Nissan Almera Fuel Consumption Problem.. Please HELP!

[Asad1975]

Hi every one.

This is my first post and I am sure there will be some one here who will be able to guide me or help me out!

Just bought a Nissan Almera 03 Reg 1.5 Pulse last week. After sorting out my insurance when I start driving I felt there is something wrong... Now I was comparing this new Almera with me old Almera I still got which is N Reg 1996 1.4 GX. Old Almera had more power than this new one despite it has covered over 130k miles and new one has only done 71k. Could not understand why a 1.4 has moor power than 1.5. I was going to get it checked anyway but soon I realise its killing petrol. Old Almera gives 200 miles for £40 topup while this one has not even done 90 and fuel is about to finish. Now that explains there is something wrong. When I checked exhaust I can see loads of carbon showing fuel is not burning properly. It should be clean as my old Almera showing no mark of black carbon powder.

I cant see any problem with Idling at the moment. Cant find anything elso wrong with it. Engine starts and stops OK. Engine sound is fine. Auto Choke works Ok when its cold it start around 1300-1400 revs then comes down to aroud 700 revs. If MAF is faulty does it effect auto choke or not?? I think choke works with Air intake Temp I may be wrong. I do have some knowledge of things how they work but not all.

I normally change gear quickly and comparing this Almera with old I have to use a lower gear to get same kind of power or pick. This new Almera finds it had to pick up in 3rd gear if speed drops to around 20 mph while I never had this problem with old.

Power is not there initially so i have to press gas pedal bit hard and it does run ok.

Car does not cut off shudder or stutter so far while idle or driving on high speed only drove up to 50 mph.

Any one had similar problem with Almera killing fuel without showing bad signs?

Is it MAF dirty or faulty or is it oxygen sensor or something else?

Can Fuel injector or injectors be faulty or spark coil or coils?

I personally think it cant be coils or injectors?

Any guide or help will be highly appreciated.

Sorry for long story.

Thanks for your time.

[MetroMPG]

Is there no "check engine" light showing in the instrument cluster?

I once had very similar driveability problems on my car with poor power, lots of soot in the exhaust & horrible fuel economy (~20 mpg in a car that should return 50+). It turned out to be a vacuum leak -- a split hose -- and it did not set off the check engine light.

[Asad1975]

Thanks for your reply MetroMPG.

Engine check light did came on once for a short time and then it dissappeared.

Its now on but thats because someone told me to take off the MAF connector and see if it does something different which It did, the engine was not stable and revs were jumping up and down between 700-1200 RPM and it was obvious that light will come on. It did not come on itself. When I reconnected the MAF connecter engine became stable as it was.

What will be an easy way to check vacuum leak?

[MetroMPG]

If the light came on, you likely still have a stored code from the earlier fault. That would be the first thing I'd look at. You'll need to get a OBD tool to have the code read.

[RunningStrong]

I can't help much with the current issue, but I was surprised you were getting only 200 miles from £40. I get nearly 400 miles on a tank, and at least 350 on a mostly urban tank.

[Asad1975]

Originally Posted by RunningStrong

I can't help much with the current issue, but I was surprised you were getting only 200 miles from £40. I get nearly 400 miles on a tank, and at least 350 on a mostly urban tank.

I was getting 200 miles for £40 around city. On motorway it was much better. Last time when I travelled from Birmingham to Manchester back Birmingham I got 280 miles. 100 miles were covered around city and rest on motorway. I think that was about OK for a 1.4 car who has done 130k and is 16 years old car. I am thinking to change my insurance to old one as it served me really well for last 5 years. This new one is trouble from day 1 drinking petrol like a mad thirsty cow.

Still waiting for more replies let see what other says what could be wrong..

[MetroMPG]

The stored code will tell you what's wrong. No need to guess!

You may be able to borrow a code reader from an auto parts store. Some in the US lend them out.

[Milwaukee]

Are you in Michigan??

My old 94 explorer had bad MAF. It was 7 mpg and pour black smoke out exhaust when hammer. Run poor plus no power.


It would easier if you find auto shop that had smoke FOGGER where they insert in engine and turn on. Wait 2-3 mins then there smoke out leak vacuum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozs2lf70Buc

[RunningStrong]

A quick dig online shows there's an outside possibility it could be a dodge ABS sensor :S

nissan almera n16 weird fault "Fixed"

Originally Posted by Asad1975

I was getting 200 miles for £40 around city. On motorway it was much better. Last time when I travelled from Birmingham to Manchester back Birmingham I got 280 miles. 100 miles were covered around city and rest on motorway. I think that was about OK for a 1.4 car who has done 130k and is 16 years old car. I am thinking to change my insurance to old one as it served me really well for last 5 years. This new one is trouble from day 1 drinking petrol like a mad thirsty cow.

Sorry, probably should point out I drive a '99 1.4 Nissan Almera.

Originally Posted by Milwaukee

Are you in Michigan??

I think the fact his location in Birmingham and he's using sterling pounds suggests he's in Birmingham, UK.

[Asad1975]

Update on Almera ....

At week end I took off the air intake hose off the car to check if there is any vacuum leak. I cleaned it and checked there was no leak but when I was taking it off I noticed the screws on both end were loose like some one left them open. They were going around without a need of screw driver so when I put air intake hose back on I titght them properley. Soon I started the car I could see the clear difference in accelration before and after. It had alot moor power when driving around, I thought the problem is fixed... but not completly. Car is still giving poor fuel consumption. I was geeting 25 mile out of £10 petrol and now its doing 36 for £10 petrol converting it to MPG using online tool it showed that its now doing 22.3 MPG and the acual figure for this car are around 35 MPG when driving local. That mean its still using rich mixture and there will be moor power when mixture is right. Please advise me from here onwards what should I look into. I am happy with this power but not the consumption. I think it shoud do atleast 100 mile for £20 petrol.