Why does my KA drink gas?

[fun240]

Engine History:

Rebuilt in a S14 at 190-195k Miles on Chassis of S14.

Upgraded Injectors. Eagle Rods. Maybe Pistons, don't know. Maybe bigger cams.

My KA drinks gas. Other peoples KA, have headers, pullies, short ram. I have nothing like that. And they get 300 miles to a tank.

I get 200. Flat. maybe 250 if i'm lucky.

Why does my KA drink gas? Why do i not get the MPG's like everyone else does. I go 100 miles and i'm on half a tank from complete full up. The injectors were removed. I swapped this KA out of the S14 and stuck in my Champagne! S13. With the 92' KA intake/Injectors.

Would upgraded cams drink gas? Does the engine need to be tuned? I need some help cause i'm tired of dumping $40 in a tank every 3 days.

Thanks.

[Razi]

Probably because you have larger injectors?

[fun240]

They're actually the stock injectors, Tuned and something else.

But they are removed. I used the original injectors off the 92' KA

[Razi]

Also MPG varies depending on your driving style.

Do you often go over 2k rpm?

[drugsbunny666]

It all depends on the way you drive and what octane gas u put in. Dont drive crazy and put regular octane 87 that really improves the mileage. Also do another thing go get fuel injector cleaner put it in next time you fill up this will help your mpg. Good luck.

[x Too Fly x]

ha yea i shift round 2.5k and my gas is juss fine!!

try shifting lower. it helps big time.

[Hype]

put regular octane 87 that really improves the mileage.

How do you figure? The car was designed to run on 91. Sure, you can give it 87 and the knock sensor will do its thing if it detects any abnormalities under load. The only way that lower octane would improve mileage is if premium fuel has too MUCH octane is not burning completely... I find that pretty unlikely.

[liquid_cool]

It all depends on the way you drive and what octane gas u put in. Dont drive crazy and put regular octane 87 that really improves the mileage. Also do another thing go get fuel injector cleaner put it in next time you fill up this will help your mpg. Good luck.

gota flame ya man...get a friggin clue!

[fun240]

I have never gotten over 250miles on this KA. Weather it was in the S14 or in the S13.

I'm running stock 92' Injectors in the S14 KA, which is in the S13. What is the problem? What is sucking all my gases?

I shift at 2500-3500 usually. And i don't play around, i drive pretty normal. But i don't understand how much buddies KA with mods, can do less then a quarter of a tank while driving 90-100 over 80 miles round trip, and i do a quarter and almost a half, at the same speed, same miles.

[Thamm]

Have you done any maintenance lately? Like Changing spark plugs/wires, oil, o2 sensor, etc.?

[Vegascorbin]

Just a thought from left field but is your clutch slipping? Also if you have air cond. make sure the compresser is not running all the time.

Tire air pressure can make a big differance also.

Also being a "large" (300+lbs) person myself I know that my gas milage will be less than my 125 lb daugther diveing the same car.

Also how much extra weight are you hauling around in the back seat (tire chains etc) or in the trunk?

Every little bit helps.

[fun240]

Alright guys. The engine is rebuilt, just did a tune up with new everything. Fuel Filter, Spark plugs, Spark Plug Wires, Fuel Pump, Distributor Cap and Rotor Button. Whole Works, New battery. This is the all on the 96' KA that is in the S13.

My whole S13 is stripped, I have 2 seats in it and no interior at all. 1 door panel, and the dash, and its a 5speed I'm carring about a 20lb ported box, strut bars, lowering springs and a full size tire. All on 34 pounds of air in each tire.

What the crap is going on? Why does a mod'd KA get more MPGs then my regular KA? What Mods on my KA would cause gas to be sucked sucked sucked? And how do i friggin fix it!!!

[Vegascorbin]

Is the ECU still Stock?I presume that you have eliminated leaking injectors.Any chance that you have a fule line leak someplace?

If all else fails I would try a differant ECU, but that is just a stab in the dark.

[fun240]

The original KA in the S13 got 350 miles to a tank. The KA that's in my S13 now, came out of the S14.

It was a OBDII to OBDI swap, so you can imagine what i used.

Something is up with the KA now, from the S14, in my S13. It gets 200/250 miles a tank, if that.

Anyone else have any info on this?

[hsckris]

Why does my KA drink gas?

B/c thats what it runs on.

It seems like you have addressed most everything... check the fuel lines as somebody suggested?

If your the car is maintained and nothing is mechanically wrong, tire pressure is right, and you aren't carrying extra weight than you should be getting relatively good mpg.

[fun240]

All the fuel lines are fine. Like i said, i just stuck this S14 KA into this S13 chassis. The original KA was getting 300-350 to a tank. If the lines were messed, that would of shown up with the original motor in it.

Something is wrong with this KA, and its running rich. I smell rich rich gas. After the build, nothing was tuned. Do i need to do that? Should i just purchase a SAFC2 for the future, when i'm going to turbo anyways? That way i can fix whatever is wrong now?

I know a lot about KA's and 240s. But nothing turbo wise. I've never had a turbo'd car. But currently am looking at turboing in the next 20k miles.

[Ajax]

Question: Do you know what kind of MPG you're getting?Its one of my pet peeves when people complain about their mileage based on how far they get on one tank- I mean, are you completely draining the tank? Do you check the number of miles and divide by the number of gallons?$40 in gas could be about 10 gallons, maybe less. thats 20-25mpg, which isn't awesome, but is about what you might expect if you were hammering the car a lot. I generally get around 25mpg in mixed driving and I do like to stretch the legs, but I also have a somewhat tuned engine.

[fun240]

200-250 mainly 200, on the whole tank. From a little above F to almost completely empty.

[Hype]

fukin240 - Poke around under the hood for a vacuum leak. If you can smell fuel though, maybe you have a bigger problem. What kind of wheels/tires do you have on there? http://www.wheelweights.net is freaking awesome for making wheel purchase decisions IMHO. Also, skinnier tires will have less frontal area and thus make less drag, but thats getting into hypermiling territory there. How bout Z brakes? Those calipers are heavy on a stock car.

I'm also poking around as to why my mpg sucks. I'm pulling 23mpg which isnt BAD but I believe it can be a lot better, especially since most of that is highway. Last tank was 290 fyi.

[fun240]

But that's still amazingly more then what i get, i don't see anything at 290.

Everything on the engine looked good, and like i said, my last KA got good good MPG.

This KA in the S14, and now in the S13, just gets 200miles to a tank. I don't understand it.

We checked everything before putting it in. And the fact that i smell gas, which means it is running rich. Like i'm dumping fuel.

I'm concerned at this point of melting a piston. I really need to find out whats going on.

Does anyone at all think anything is weird about this? What could cause this?

[Hype]

aw WTF I freaking closed out the post i just typed up...

My last KA got the same mileage as this one... both pretty good running. I got a few mpg out of raising tire pressure. I'm not autoxing at the moment so I can accept the performance tradeoff. It's said that a good starting point is max psi - 10%. My max is 44psi so I started at 40. YMMV... literally

[Vegascorbin]

If you are smelling gas and millage sucks then you have found the area in which you need to work.

Go over the fuel system with a fine tooth comb. It nost likly will NOT be in the engine or injectors as there was no prob in hte old car.

As one poster sugested, calculate millage on true per gallon rate not per tank. Do not trust the gauge until you KNOW it is correct. When it says empty, pull the fuel pump access and look. Is it really empty? If you are not getting all fuel from the tank then you know what to work on.

If you are useing all fuel in the tank then obviously it is in the fuel delivery system. I doubt the injectors are bad as they worked pre-swap. That leaves injector control. I am not up to speed on the ECU issues involved with your swap but that is probably where your solution is.

Re-check your research and be sure you are useing the correct ECU and harness for your swap. Then re-check your work and verify that the wiring is not faulty some place.

Ask others that have done the same swap aboout their millage. What you are getting may be "normal" for your swap. I doubt it but check anyway.

What is your fuel pressure? If it is extra high you could be just forceing fuel past the injectors.

[fun240]

Ok what mods would cause me to drink gas in my KA, or get low gas mileage, that has to do with the

Head/Valves/Cams/ or pistons?
Modified by fukin240 at 2:55 PM 8/3/2008

[fun240]

bump for above question... need some answers anyone please

[abc123omg]

did you use lower comp pistons?but seriously check out the vac leak. my 240 used to only get 18mpg and i had all my maintance done too. ends up it was a vac leak.

[liquid_cool]

Ok what mods would cause me to drink gas in my KA, or get low gas mileage, that has to do with the

Head/Valves/Cams/ or pistons?

Modified by fukin240 at 2:55 PM 8/3/2008

wow...ya it does..did you change the compression ratio?..do you have larger lobe cams..stage1,2,3?...did you have any head work?..lots of things come into play man..the more you mod..the less gas milage you will recieve...if your looking for gas milage..you should have bought a f***in prias...your in a semi moded 240..dont expect miricles..allso..you stated you know alot about the ka...after reading all of your questions..(that are redundant)..you should have been able to fix the issue by now...im not tryin to burn ya donw man..just tryin to show you how you are sounding....i am a newbie allso,but i dont claim to know everything...i wish you well sire and i hope you get your issue resolved.

http://www.myspace.com/liquid_cool_ka24de

[Bigvinnie]

Sounds like any of these....Dirty MAFDirty air filterBAD O2 sensorBAD spark plugs and or rotorLow Tire Pressure

[Gabes13]

if you added big cams and pistons without a tune, you're obviously running rich. get a tune.

[drifter92]

i get about 285 per tank, my exhaust smells like gas really bad, and it backfires at 2900 RPMS every time on deceleration. I get about 19 city and i drivecrazy 5k RPMS with an automatic transmission.

[jdefelic]

No one has mentioned the FPR. That was my problem.

I got about 18MPG and i tried everything you did. It ended up being a leak in the vacuum hose that connects to the fuel pressure regulator. If that vacuum line has a hole or is disconnected then it will cause the engine to run rich. Check you fuel pressure and make sure it is 43psi. The port on the FPR should have a vacuum when the engine is running. So make sure it has a vacuum all the time.

Now i get 24MPG

Something else to check. lol.