well.

It was much easier then I thought it would be.

Hopefully no more oil leaking and my gas mileage could be amazing.

[wiseguy01]

you will see an increase and nice work

[carriage]

thank you so much both for this question as well as the temp gauage one.

I'll post my mpgs on the next fill up

[carriage]

Just filled up the van. I got 20.1 MPG is that good for this type of van?

Thanks for all the help