Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Two 1998 Civics

MamaBear2015 · 04-19-2015, 10:53 PM

We had both of our former cars totaled in December, by uninsured drivers. One of us is still recovering from whiplash.

We found a nice 1998 Civic LX 1.6L in January, which appears to be the standard engine, with 94,500 miles on it, automatic and ac. Drives very nicely. I changed the plugs, air filter, fuel filter, dist cap and rotor and plug wires. ( I do things that are simple and don't require a serious mechanic. )

Then this past week, we found another 1998 Civic LX 1.6L with automatic and ac, but the difference in driving this one is stark - I suspect it may be a Vtec, but don't know how to tell, outside of the fact that it runs very assertively and smoothly.

It has 131k miles on it. It actually passed emissions with some amazing numbers, being that after we bought it, I discovered that the plugs were down to the insulators, and the air filter, when held up to the SUN, was BLACK OPAQUE. NO light could get through it! How was the engine even RUNNING like that?!

It got 23 MPG for the first 142 miles @ 6.1 gallons, because of this, so I changed the plugs and air & fuel filters and just filled the tank again. I plan on also changing the dist cap and rotor.

The first car, which we named Teal, after the color, has consistently gotten 32-36 MPG without any help ( I'm a granny style driver, not a lead foot. )

But one question is, if the second car ( call it Silver, after its color ) is a Vtec, do they automatically get worse mileage, even if granny-driven?

I'm also interested in inexpensive but significant things that we might do, to increase MPG of both these cars. And yes, I read about the ScanGauge that you have here and it is indeed interesting.

04-19-2015, 10:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
MamaBear2015 EcoModding Lurker Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Denver Posts: 32 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Two 1998 Civics - inexpensive improvements? We had both of our former cars totaled in December, by uninsured drivers. One of us is still recovering from whiplash. We found a nice 1998 Civic LX 1.6L in January, which appears to be the standard engine, with 94,500 miles on it, automatic and ac. Drives very nicely. I changed the plugs, air filter, fuel filter, dist cap and rotor and plug wires. ( I do things that are simple and don't require a serious mechanic. ) Then this past week, we found another 1998 Civic LX 1.6L with automatic and ac, but the difference in driving this one is stark - I suspect it may be a Vtec, but don't know how to tell, outside of the fact that it runs very assertively and smoothly. It has 131k miles on it. It actually passed emissions with some amazing numbers, being that after we bought it, I discovered that the plugs were down to the insulators, and the air filter, when held up to the SUN, was BLACK OPAQUE. NO light could get through it! How was the engine even RUNNING like that?! It got 23 MPG for the first 142 miles @ 6.1 gallons, because of this, so I changed the plugs and air & fuel filters and just filled the tank again. I plan on also changing the dist cap and rotor. The first car, which we named Teal, after the color, has consistently gotten 32-36 MPG without any help ( I'm a granny style driver, not a lead foot. ) But one question is, if the second car ( call it Silver, after its color ) is a Vtec, do they automatically get worse mileage, even if granny-driven? I'm also interested in inexpensive but significant things that we might do, to increase MPG of both these cars. And yes, I read about the ScanGauge that you have here and it is indeed interesting.