Fuel consumption on 97 Civic EX

Hi,

I have a fuel consumption problem on my 97 Civic.

I'm only able to do about 350 kilometers on a full tank. I used to be
able to do anywhere from 450 to 550 kilometers.

Granted that it's -20 Celcius these days here (montreal), I am
comparing my mileage to a friend of mine who has the same car, same
year. He made 490 kilometers last week.

I am an ignorant when it comes to auto repair. I want to know if fuel
consumption is an easy problem to diagnose for a Honda mechanic. I
don't want to spend hundreds of dollars and not get any result out of
it.

Thanks for your insight.

 

How many miles do you have on your car?

The positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) valve might not be working. It's
supposed to be inspected every 60k miles (= 97k kilometers) on my 1991 Civic. I
was careless and did not change mine until after 140k miles (226k km). It was
full of waxy carbon buildup. I saw my miles/gallon go up 15 or 20%. The valve
costs $10 to $20 at Honda shops or online. (Autozone has a really cheap version,
under five bucks, too, IIRC, but I don't know about its quality.)

If you're handy, the PCV valve might be easily changed out by yourself. It is on
my 1991 Civic. On the other hand, someone posted here recently about a mid-1990s
Honda IIRC, and it turns out it was a pain in the neck getting to the PCV valve
on it.

Also, are you changing out your fuel filter and air filter per the maintenance
schedule?

These are also not difficult to do by yourself, especially the air filter.

 

Thanks for your answer Caroline.

My car has 177k kilometers.

 

With a this kind of mileage, I'd start by checking several things.
The PCV valve is among them. If the PCV valve is bad, the oil consumption
might also go up.
There is a number of very simple things you could check or, at least be
aware of when was the last time they were inspected /replaced:
- air filter
- fuel filter
- spark plugs
- ignition cables
- distributor and rotor (unless it has a coil)

All those things if not right would cause your mileage to drop. During sumer
it is easy to do yourself but with -30 C we had last night, you need a
garage.
With time, lot of people do oil changes only and neglect to check this
basic/do-it-yourself things.