'99 Accord drinking gas, suggestions?

[Hornet22]

We have owned multiple Honda vehicles, and 4 were Accords. Got the boy a 99 when he wrecked his 95. I work at a fleet maintenance place and our machs are stumped also. We've done everything I can think of and still can't get more than 20 mpg. It's a 2.3 VTECH auto EX. (145,000 mi) New plugs, wires, timing belt, cat, up an down O2 sensors,etc. I know he's a little heavy on the foot feed, but he still got 27-28 mpg in the '95. Get 32+ in the wifey's "03. What say the Woody's xperts. I am out of ideas. thx

[GoldDot40]

Have you driven the car for a week to see if a different driving style changes anything? I had a '94 w/5 speed and could consistently get 32-34 mpg with over 250K on it. My wife had an identical car as mine with nearly the same mileage but with an auto. She drove on the interstate at speeds of 70+mph and got substantially less mpg than mine.....averaged around 22 mpg, if I recall. I noticed going to the beach in my car one year that while driving on the interstate at those same hwy speeds, my mileage dropped off a LOT.

Does the engine run smooth at all RPMs? If the EGR ports get a little clogged, it won't always trigger a check engine light, but the fuel mileage will suffer a bit. Also, the engine will usually have a slight 'miss/surge' around 2000-2500 RPM when it's under a load.

[Mr. Jimmy]

May want to try using a different gas station, one without ethanol if you can find it in your area.

[Hornet22]

Thx guys. BSQTCH, yea I drove it and didn't do any better. When we first got it for him, (114,000) it got 25-26 mpg. Run Seafoam every 4/5 fillups. It runs REALLY smooth and no skips. Mr.J, will try that for sure. Ya'll keep'em coming. Have never had this prob with a Honda. My first was a '76 Accord, got 34/36 all the time. Sold it with 367,??? on it. Not gonna give up on this '99 yet.

[turtlebug]

Originally Posted by Hornet22

We have owned multiple Honda vehicles, and 4 were Accords. Got the boy a 99 when he wrecked his 95. I work at a fleet maintenance place and our machs are stumped also. We've done everything I can think of and still can't get more than 20 mpg. It's a 2.3 VTECH auto EX. (145,000 mi) New plugs, wires, timing belt, cat, up an down O2 sensors,etc. I know he's a little heavy on the foot feed, but he still got 27-28 mpg in the '95. Get 32+ in the wifey's "03. What say the Woody's xperts. I am out of ideas. thx

Hate that you're finding this out the hard way but there's nothing "wrong" with the car except the engine and being an automatic. I've been very disappointed with mine and I've had it for a long time now.

I have a 2001 Accord with the same engine and even when it was pristine, I have NEVER gotten more than 21/22 mpg. I think it's 99 though 02 that was notorious for horrible gas mileage in the automatic.

It's the nature of the beast with this particular engine/transmission combo. Not the best Accord to have but at this point, I look at it this way... My 01 is paid for, new catalytic converter, new starter, new battery, only 160,000 miles and still getting me where I need to go. 21 mpg is still cheaper than another car payment.

[GoldDot40]

What RPM is it running at 55mph?

[turtlebug]

Originally Posted by Hornet22

Thx guys. BSQTCH, yea I drove it and didn't do any better. When we first got it for him, (114,000) it got 25-26 mpg. Run Seafoam every 4/5 fillups. It runs REALLY smooth and no skips. Mr.J, will try that for sure. Ya'll keep'em coming. Have never had this prob with a Honda. My first was a '76 Accord, got 34/36 all the time. Sold it with 367,??? on it. Not gonna give up on this '99 yet.

Consider yourself lucky if you ever got anything over 22 out of it. Even with only 40,000 miles on it, mine never got over 22.

This is our third Honda and by far the least economical of them all. Fishbait has grown tired of my griping about the horrible fuel mileage but like I said, I'm getting cheap in my old age and it's cheaper than a new car payment.

[Hornet22]

Thx for the input folks.
BSQTCH, I'll have to take it down the road and see.
T bug, where is that bust my bubble smiley? You are right tho, we have NEVER had a Honda that got this bad. Even the Passport (Isuzu) got better than the 99.

[Meriwether Mike]

Have you checked the odometer to see if its reading the distance correctly?

[Hornet22]

Originally Posted by Bassquatch

What RPM is it running at 55mph?

BSQCH.......1900/2000 rpm

[GoldDot40]

Originally Posted by Hornet22

BSQCH.......1900/2000 rpm

That sounds about right. The reason I asked is because if the torque converter never 'locks up' the transmission would continuously 'slip' a bit in the highest gear....and it would burn up extra gas.

Automatics always consume more power/fuel vs a manual trans vehicle. If everything seems to be in order, it may just be as Turtlebug said about hers. I've never had a Honda in the body style of yours, so I can't say if yours is way off or right on. The fact that it IS a Honda with that gas mileage does seem odd.

Meriwether Mike also gave another good idea to check. Make sure your speedometer/odometer are reading correctly. Bigger wheels/tires than what it had from the factory would throw it off and would certainly make it appear to use more gas.

Maybe look for some Honda forums on the net and post up what you're experiencing. Probably would be more free advice than what's been offered here.

[beretta]

Have you adjusted the valves?

[Hornet22]

Thx BSQCH
MMIKE, gonna do that this weekend
retta, have not done anything to the valve train.
I guess the reason I'm struggleing with this is because it was getting 25/26 mpg for the first 15,000 miles he put on it. Then just started downhill.

[deerzilla]

bad ecm...you are running on an "open loop"the computer is using a preset code to operate engine{it does this every time you start engine} and not switching to mode where it reads sensor...get number off ecm and you one ebay cheap