bad mileage

S13<3

SFLDrama.com
Driver
have a 90 sohc i put 93 and maintain it well but its only making like 14mpg HIGHWAY WTF :mad: any ideas, maybe a bad sensor, right now no codes :confused: has decent compression, plugs and wires are good, has z32 fuel filter and new fuel lines front and back
 
try cleaning the maf and changing to O2 sensor, also check the timing on the dizzy. you might want to switch to 87 theres no reason for you to use 93.

another thing thats important is your tire pressure under inflated tires decrease gas mileage
 
timing is at 17 it likes it ther and it runs notably better on 93, maf was cleaned not too long ago, could bad o2 be the problem?
 
my boy had the same prob i think it might be ur z32 filter he went back 2 a stock fuel filter & it got way better
 
i heard bad o2 sensors can decrease milage by about 3mpg i dont rmbr were but def read it somewere
 
your timing seems like i'd be optimal for maximizing hp but not for fuel mileage, i would change it back to stock. on a miata stock timing is at 10* advanced. at low rpms the motor is soo advanced that its working against its self because its building too much pressure while still on the compression stroke. thats the way i see it any ways. for max hp at high rpms thats desirable to give it more time to burn.

i heard bad o2 sensors can decrease milage by about 3mpg i dont rmbr were but def read it somewere

yes a bad o2 will drop mileage noticeably especially on the highway.
 
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my boy had the same prob i think it might be ur z32 filter he went back 2 a stock fuel filter & it got way better

ive thought about this, its possible because the filter is bigger it drops the fuel pressure tricking the ecu into dumping more fuel to maintain the proper pressure idk

your timing seems like i'd be optimal for maximizing hp but not for fuel mileage, i would change it back to stock.



yes a bad o2 will drop mileage noticeably especially on the highway.

i dont think 2 degrees advanced will drop mileage that drastic, ima do the o2 sensor test with the volt meter tommorow
 
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oh ok well if its only 2 degrees then w/e. you should at least lower your octane to see if theres any effect. and about the bigger fuel filter, if anything it would drop pressure before the filter and increase the pressure after; in essence equalizing the pressure on either side. the ecu cannot detect fuel pressure, it is maintained mechanically by your fuel pressure regulator and vacuum.
 
ima change it back to stock anyways, i see no point in running a bigger filter, in theory it has more volume requiring more pressure
 
in my physics class we learned about electrical circuits. electricity flows exactly like a fluid and so a resistor is exactly like a restriction. the filter is a restriction, the bigger the filter the less the restriction like trying to blow through a skinny straw compared to a bigger straw. the greater the restriction/resistor the greater the difference in pressure/volts across the restriction. so the larger the filter the more it will be like it wasnt there and the less the pressure difference. you are right about the bigger it is the more the the pressure required but that applies just to the line between the filter and fuel pump. like i said the pressure drops before the filter but increases after, and after the filter is your fuel rail.

another thing do you have a thermostat? might want to check your coolant temp gauge too.

yes a cold engine will run less fuel efficiently.
 
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but if thers great demand ie under load highway which is wher i make the worst mileage, it will drop the pressure after the filter creating a lean situation that the ecu will try to correct with more fuel no?
 
highway is light load my friend. load is measured by the percent throttle. 100% throttle is 100% load. on the highway you are like what 20% throttle, that is low load. if you make the worst mileage on the highway i really wanna say its your 02 sensor. get that checked out and reset your ecu.

after a preset time at constant throttle your ecu will think its in cruise and try to be most fuel efficient by reading off of your 02 to determine a/f ratio and it runs lean.
 
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idk ima check o2 and change the 2wire coolant sensor for a known working one and see what happens
 
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