any advice helpful :)

kulareggae

Hi i recently bought a mazda 121 91 automatic its a grand car nct nothing wrong wit it, problem is it eats petrol and i dont drive my car much just around my town maybe doing 5km a day and i need to put at least ten euro petrol every second day its a 1.3 and automatic but i know it shouldnt use that much petrol any advice welcome thanks

colm_mcm

has it been serviced recently, is the engine jumpy or sluggish, does the gearbox change gears eratticly or hold the gears too long?

You're talking 1 litre per kilometer which is pretty severe!

kulareggae

its a automatic it doesnt have gears, i serviced it 2 weeks ago no the engine is fine its not slugish r jumpy, i no its a lot of petrol isnt it

Shane732

kulareggae wrote: »

Hi i recently bought a mazda 121 91 automatic its a grand car nct nothing wrong wit it, problem is it eats petrol and i dont drive my car much just around my town maybe doing 5km a day and i need to put at least ten euro petrol every second day its a 1.3 and automatic but i know it shouldnt use that much petrol any advice welcome thanks

Holy mother of God! You'd get better consumption out of a 6.0L Hummer!

Sounds like she may be in need of a good servicing and probably €30 petrol to get you to the garage!!

**Timbuk2**

kulareggae wrote: »

its a automatic it doesnt have gears, i serviced it 2 weeks ago no the engine is fine its not slugish r jumpy, i no its a lot of petrol isnt it

Automatics still have gearboxes.

Shane732

kulareggae wrote: »

its a automatic it doesnt have gears, i serviced it 2 weeks ago no the engine is fine its not slugish r jumpy, i no its a lot of petrol isnt it

Would there be any chance that someone is stealing the petrol?!!!!!

Is your tank sealed? Maybe get it pressure tested?

colm_mcm

it still has gearchanges, you'd notice if it wasn't changing gear at the right time?
did your mechanic drive the car at all, is is going through all the gears (there should be at least 3 gears) or getting stuck in 2nd or even staying in the same gear all the time?

Is it hard work taking off on hills?

check underneath for fuel leaks too.

kulareggae

em my fuel tank sometimes doesnt close properly wen i change the gears its very smooth not jumpy or sluggish i dont drive fast eithir no noones stealin my petrol lol

colm_mcm

Because the car is so old it won't have a conventional diagnostic plug, Apparently it's possible to read fault codes from the diagnostic plug (little box in the engine bay on the passenger side) without a computer - or try a Mazda dealer - they may still have the diagnostic equipment. I'd say there must be an engine problem there.

Alternatively there's a guy on here called Mr.Diagnostic - he may be able to diagnose the problem.

af_thefragile

You could check the exhaust to see if there is a lot of black soot in it.
If the exhaust is very sooty then your engine is using more fuel that it should.

Your car is using a ridiculous amount of fuel. There's certainly gotta be a fuel leak somewhere or the engine is running wayy too rich or you're driving everywhere in 2nd gear...

kulareggae

cheers il look at the mazda dealers in my area and il pm mr.diognostic and see could he shed some light on it

kulareggae

em rich no theres no black smoke r soot my exhaust is normal, my mechanic friend looked at it before i baught it everything was fine , i drive in Drive and Nutral if im stopped at lights Park if im stopped.

kulareggae

af_thefragile wrote: »

You could check the exhaust to see if there is a lot of black soot in it.
If the exhaust is very sooty then your engine is using more fuel that it should.

Your car is using a ridiculous amount of fuel. There's certainly gotta be a fuel leak somewhere or the engine is running wayy too rich or you're driving everywhere in 2nd gear...

no there is no soot exhuaust is fine no black smoke or antyhing i checked it earlier, i no my car should not be using this amount of fuel what do u mean too rich, its automatic so i just drive in Drive , Nutral if im at lights, Reverse and Park

JHMEG

Ok, two things: first, you don't eat petrol, you eat soup.

Second, is it stuck in 1st gear?

kulareggae

sorry my english is getting bad its consuming a lot of petrol
whats first gear in an automatic? P? its not sticking in any of the gears gears very smooth

colm_mcm

When you put the car into D it usually starts out in first, then works on to 2nd and 3rd, if there was a gearbox problem it may well go into 2nd and stay there. If it was sticking in 2nd it'd be revving its guts out at 60mph or so.

Drive the car and mentally note which gear it's in and see if it's going into all the gears up to 60mph.

Alternatively you could pull the lever all the way down to 1 (or L), then work on to 2 (and 3 if it's on the lever) and then into D. see if it changes gear then.

But if you're sure it's changing gear properly and not over-revving then it could just be an engine fault.

af_thefragile

kulareggae wrote: »

sorry my english is getting bad its consuming a lot of petrol
whats first gear in an automatic? P? its not sticking in any of the gears gears very smooth

No, P is park.
1st gear is the 1st gear in "D" mode.
You could say if your car is stuck in a high gear if the engine is making a lot of sound (as its spinning very fast) when your traveling around. It could be smooth but just loud...

I think its very hard to give much advice over the internet... someone needs to have a look at your car before they can properly tell what's wrong with it...

kulareggae

no thanks for all your advice just to clarify colm i start the car shud i keep it on D and drive a bit before goin into L?

You could say if your car is stuck in a high gear if the engine is making a lot of sound (as its spinning very fast) when your traveling around. It could be smooth but just loud...
yes my car does make sound like its spinning very fast when im driving

colm_mcm

kulareggae wrote: »

no thanks for all your advice just to clarify colm i start the car shud i keep it on D and drive a bit before goin into L?

yes my car does make sound like its spinning very fast when im driving

I'm saying, with the car stopped put the lever into L, accellerate and get the revs up high, then move it into 2. It should change gear straight away. then accelerate more till the engine is revving pretty high, then change it up to whatever is after 2 (it may be 3 or D depending on how many gears the car has) again it should change gear straight away

If it doesn't do this then you have a gearbox problem.

If the engine is revving high all or most of the time in D then you also have a problem.


Don't change down to L when driving unless the car is going very slow. it's like sticking a manual car into 1st.


presuming your gearshift looks like this:


That's a car with 4 speeds. if your car is 3 speed it won't have a 3 on the shifter, just P R N D 2 L

If it's a 3 speed, it should shift through all 3 gears up to 60mph.
does the car have a rev counter?

peanuthead

It could be loads of different things, o2 sensor, catalytic convertor, even low oil levels.

I had same problem with mine (not same car) and it turned out to be oil. Such a simple solution. Take it to a garage and find out though, because there is nothing worse than having to put that much petrol into your car.

colm_mcm

my money's on a gearbox fault!

kulareggae

em im trying to find a picture of mine
it has P R D S L

colm_mcm

On Honda Civic Hybrids, the S stands for Second - I can only assume that's what it stands for on yours.

It's hardly a Sports mode anyway


So we'll go on the basis that
L= 1st gear only
S = 1st or second only
D= 1st second or 3rd

start in L, rev it up, change to S, listen for gearchange and rev it up, then change to D listen for gearchange

kulareggae

mine is glx its S stands for sports not thati use it was told its scrapyard gear lol

thats wat il do 2moro start in L move to D

peanuthead

Maybe sell it and buy something that doesn't confuse you! lol.

but seriously best of luck I know the feeling - you have the cost of having a high performance car but none of the fun to go with it!!

zilog_jones

It should be a 4-speed box

colm_mcm

is it not 3 and O/D? this is the squishy saloon 121

kulareggae

no its a 5 door saloon
http://www.sunbrisbane.com/libr/data/2ndcar_e/moto_1374.jpg
Thats my car

guil

theres either 5 door hatchback, the window lifts with the boot
or a 4 door saloon, the boot opens at the base of the rear window

urs is a hatchback

kulareggae

kul wel im going to go garage il take a pic of my car gears etc wen im in the car and il post here let u all know wat they said

-Chris-

Hi Kulareggae,

Please don't speak in txt spk.

Thanks,

Chris

zilog_jones

guil wrote: »

theres either 5 door hatchback, the window lifts with the boot
or a 4 door saloon, the boot opens at the base of the rear window

urs is a hatchback

It's a 4 door saloon. Are you thinking of the Daihatsu Applause?

kulareggae

Sorry Chris force of habit, mine is a 5 door saloon i think well i brought down to garage he told me that 1.3 are bad on petrol and because my car is old it doesn't have a petrol regulater from the carbaretta so best thing he told me to sell it, so gonna keep it for a while till i save enough money for a new car

colm_mcm

1.3 is bad on petrol?

Sounds like you need a better mechanic. that's a total copout.

Also, it's a 4 door saloon. If it doesn't have glass then it's not a door.

kulareggae

Really i thought that it was a bit strange alrite that he said that, I'l bring it to another garage tomorrow and see what he says. colm il remember dat its a 4 door if it doesnt have glass its not a door

zilog_jones

kulareggae wrote: »

well i brought down to garage he told me that 1.3 are bad on petrol and because my car is old it doesn't have a petrol regulater from the carbaretta so best thing he told me to sell it, so gonna keep it for a while till i save enough money for a new car

That mechanic is talking bollocks, your car has 16 valve electronic fuel injection, not a carburettor. Did he even look at the car? Are you still unsure if it is going up through the gears properly?

kulareggae

was told by my mechanic friend to put full tank and drive as usual maybe becouse i put tenner petrol thats why its quick he said hed check it if thats still the problem on full tank so I'm going to do that and post and let you guys no, still going up the gears fine it does over rev but maybe thats me driving

Esel

You need to lighten up on your right foot, by the sound of it. Google feathering the throttle. Also, you can't get an accurate idea of fuel consumption by filling up 'a tenner at a time'. Brim to brim is the only way.

kulareggae

lol will google think full tank put the clock to zero and drive normally then il see how much its actually consuming

zilog_jones

Don't forget to fill it again afterwards so you know exactly how much petrol you've used (make note of the amount at the pump)

jaffa20

esel wrote: »

You need to lighten up on your right foot, by the sound of it. Google feathering the throttle. Also, you can't get an accurate idea of fuel consumption by filling up 'a tenner at a time'. Brim to brim is the only way.

Yeah, i find that by putting in a tenner or 20 at a time, the fuel is gone in no time but when i fill the tank, it can last for a long time. I'm always shocked at how quick the flashing red light appears after just putting in a tenner. I always just fill up with the best price i can find when i can. Avoids the frustration of seeing that light so often.