HELP :(

nickcleverley · 28-04-2011 06:38AM #1

Hi lads, looking for a bit of advice. My 96' Starlet is absolutely swallowing petrol, i threw 20 quid into her today and i only got 60 miles, the gauge now says its empty... I'm still in school and if it keeps up this way i wont be able to afford to drive

Do any of you know why she might be using so much fuel, or what i could do to stop her being so thirsty

Thanks in advance

Owen · 28-04-2011 06:41AM

Twenty quid these days isn't much petrol, only 12 or so litres.

Big Nelly · 28-04-2011 06:55AM

nickcleverley wrote: »

Hi lads, looking for a bit of advice. My 96' Starlet is absolutely swallowing petrol, i threw 20 quid into her today and i only got 60 miles, the gauge now says its empty... I'm still in school and if it keeps up this way i wont be able to afford to drive
Do any of you know why she might be using so much fuel, or what i could do to stop her being so thirsty

Thanks in advance

When was last service? do you service regularly?

Plug · 28-04-2011 07:18AM

About 25MPG, as above do you get it serviced? As your in school Im guessing you think its some sort of a rally car and you are driving it hard? Could be wrong?

28-04-2011 07:33AM

As i have learned with the 4e-fe engine if you drive it gently and change up at what seems like silly low revs and dont go over 60mph then you will get decent mpg.(owned two in a corolla and mother had a starlet)
I also find it to be a very thirsty engine but only if reving hard or going "fast". It does also seem to run excessively rich on startup compared to newer engines so if you are doing lots of short trips it will ruin you on petrol.

allyJay · 28-04-2011 09:38PM

Is it possible that the it's leaking somewhere? I have a toyota corolla, older than yours and rust can be a problem.

Del2005 · 28-04-2011 10:06PM

nickcleverley wrote: »

Hi lads, looking for a bit of advice. My 96' Starlet is absolutely swallowing petrol, i threw 20 quid into her today and i only got 60 miles, the gauge now says its empty...

How long have you had it? Has it suddenly started drinking heavy. Is it "tuned"?

I'm still in school and if it keeps up this way i wont be able to afford to drive

I wish I could have driven when I was in school, I used to have to walk barefoot in the snow:D

Do any of you know why she might be using so much fuel,

Check your tyre pressure, empty the car, how many passengers are you carrying?

or what i could do to stop her being so thirsty

Less right foot.

nickcleverley · 29-04-2011 02:19PM

Thanks for the replies lads

i've only had her about 3 weeks, i did start driving it a bit recklessly admittedly, but i'm calming down now, it isn't tuned but there was some sort of induction kit in it, but i got a standard air box from a scrappy. Theres no other 'tuning' done to it. I checked the oil yesterday and it was empty :eek: so i filled it straight away. It can be a right bastard to start in the mornings, you have to rev her a bit for it to tick over

.. It does feel like its very sluggish if you change gear at low revs and lack of a tachometer makes it difficult to judge a perfect shift :cool:

matt-dublin · 29-04-2011 02:24PM

sounds like you're dirving her a bit heavy, id also suggest buying a new air filter.

also 20 euros is not a lot at all anymore. Sounds not too bad, its about 20-25MPG which for an old car isn't overly bad.

no1beemerfan · 29-04-2011 02:25PM

nickcleverley wrote: »

Thanks for the replies lads i've only had her about 3 weeks, i did start driving it a bit recklessly admittedly, but i'm calming down now, it isn't tuned but there was some sort of induction kit in it, but i got a standard air box from a scrappy. Theres no other 'tuning' done to it. I checked the oil yesterday and it was empty :eek: so i filled it straight away. It can be a right bastard to start in the mornings, you have to rev her a bit for it to tick over .. It does feel like its very sluggish if you change gear at low revs and lack of a tachometer makes it difficult to judge a perfect shift :cool:

If the oil was that low its been a while since it was serviced. Give it a full service, fresh oil, oilfilter, airfilter and sparkplugs. And drive it a bit gently!

Also check the breathing pipes and throttle body housing...these could do with a clean too I reckon.

slimjimmc · 29-04-2011 05:11PM

And make sure none of the brakes are binding on all little, including the handbrake.

_Conrad_ · 29-04-2011 07:22PM

25mpg from a starlet is ridiculous. Is it a carb one or an EFi one?

Also it is 4 speed or 5? Probably should be 5 speed bein a 96 but a lot of those yokes are made up of several differnet cars by now and there were some mad spec variations anyway

Testament1 · 29-04-2011 08:00PM

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Twenty quid these days isn't much petrol, only 12 or so litres.

13.4 litres at 149.9 on my last trip to the petrol station. And that 13 litres lasts me around 160kms in the Levin so I'd imagine a Starlet ought to be a bit lighter on the juice

kirving · 29-04-2011 08:39PM

You got 160km, he' got about ~95km. Not ridiculously off the money if his car had no oil, rallying the thing around the place, etc.

A full service, as suggested above should give a marked improvement. (Possibly) carrying lots of passengers in the new car wouldn't helpeither.

29-04-2011 08:43PM

What kind of driving did the 60 miles consist of? Cruising at near 60mph on a main road or spinning around urban areas? If it's the later poor figures are to be expected. With an average speed of 10/15 mph (all anyone will achieve spinning about urban areas with lots of stop/go) very poor mpg will be seen even in super economical cars.

nickcleverley · 30-04-2011 02:00PM

no1beemerfan wrote: »

If the oil was that low its been a while since it was serviced. Give it a full service, fresh oil, oilfilter, airfilter and sparkplugs. And drive it a bit gently!

Also check the breathing pipes and throttle body housing...these could do with a clean too I reckon.

ill need to find someone to help me to do that

nickcleverley · 30-04-2011 02:01PM

_Conrad_ wrote: »

25mpg from a starlet is ridiculous. Is it a carb one or an EFi one?

Also it is 4 speed or 5? Probably should be 5 speed bein a 96 but a lot of those yokes are made up of several differnet cars by now and there were some mad spec variations anyway

Its a 96, (new shape) 4efe 5speed and 1.3 efi

nickcleverley · 30-04-2011 02:02PM

RoverJames wrote: »

What kind of driving did the 60 miles consist of? Cruising at near 60mph on a main road or spinning around urban areas? If it's the later poor figures are to be expected. With an average speed of 10/15 mph (all anyone will achieve spinning about urban areas with lots of stop/go) very poor mpg will be seen even in super economical cars.

Mainly back roads as i live in tipp, all rank horrible roads in bad condition, average speed about 50mph

30-04-2011 07:01PM

nickcleverley wrote: »

Mainly back roads as i live in tipp, all rank horrible roads in bad condition, average speed about 50mph

5th gear most of the time so I take it

veetwin · 30-04-2011 07:37PM

OP if you're averaging 50mph on the "horrible" back roads of Tip I'm guessing you are driving like you're in the "Stonethrowers". Take it nice and handy, change up as soon as you can and get her serviced properly.

Agree with another poster though. Most schoolgoers in the not so distant past could only dream of car ownership. Its only since the Celtic Tiger was around that students expected car ownership as a basic human right. "OMG I have to get the bus!"

30-04-2011 08:36PM

veetwin wrote: »

Agree with another poster though. Most schoolgoers in the not so distant past could only dream of car ownership. Its only since the Celtic Tiger was around that students expected car ownership as a basic human right. "OMG I have to get the bus!"

There was always a few lads in 5th and 6th year that had their own cars when I was in school. That's as well as those who drive Mummy or Daddies car in to school.

Mycroft H · 30-04-2011 08:59PM

nickcleverley wrote: »

Hi lads, looking for a bit of advice. My 96' Starlet is absolutely swallowing petrol, i threw 20 quid into her today and i only got 60 miles, the gauge now says its empty... I'm still in school and if it keeps up this way i wont be able to afford to drive
Do any of you know why she might be using so much fuel, or what i could do to stop her being so thirsty

Thanks in advance

20 quid gets me the guts of 135 miles in the same car.......

Mycroft H · 30-04-2011 09:55PM

nickcleverley wrote: »

Thanks for the replies lads i've only had her about 3 weeks, i did start driving it a bit recklessly admittedly, but i'm calming down now, it isn't tuned but there was some sort of induction kit in it, but i got a standard air box from a scrappy. Theres no other 'tuning' done to it. I checked the oil yesterday and it was empty :eek: so i filled it straight away. It can be a right bastard to start in the mornings, you have to rev her a bit for it to tick over .. It does feel like its very sluggish if you change gear at low revs and lack of a tachometer makes it difficult to judge a perfect shift :cool:

Use the speedo when changing gear!

2nd 10mph
3rd 25mph
4th 40mph

and 5th anything above 45ish

Off course if you need to accelerate hard for overtaking you can keep it in 3rd all the way to 50.

The 4E-FE is a fantastic engine, buckets of power for the car the size of a starlet and can be quite economical. 45MPG is very easily attainable

Mr Benevolent · 30-04-2011 10:02PM

landyman wrote: »

Use the speedo when changing gear!

2nd 10mph
3rd 25mph
4th 40mph

Uhhh... who uses mph these days?

On topic, my Corsa is doing about 26 mpg at the moment mainly suburban and some back road, no faster than 60kph. Should I worry?

Mycroft H · 30-04-2011 10:22PM

Confab wrote: »

Uhhh... who uses mph these days?

On topic, my Corsa is doing about 26 mpg at the moment mainly suburban and some back road, no faster than 60kph. Should I worry?

Speedo is in MPH in the starlet, the kph readings are tiny. Plenty of people still use miles.

And besides that i see you have no problems using imperial units either, miles per gallon....

nickcleverley · 01-05-2011 12:36AM

Lads, don't say "I told you so" but due to an argument with the mother and gravel on the road outside my house, Mowgley the Starlet is no longer roadworthy

. I must say i have learned not to drive when angry as i landed in the ditch sideways. FML

Mycroft H · 01-05-2011 01:00AM

nickcleverley wrote: »

Lads, don't say "I told you so" but due to an argument with the mother and gravel on the road outside my house, Mowgley the Starlet is no longer roadworthy . I must say i have learned not to drive when angry as i landed in the ditch sideways. FML

Hope you didn't hurt yourself

nickcleverley · 01-05-2011 01:04AM

landyman wrote: »

Hope you didn't hurt yourself

No i was lucky, not a scratch on me, car is fuucked though :mad:

01-05-2011 01:20AM

That's a disaster to say the least, good that no one was hurt though.

nickcleverley · 01-05-2011 01:23AM

RoverJames wrote: »

That's a disaster to say the least, good that no one was hurt though.

I know, silly me, i feel like a right idiot

HELP :(

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