Major Civic PROBLEM!

[d12100r]

Hey,
I have a major problem with a 1993 civic ex sedan. Its only 15 mpg! the tank fills up at about 8.5 gallons and this vehicle cannot pass inpection. Ive heard that no civic is good. There was a brand new civic for inspection that did not pass either and it was new. they sent it back to honda and the manufacture and they had to replace everything. anyone else have this problem?

[damir831]

Hmm that's weird. In illinois, they don't test vehicles that are under 3 years old. One time, I drove 180 miles and I only put 4 dollars woth of gas in the tank (about 3 gallons)

[Milliardo]

That is strange. Over here, the Civic, as well as other Honda vehicles, regularly pass emissions. It's actually Toyotas who are notorious for their high failure rate. It's almost sure that a Honda will pass a test, and testers here sometimes don't even bother testing a Honda because they're sure that it will pass anyway. On the other hand, they're almost sure that a Toyota will fail emissions.

[sageuvagony]

Well here in FL we dont have any inspections!

[Jas_M]

Haven't had my '00 Civic tested yet, but my previous car was a '92 Camry and it passed its emissions tests with flying colors. Never had a problem.

[eckoman_pdx]

15MPG on a civic? Okay dude, Civics arn't that bad, it's something wrong with the car. NO civic running properly will get that crappy a mileage. As for honda's not passig DEQ? Never heard of that problem, unless they are modded up the asss with parts that won't pass inspection (aka big-ass turbo, no cat, etc) But thats not cuz it;'s a honda, thats cuz of how it was modded. As you your 93ex, 15mpg is waaaayyyy under what you should be getting. I am not suprised you didn't pass. With that MPG, something is very wrong. it should be getting like 24-28mpg, 15 is way under. Bad gas mileage and your tamk problem are evidence of a greater underlying problem. as for the tank part, maybe you have a s-load of slugde in the tank, and that has clogged the injectors and engine and f'd up emissions. I don't know though, thats just a stab in the dark, but thats not a "honda" problem. Whoever told you that about emissions failing was either a)wrong, or b) refering to illegelly modded honda's not passing, but didn't realize that was why they don't pass. As for the engine and gas mileage. Again, not a Honda problem, it is instead, evident that your honda has a problerm, most likely from abuse, neglect, shitty gas use over a long period of time, or a combination of the three. the 92-95 gas tank holds 11.9 gallons of gas, so if your fills at 8.5, either you has a shitload of sluge in the tank or your gas gauge is way off, maybe sluge in the tank (taking up space, so you get less gas) f'd up the sensor in the tank.

[CivicSiRacer]

I would check your spark plugs and wires first. That is the cheapest and easiest thing to check. Make sure your tires are all inflated to around 35-38psi. Make sure your ignition system is working properly too (disributor, battery, etc....)

That does not sound right

[civiclover94]

dude your cars fuel injecters are either broke and arent timed right so it is like pour gas into your cylynders or you have a hole in your gas tank! lol

[Miataracer]

Originally Posted by damir831

Hmm that's weird. In illinois, they don't test vehicles that are under 3 years old. One time, I drove 180 miles and I only put 4 dollars woth of gas in the tank (about 3 gallons)

They test vehicles in Illinois?! lol, glad I live south of Chicago... no testing goes on around here! 15 mpg is terrible! My car knocks down like 27 with spirited in town driving and about 34 on highway trips. I have a '94 EX coupe w/ a 5 speed. I have heard that on occasion Honda injectors will get stuck open or closed. In fact this happened to my g/f's car about 6 months ago and it ran like hell. Do as CivicSiRacer said and change your plugs and wires to start with, and when you are changing the plugs look at them closely. Check them one at a time and remember where they came from. If one plug looks drastically worse (more deposits, darker color) than the others then that would point to a possible injector problem. As far as only needing 8.5 gallons to fill up that is probably just because you aren't using all of the gas in the tank... I find my gas gauge to be at least somewhat unreliable, I have run my car at least a full needles width under the empty line and still not put in over 10.5 gallons.

[eckoman_pdx]

Originally Posted by Miataracer

I have run my car at least a full needles width under the empty line and still not put in over 10.5 gallons.

I have found this to be true on many 5th gen civics I know of.

[LilCivicChick]

Yeah, your car definately needs some help. Yay for $13 fillups! I think I get like 28 mpg or so.

[eckoman_pdx]

Originally Posted by LilCivicChick

Yeah, your car definately needs some help. Yay for $13 fillups! I think I get like 28 mpg or so.

Hey, I just noticed in your profile you're from the portland area also....it's always nice to see someone from the area on AF....and by the way, welcome to AF.