Hi guys, I am new to the forum, so all your help is greatly appreciated!

I just bought (2 weeks ago) a 2004 Civic LX from a local Honda dealership, and I got 384km (238miles) until my fuel low indicator came on, which is horrendous! I am pretty mad right now, as there is clearly something wrong with the car, I am just not sure what.

I know that they will fix whatever withing the first 30 days, so I am not too concerned about that, but still, wouldn't you be mad?

Anyway, before I blow my lid, any suggestions as to what it could be?? They were supposed to have the oil and filter changed before I left, but maybe they never did that?

Again, all your help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

James

 

Did you start with a full tank of gas? What exactly was the mileage (mpg)?

 

Yes, I did start with a full tank of gas, I filled it up myself. It waas right to the brim, so 13gallons (50 litres)

That would put the mpg at 18.3. It was a mix of highway and city driving, and I have not driven in heavy traffic in that time.

 

Dirty injectors? Fouled plugs? Dirty fuel filter? Dirty airfilter? Bad 02 sensor(s)? Bad EGR? Bad PCV? Dragging brake(s)? Dragging wheel bearing(s)? Jackrabbit starts? Short trips rather than long ones? Speeding? Exhaust blockage? Bad gas?

 

I hear you Kommando... I can answer some of those questions.

1) I have not been speeding, that has not been the issue

2) Trip length makes is not the problem either, I have not changed my route since I had my last car, which was a Protege5, and I didn't have this problem

3) Could I have jsut gotten a batch of bad gas when I filled up by sheer bad luck?

4) They are supposed to do a 100 point inspection before I pick up the car, shouldn't all those other issues be caught in that? As well, the car passed emmision testing, so doesn't that eliminate alot of potential problems?

Thanks for all your help guys, keep it coming!

James

 

all of the possibilities listed by Kommando are good. did the dealer give you a maintenance history for the car? i'd ask for one so that you know.

the oil change is really easy to check. look at the engine oil dipstick and if the oil looks shiny and somewhat clear, you are in good shape. if it looks black or dark or enough a bit viscous, then it's not been changed in a while.

the biggest things should be new plugs,new air filter etc. these things should have all been changed by this time.

how many miles on this car so far? it should not be high enough for a lot of the other issues like dirty injectors. that should not happen for a car only 4 yrs old.

 

Does the CEL happen to be ON?

You might want to look for a leak/crack in the exhaust manifold. This would lead to erroneously high O2 readings by the primary O2 sensor and thereby an improperly rich air/fuel mixture.

 

No the CEL is not on, no warning lights, except the low fuel I guess.

Otherwise, the car is running fine. I have noticed a SLIGHT loss in power, as if it is slipping at times, but it was so slight that I could not even really tell if it was real or nothing.

As for the exhaist manifold suggestion, would that not cause the car to fail emission testing?

Am I right though to expect that this is all something that should have been caught by the honda dealership before giving me the car, as part of their honda certified deal, 100 point inspection? They should be taking care of this, wouldn't you agree?

 

If the emissions test includes measurements for high levels of hydrocarbons, then yes it should have been caught. You should request to see a copy of the emissions test. By the way, if the engine were in fact running rich, then such a condition would rapidly destroy the catalytic converter.

 

Mundy5: the car has 59,600 miles, so right about where it should be for its age. I agree that these things should have been changed, aren't these things that should have been done by the dealer? I asked him specifically, do I need to do the 59,xxx service, and he said no, we do that, you do the next one. Sounds like it is on them no?

RonJ: I have a copy of the emissions test, they gave it to me, and it passed with flying colours. It does include levels of hydrocarbons.

I am taking the car into the dealership tomorrow, this would be something they should be taking car of, don't you agree?