Micra guzzling petrol?

LeahBaby

Lately my K11 micra has gone awful for fuel. Does it just need a service or is it somthing more sinister?

For example I went to cork yesterday from portlaoise 300km round trip. And I used a tank and a half of petrol. I dont drive over 120km either.

Thoughts please?


It was bought for me last march for my 21st and was serviced them but it did lie up for about 6 months before i learnt to drive.

kazul

Have you tried to measure your fuel consumption in any sort of scientific/mathematical way or do you just feel it's harder on petrol?
Since petrol started getting more expensive, I'm sure a lot of people perceive that they are using more than before.

Could somebody be siphoning your fuel or driving the car on the sly?

johnos1984

kazul wrote: »

Could somebody be siphoning your fuel or driving the car on the sly?

I'd start by looking for a leak before calling in the cops

kazul

I'd check my actual fuel consumption before calling the keyboard warriors. I wonder how long it will take for somebody to suggest a faulty lambda sensor or coil packs?

johnos1984

kazul wrote: »

I'd suggest a faulty lambda sensor or coil packs?

Thats a bit overkill Kazul

shamwari

OP, there could be any one of a number of things which can cause fuel consumption to go haywire. Unless you know your way around under bonnet and are comfortable with fault finding, the best move to make is to bring it to a good mechanic who has the equipment to troubleshoot this properly. Especially if there is the possibility of a leak.....

kazul

LeahBaby wrote: »

I dont drive over 120km either.

Top speed is only around 150 anyway (if it's a 1.0)

challengemaster

Full tank in a k11 is 42L so going by 300km travelled and 1.5 tanks used...

12.84 MPG :eek:

Merch

changed an air filter on a micra and it gave an improvement on fuel economy.

If you can get someone to try that if you're not familiar yourself, cheap too.

LeahBaby

thanks guys. I will check mileage the next time i fill up! Just seems to have gone very very bad. My friend's 2l bmw has better fuel consumption. Drove to maynooth from port laois today and it used a half tank. It seems to be when i'm on the motorway i can actually see the petrol gauge drop.

bmw535d

do you think the bmw has the same size of tank. bmw's have 70 litre tanks so saying it used half a tank says nothing as to how much petrol it used compared to a micra.

**Timbuk2**

In the 1.3L 98 Starlet that I drive, I notice that fuel consumption is considerably higher on the motorway than on any other roads. Even on a short enough trip on the motorway, the petrol guage is usually a good bit lower than it was. In normal driving (80 annd 100km/h roads as well as urban driving) it seems fine on petrol, and generally only uses a small amount.

Is this normal? I sometimes avoid motorway routes and take alternative roads - it might take a bit longer but I arrive with a fuller tank! I feel like the revs are high enough at motorway speeds (it doesn't have a tachometer however) and that if there was a 6th gear, I should be in it!

FunkBlaster87

My girlfriend had the same problem with a 00 micra. Had a full service done and helped the problem a bit, but it still seems to use an excessive amount of fuel. She also noted the visibly dropping fuel gauge on the motorway.

A search on google doesn't reveal much, but aboardsi had a similar problem not too long ago. Did extensive work but didn't get any change in consumption. I wonder if there's a problem starting to develop with these cars.

Alanstrainor

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

In the 1.3L 98 Starlet that I drive, I notice that fuel consumption is considerably higher on the motorway than on any other roads. Even on a short enough trip on the motorway, the petrol guage is usually a good bit lower than it was. In normal driving (80 annd 100km/h roads as well as urban driving) it seems fine on petrol, and generally only uses a small amount.

Is this normal? I sometimes avoid motorway routes and take alternative roads - it might take a bit longer but I arrive with a fuller tank! I feel like the revs are high enough at motorway speeds (it doesn't have a tachometer however) and that if there was a 6th gear, I should be in it!

Motorway driving will kill a car like the starlet. Is it a 4 or 5 speed gearbox? I know on my 4 speed polo once you get above 100km/h you can literally see the petrol gauge dropping off. It absolutely kills it.

biko

Micras aren't really built for motorways, the engine has to labour if you push it too hard.
But without actually doing some testing it could all be in your head, no offence.

Drive it for a while (maybe an hour) at 100 on the motorway with full tank.
Fill up again after and note distance and litres used, this'll give you the mpg used.

Check tyre pressure. They may look ok but still be under-inflated.
Give the car a full service, filters, oil etc.
Check plugs.
Clean the engine.
Remove any crap in the boot you don't need, incl spare tyre.
Pour in some injector cleaner in the tank before you fill up.

Then drive it the same distance as before, fill up again and check difference in mpg.

Merch

biko wrote: »

Micras aren't really built for motorways, the engine has to labour if you push it too hard.
But without actually doing some testing it could all be in your head, no offence.

Drive it for a while (maybe an hour) at 100 on the motorway with full tank.
Fill up again after and note distance and litres used, this'll give you the mpg used.

Check tyre pressure. They may look ok but still be under-inflated.
Give the car a full service, filters, oil etc.
Check plugs.
Clean the engine.
Remove any crap in the boot you don't need, incl spare tyre.
Pour in some injector cleaner in the tank before you fill up.

Then drive it the same distance as before, fill up again and check difference in mpg.

I agree with a lot of the above, personally I wouldn't go for the injector cleaning until after I did a service and ran it to see how it was going.
How many gears? auto/manual? I'd say driving on the motorway you are getting a good bit of wind resistance for a small engined car, I'd probably keep the mx speed to no more than around 60mph/100kph maybe slightly less.
definitely check the air pressure in the tyres and I woulkd give a quick look at the air filter and replace anyway.
Also it could be down to your driving style, do you drive it hard in low gears?

(for below) If you dont feel comfortable get someone to do this for you, although it is fairly easy.
Usually easy to come off with clips, just make sure you put it back the same way and leaving no gaps(it will be fairly obvious) ie when you undo the clips (about 4 I think) on the slightly rectangular black plastic box at the top, lift off and look inside, check the way the filter is positioned (filter = yellow/whitish corrugated paper type material with a rubber seal, make sure it is seated correctly, shouldn't be too dirty and there shouldn't be anythin really on the engine side of the filter(ie opposite the side of the part where the air comes in)(air comes in on the inlet side)
I usually vacuum out any crap on the inlet side, its possible anything in there like a leaf could increase feul consumption, although if it is quite dirty you might not be able to see anything as obvious as a leaf, the dirt could also act to increase fuel consumption.

Id be considering having a spare filter on hand to replace anyway and assuming the filter was in correctly the first time, just refit the new for old filter in the same way, replace the plastic cover, before putting the clips on make sure it is seated correctly, ie it shouldn't move about and there should feel like it is right, put the clips back on and test run it.
I'd be inclined to think you would be lucky if thats all it is, by the way what year is this car? grey/jap import(square back reg plate) or first sold in Ireland.

Andrew Campbell

get the car serviced properly, sounds like you'll have recovered the cost of that in a few weeks driving

kazul

OSI wrote: »

Wanna bet

Wanna race one against my Nissan for pinks?