sesanrota: Siena, i must really commend your effort on this thread, please my Xterra 2002 model has a gear problem and has been reworked but nothing changed, it does not start on drive like most auto, starts on 2 then i always take it back to drive when its steady. pls this is my question, i need a new gear box, whats is the price implication and where is ur station pls email me on sesanrota@hotmail.com

Chynx: Nice one Siena. You ar too good!
Kindly advise me on this issue:
My car (Nissan Altima 2.5s 2002 model) no longer accelerates as usual. When driving normally, it always drags when I try to move faster except I step hard on d gas pedal then I get this roar and subsequent surge 4wrd with serious muscle.
I have serviced d injector, changed d fuel pump and washed d fuel filters, yet no improvement has been noticed. In addition, my car no swallows fuel more than I gozzle beer. Your professional advice will be very much welcome.

2ndly, I have always suffered dis noise from d front legs each time t drive on rough surfaces like inter-locking tiles. I have changed my 4 shock absorbers, lower arms and thyroids and painfully, d noise hasnt stopped.

Please help me out on this.
My email is c4mine@yahoo.com
May God bless u.

tunaprex: I changed my 2005 Toyota matrix XR 4WD tires 4rm d factory recommended P205/55R16 89H to P205/60R16 89H. Of course, I found out dat I've deviated 4rm d factory recommendation long after I changed it. Please I'll like 2 know if dis will have any effect on the car.

tentsetal: Hi Sienna,
Please help! My Toyota Sienna 1999 CE model consumes a lot of fuel. No error codes after running OBD II scan. Just bought it november last year and discovered the silencer, from the manifold end to the tail pipe has a lot of rust. All noticed leakages on the silencer has been welded yet fuel consumption is still high. Catalyst has bbeen checked and still intact. What do I do to reduce the fuel consumption or bring it back to normal. Also the injector and nozzle are working well.

latifatai: @siena[b][/b]
I just bought 1999 toyota camry and discovered the fuel consumption is outrageous. I'm scared about quack mechanics touching anytin on the car, however these are my observations:

Both fans come on immediately d key is turn to on position
The temperature hardly leave the lower limit position.
It also indicates check engine light.

What do u think I do cos I changed car simply because my former car consumes fuel excessively and my mechanics help to spoil it further and I'm really scared allowing any of them touching my car

Siena: Things that can make a car thirstier than normal:

01) Dirty / clogged air filter.
02) Incorrect ignition timing. *
03) Under-inflated tyres (higher rolling resistance).
04) Binding brakes.
05) Leaking fuel injectors.
06) Blowing exhaust system.
07) Faulty MAF (mass air flow meter).*
08) Faulty CTS (coolant temperature switch).*
08) Faulty o2 sensor (Lambda).*
09) Thermostat stuck open, or removed by some dodgy mechanic. Over cooled engine.
10) Split / perished vacuum hoses, engine drawing in unmetered air.*

I would suggest an OBD scan, your '03 Honda Accord is fully OBD II compliant. All the items marked with an asterisk will normally trigger an engine check light (CEL). It would help too, if you can recall when you noticed the higher than normal fuel consumption. Did it occur after any work was carried out on the car? The thermostat is an area I would look into - if it's stuck open (or it's been removed) the engine will never reach its optimum operating temperature. The CTS will sense the engine is not hot, and the ECU will send more fuel through the injectors as a result. This is done by altering the duty cycle (the amount of time the injectors are held open will be longer).

Tyre pressures are also important, if the pressures are too low, the rolling resistance will place more load on the transmission, then the engine will work harder. The same goes for brakes that are binding (sticking on).

klipse: Hello guys. I love this thread.
Here's my issue. I just bought a honda accord 2008 4cyl and i noticed that fuel consumption is alot higher than my previous 03. It guzzles alot fuel. Each time i accelerate it makes a loud roar like and open air intake, the kind of sound you hear in race cars with turbo chargers. The dealer said it is due to the pimped up exhaust. But i don't hear the sound from the rear but from around the dashboard and below. I also noticed that the air intake pipe that is supposed to run from the front grill on top of the radiator to the air filter is missing. My mech said its a missing catalyst but i suspect it has sometime to do with the missing pipe and the loud roar. Ps i hate noisy cars. Oh and when i accelerate on highways i can literally see the fuel needle drop.
Please help.

Siena: Things that can make a car thirstier than normal:

01) Dirty / clogged air filter.
02) Incorrect ignition timing. *
03) Under-inflated tyres (higher rolling resistance).
04) Binding brakes.
05) Leaking fuel injectors.
06) Blowing exhaust system.
07) Faulty MAF (mass air flow meter).*
08) Faulty CTS (coolant temperature switch).*
08) Faulty o2 sensor (Lambda).*
09) Thermostat stuck open, or removed by some dodgy mechanic. Over cooled engine.
10) Split / perished vacuum hoses, engine drawing in unmetered air.*

I would suggest an OBD scan, your '03 Honda Accord is fully OBD II compliant. All the items marked with an asterisk will normally trigger an engine check light (CEL). It would help too, if you can recall when you noticed the higher than normal fuel consumption. Did it occur after any work was carried out on the car? The thermostat is an area I would look into - if it's stuck open (or it's been removed) the engine will never reach its optimum operating temperature. The CTS will sense the engine is not hot, and the ECU will send more fuel through the injectors as a result. This is done by altering the duty cycle (the amount of time the injectors are held open will be longer).

Tyre pressures are also important, if the pressures are too low, the rolling resistance will place more load on the transmission, then the engine will work harder. The same goes for brakes that are binding (sticking on).

Siena: Things that can make a car thirstier than normal:

01) Dirty / clogged air filter.
02) Incorrect ignition timing. *
03) Under-inflated tyres (higher rolling resistance).
04) Binding brakes.
05) Leaking fuel injectors.
06) Blowing exhaust system.
07) Faulty MAF (mass air flow meter).*
08) Faulty CTS (coolant temperature switch).*
08) Faulty o2 sensor (Lambda).*
09) Thermostat stuck open, or removed by some dodgy mechanic. Over cooled engine.
10) Split / perished vacuum hoses, engine drawing in unmetered air.*

I would suggest an OBD scan, your '03 Honda Accord is fully OBD II compliant. All the items marked with an asterisk will normally trigger an engine check light (CEL). It would help too, if you can recall when you noticed the higher than normal fuel consumption. Did it occur after any work was carried out on the car? The thermostat is an area I would look into - if it's stuck open (or it's been removed) the engine will never reach its optimum operating temperature. The CTS will sense the engine is not hot, and the ECU will send more fuel through the injectors as a result. This is done by altering the duty cycle (the amount of time the injectors are held open will be longer).

Tyre pressures are also important, if the pressures are too low, the rolling resistance will place more load on the transmission, then the engine will work harder. The same goes for brakes that are binding (sticking on).

j diadem: [font=Lucida Sans Unicode]In addition to all that has been said, consider the weight of oil used. If intended denotes 20 or 30 weight oil and you fit in 20w-50 or something in that order, you re going to have parasitic drag in your chamber. The oil is too heavy and driveability suffers. Consider fuel treatment/stabiliser also and your source of fuel purchase. You can control and slowly eliminate port fuel deposits by using these treatments every month. If the gasoline sold where you are contains ethanol, in the long run, your vehicle will trap in moisture in the gas chamber that might eventually lead to water. You can figure what might happen over an extended period of time.[/font]


i thought some experts said we don't actually need any form of treatment (fuel or engine oil) that it destroys the engine.
can someone clarify this - Siena, what's your take on this.