SWMBO Mirca is drinking fuel like it is going out of fashion. The way it is drinking fuel you would think it was a 2.0L. She brimmed the tank the other day and made 3 trips with a total mileage of 150 miles and the tank fuel gauge is in the red already.
Has anybody have any ideas on how to resolve this?
Edited by Pugugly on 05/09/2008 at 19:10
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Has this suddenly happened?
Hole in the tank ?
Engine management light on?
SWMBO suddenly developed very heavy right foot???????? ;-)
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Dodgy fuel gauge sender unit? Refill and see how much fuel it takes.
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Has this suddenly happened? It has steadly got worse over the last few months.
Mega Snipquote!
Not that I noticed.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 03/04/2008 at 13:28
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Sounds like the coolant temp sensor has thrown in the towel - as they are cheap, it's worth a punt without getting any diagnostics.
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I'd be looking for binding brakes, holes in fuel tank or pipes. Has the car had crash damage?, a dent in the tank could reduce its capacity. Does the fuel cap lock? somebody might be sucking your fuel out!
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Does the fuel cap lock?
More to the point, is its seal washer intact? Fuel tanks are pressurised these days and a non-sealing fuel cap can increase fuel consumption considerably (as well as reducing performance and making the car less 'driveable').
Other fuel-guzzling possibilities are an old and nasty air filter, air leaks in the inlet tract, under-inflated tyres, too much oil in the engine and as others have suggested incorrect toe-in following a pavement clout or similar. Of course a BR-connected car shouldn't have any of these things wrong with it, but judging by one or two of the ones round here it might have...
Another possibility is the spark plugs. They last 20,000 miles these days thanks to all the electronics but they still clap out in the end... clapped-out HT leads can be bad too. You have to look for soot and burn marks on the plug insulators...
Edited by Lud on 03/04/2008 at 17:12
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Where is the coolant temp sensor? The car has been owned since it was 5 months old and has no crash damage. All brakes and pipes are fine as well. Should have mentioned this as well but over the last 2 months I have had to top up the radiator expansion tank on 3 occasions as it has a small leak. Would this cause addtional fuel consumption?
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i would go with daveyjp idea and fill up again see how many litres you put in sounds like fuel gauge is naff to me
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I agree, you can't measure fuel economy any other way than topping up the tank, and after it is 3/4 or more empty, top it up again. Divide miles travelled by fuel used. If it is 38-48mpg its OKish. If it is very bad, then have a gas test as a starter.
When was it last serviced?
Edited by MW on 03/04/2008 at 17:02
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Thanks for all the suggestions. I am going to have a good look at the car at the weekend. I will update in due course with the outcome. I also plan to replace air filters, spark plugs etc.
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Does it have any noticable pinking? Overfuelling cars generally pink.
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mfarrow
What do you mean by pinking?
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What do you mean by pinking?
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=5302
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 03/04/2008 at 22:04
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Sounds like a diesel engine.
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The car is not pinking. The engine runs fine and has no issues other then the fact it is drinking fuel.
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I have now checked and changed (where necessary) everything that I can think of. All seems ok. Now monitoring the fuel consumption. If it is still high then I am going to put it into the local mechanic who fortunately is an ex Nissan mechanic.
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sq
Hi mate,
I have exactly the same car and just recently purchased it.
I've also noticed that my fuel consumption is mega high (like 28-30mpg!) and i just know something isn't right...
Did you manage to get to the bottom of the probem? if so, what did you do to fix it?
Please advise, i'd really appreiate your help...
Thanks.
Mike.
Edited by Pugugly on 05/09/2008 at 19:11
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*BUMP*
Can anyone advise, please?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Mike.
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If anyone can help, please either post here or e-mail me directly at the following e-mail address:
leisure DOT talker DOT 25 AT googlemail DOT com
Thanks, Mike.
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Flipsta, have you serviced this car? when was it last done?
With fuel so expensive folk have forgot that £20.00 of fuel won't go as far as it did 3 yrs ago!! I KNOW IM ONE OF THEM!!!
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Well, the mileage (which is genuine) on my car is approx. 37K. It was last serviced on 31K last year.
Well, to be honest i always fill the tank up whenever i run out of fuel, which costs around £30 or so. A full tank, i'm told, should still give me between 350-400 miles, but at the moment, it barely gives me 200!
I've checked the pressure of my tyres, which should be 29psi all round, and all is OK.
To the person who started this thread, did you manage to sort your fuel problem out on your micra? If you did, could you please post here andlet me know what you did?
Having said that, if there are any other suggestions from anyone, i'd be grateful if you could also post here.
Thanks.
Mike.
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Well to be honest i always fill the tank up whenever i run out fuel.
So you let the car suck all the muck from the bottom of the tank?
Causing damage/wear to the throttle body,
Id try a new fuel filter first and re-fuel just above the red to stop this.
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sq
When I say I top up when i run out, i actually mean just when the petrol needle starts hitting the red. I bought the car around a month ago, do you think it would be worth just getting a full major service done from nissan?
Edited by Pugugly on 06/09/2008 at 18:34
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Yes.
Then take it from there, no need to go to nissan a good local idie will do the job at half the price.
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OK thanks for the advice. I'll get it booked in for a service some time this week and will post back here with an update soon.
Many thanks.
Mike.
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Could this be helpful: www.micra.com.au/technical-articles/cg13de-throttl...p
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Hmmm, thanks for that. I've got the car booked in for a service so i'm hoping that clears the problem up.
Out of curiosity, would any local mechanic be able to carry out the above if it is the problem?
Thanks.
Mike.
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Flipsta,
Sorry just noticed that you where looking for an update. As said previously car was serviced and changed all filters etc. The fuel consumption has improved and SWMBO has stopped moaning ; ). I have just spoken to her and she has confirmed that she is only filling up the tank twice a month instead of the 3 times prior to the service and still doing the same mileage. Your car probably just needs a good service.
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Well to be honest i always fill the tank up whenever i run out of fuel which costs around £30 or so. A full tank i'm told should still give me between 350-400 miles but at the moment it barely gives me 200!
200 miles from £30 pound fuel is 30-31mpg and for a foot to the floor necessary 1.0 engine dont think that is too bad. After all it is not a diesel and you shouldnt expect similar econony
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I bought a 2001 micra 998cc last month and as with the other two micra owners, I believe the car is using much more fuel than it should. One of the reasons I bought the micra was because I hired one on hols and was very impressed with it's fuel consumption.
As with most people I haven't got a lot of spare cash to try all diagnosis and and found the soldering article too technical.
would anyone mind suggesting in what order should I try all the recomended solutions? Ta
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