1996 Honda Civic Poor Fuel Economy?

SCOTTF

MEMBER
1996 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
124,000 MILES

I just recently bought a 1996 Honda Civic with a B16A1 motor. The previous owner reported 33mpg, I am only getting about 20 to 23 mpg. The motor was tuned up and he put Mobil One in it while he owned it. The alignment is good and there are no check engine codes. I do not drive aggressively unless necessary. What could be the problem I am having? Oh he had all reciepts and the work was done in the previous 3 months to my purchase of the car. The motor only has 60,000 miles on it.

Monday, November 24th, 2008 AT 2:31 PM

1 Reply

F4I_GUY

MECHANIC
3,302 POSTS

First thing is first, don't believe the mileage claim on that motor. A b16a1 is an obd0 motor, meaning it is pre 1992. That motor is very old, I doubt it only has 60xxx mi on it.

Anyways, my guess would be that the problem would be on the tune. Any clue what ECU you have? You should have a P30, if it is tuned it may be a p28 with a chip and socket. Any clue how it was tuned? Dyno? On the street?

I deal with a lot of honda performance and the number 1 case for poor mileage on swapped motors is the ECU/tune.

Of course, I would first check your tune-up items (cap, rotor, plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter, LOF, etc)

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Monday, November 24th, 2008 AT 8:03 PM