Hidden Corolla
Car : 87 Nova Notchback Posts : 2 Join date : 2011-02-25 Location : Cincy, Ohio
| Subject: 87 Nova POOR MPG (It lives @ the fuel Station with large SUVs!) Sat Apr 30, 2011 9:42 pm | |
| Hi all! I'm new here and searched to find a site like this as I am in need of advice and more money soon if these fuel prices keep going up and our little Nova will visit the fuel station more then it is now! Anyway, it gets only about 20MPG and I just don't know why. The carb was rebuilt last year by my dad and I with the Aisan rebuild kit, which only consisted of gaskets. The mpg was low before the rebuild around 82k, but wanted to primarily rebuild it because the 3 speed auto trans would not want to upshift from 1st-2nd. It was an odd thing, but about two days later it started to shift like normal and hasn't acted up ever since. I had replaced the plugs late last year also and put new Denso OEM back in and didn't gap them since I heard from somewhere that plugs directly from Toyota should not be gaped. For about a year, I ran Denso Platinum TTs for only a year before, but took them out in a belief that they contributed to the bad mpg. I asked the parts guy at Toyota about the carb and he pointed out replacing the two diaphragms, but he admited he didn't know specifically about Toyotas,and I even took it up to them (bought it from them and saved it from going to an auction) and one of the techs gave a reluctant look at the little carbed Nova as if it was a dinosaur fossil worksite, prehistoric (before fuel inj) and complicated to dig up. This car starts and runs great, but shouldn't I be getting an average of 26mpg or better? I don't know what else to say, but I fill up its 11gal tank and about 200 miles later it's ready for another fill up. | |
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EricsFreeAE86
Car : 93 BMW 318is Posts : 1914 Join date : 2009-05-27 Age : 41 Location : Chattanooga, TN
| Subject: Re: 87 Nova POOR MPG (It lives @ the fuel Station with large SUVs!) Sat Apr 30, 2011 10:52 pm | |
| Unless the plugs have more than one tip, always check the gaps. Plus change the plug wires, fuel filter, air filter, distributor cap and rotor, change the oil, and check your tire pressure! Tires will kill you. Bump em up to 30-32psi. | |
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jinsoku
Car : ferrari Posts : 213 Join date : 2011-04-10 Age : 25 Location : hereandthere
| Subject: Re: 87 Nova POOR MPG (It lives @ the fuel Station with large SUVs!) Mon May 02, 2011 4:47 pm | |
| ^ do that and if it still act's up check for vac. leaks and if the timing is good....
worst case scenario, its the carb..... | |
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Hidden Corolla
Car : 87 Nova Notchback Posts : 2 Join date : 2011-02-25 Location : Cincy, Ohio
| Subject: Re: 87 Nova POOR MPG (It lives @ the fuel Station with large SUVs!) Wed May 04, 2011 11:38 pm | |
| Thanks guys for the suggestions. I started with pulling the plugs and found out that they were gapped around .36-.37 (Denso from dealer) and noticed a little bit of fouling. I re-gapped to .44. I made sure to reset the odometer and told my mom to keep an eye on the mileage, but quickly realized I have to make a nightly ritual of checking. A good sign after re-gapping was that I had noticed the RPMs in park were a bit lower and the transition to drive didn't change as much like it did before. My next step is to in-fact check the timing, but the spark plug gaps are making the most sense as the culprit at this point. | |
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jinsoku
Car : ferrari Posts : 213 Join date : 2011-04-10 Age : 25 Location : hereandthere
| Subject: Re: 87 Nova POOR MPG (It lives @ the fuel Station with large SUVs!) Fri May 06, 2011 3:50 pm | |
| if you dont have any idea when the cap and rotor were changed you might as well change them,air filter and the fuel filter, it'll pay for itself and have your car running better! -plus they're hella easy to change!!!!
having your tires at the right PSI is also good for gas mileage....
-seafoam will help clear out some gunk too.... | |
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redstardriftar
Car : AE86 Posts : 105 Join date : 2011-05-19 Age : 40 Location : Marysville, CA
| Subject: You might....... Thu May 19, 2011 1:47 am | |
| Want to check the condition of ur o2 sensor mine was so old wouldnt produce the correct milvolts and basically told the "computer" to richen the car also my vacuum advance/retard on distributor lines were backwards so at 2500 rpm timing would stay put. | |
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| Subject: Re: 87 Nova POOR MPG (It lives @ the fuel Station with large SUVs!) | |
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