Nova 1.2 carb getting 18mpg!

[NovaBoi92]

87' nova saloon, with careful driving im getting around 18mpg :eek: I've had the carb set up properly to run as it should. What else would control fuelling? Because I cant afford this any more lol

[Connor]

Service may help, and also check the car again, as when i set up mine i always have to adjust it a couple of days down the line then its fine usually

[NovaBoi92]

i have serviced it, and i got it plugged back into the co2 machine and its still fine?

[paul james]

Are you sure your not just leaking fuel somewhere?

[NovaBoi92]

checked for fuel leaks and nothing found. nothing else would control fuelling on a carb'd engine would it?

[jimbob-mcgrew]

check all your jubilee pipe connections from the tankside to the mechanical pump and carb, return lines too.
ive seen a few that trickle fuel down the inside wing where the lines enter the engine bay, might be something like that or the seal on your carb ? check the fuel filler neck too, and its breather hose.
other things.. check your tank aint super rusty, can leak out of a wee hole when cornereing.

[AlexW]

You and your **** mpg!l lol

[GroupB]

When the engine is running can you smell petrol out of the exhaust or anywhere.......
Bloke next to me had a similar problem a few weeks ago, when the engine was running fuel was dripping from a rusty inline fuel filter on his Corsa....

[NovaBoi92]

no smell of petrol. I suppose all this is really indicating a fuel leak. ill have a more thorough look over all the fuel lines etc, but any other suggestions until i do? thanks

[GroupB]

Has it always given that mpg or isn't something thats happened recently?

[NovaBoi92]

ive always found it to be quite bad, but it got to the point where it was just ridiculous. this is when i had it plugged into the c02 machine, and the first reading i got was 0.4 c02's, I adjusted it to around 2.0/2.5 and just after that i had to make a long motorway trip, about 200 miles. My motorway mpg i worked out to be 45? its just general driving around town is when it's at its worst

[Rysee]

Do you absolutely nail it everywhere?

[NovaBoi92]

no, as i said - careful driving. sensible revs, not fully opening the throttle

[AlexW]

Your getting 45 on the motorway! Id say the town driving your doing it too much stop/start etc and just causing it to piss fuel away

[craig green]

cold starts on choke drinks fuel.

But still 18MPG is shocking, to get that consumption the exhaust should smell really rich IMO.

[NovaBoi92]

not necessarily just starting and stopping, say i put a tenner in and drive constantly with very little starting and stopping. Ill still only get about 40 miles for £10 which is 20mpg :(

[NovaBoi92]

i dont know much about carbs tbh. But with the air filter off, if you open the throttle slightly you can see fuel being sprayed onto the choke flap. Im not sure if this is meant to be just a mist/vapor, but you can clearly see its pissing out petrol in liquid form. if you hold revs that's when it turns to a mist/vapour? is this right?

[Connor]

is it manual or auto choke?

[craig green]

not necessarily just starting and stopping, say i put a tenner in and drive constantly with very little starting and stopping. Ill still only get about 40 miles for £10 which is 20mpg :(

My 1.2 carb would probably go 100 miles on a tenner in one single run.

I belive they are all manual choke, do you pull it right out to start? Do you try & run as little choke as possible so it runs smoothly, but not too juicy? And do you hammer it at high revs everywhere. Mine will consume a lot of fuel if I cane it verywhere, which is only marginally quicker than not caning it hard.

It might be worth finding another carb to stick on it, or just paying a good garage to set up the mixture/emmissions.

[Connor]

Mine will consume a lot of fuel if I cane it everywhere, which is only marginally quicker than not caning it hard.


:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: this just made me Flol
soo true though

[craig green]

LOL. It makes a horrid noise like uuurrrggghhh dont make me work too hard, if you floor it.

lazy old 1.2 FTL.

[Connor]

yea they have hideous flat spots, just moans ' i haaaave no poweeer, leeave mee aloneee'

[MattBrown]

My money is on breather hose.

When you turn a corner it sloshes out onto the floor.

[burgo]

you lot clearly dont know how to set timing if your 1.2's are struggling, i could get 30mpg whilst towing with mine and pulled cleanly to 7500rpm with no flat spots

[Ron]

remember fuel prices are not cheap anymore so you dont get two gallons to 10 pound if you fill up 10 at 1.15 you only get just over 8.5 litre

[draper]

have you got a split pipe that means fuel is evaporating? i found this a roblem on my last nova - the breather on the filler neck had a slight split so it appeared to be drinking fuel when it wasnt, fuel was just evaporating

[draper]

also what are your tyre pressures like ? i pump mine up a few extra PSi when on ong journeys etc not quite hypermile'ing yet lol