[Kaeiii]

Hi, I recently bought a CRV for colllege. Im very happy about the look and interior. I just filled up $43 dollar from nearly empty. I had reset the odm to see my mileage from fill. So I got 240mile with 15 gallons, thats 16 mpg. I changed the air filter, oil change, spark plug, oil change also. I don’t know why I’m getting such low mpg.
Please, advices are welcome!

 

[Wrascal]

There are many possible reasons for poor economy. Improper maintenance, under-inflated tires, enviroment (excessive idling, traffic, hills), drivers lead foot.

Just tossing this out here but based on your being a college kid, likely driving a jolopy, in some place like LA ($43 fuel cost noted) I suspect you're suffering from all of the above possibilities.

Stay in school, get a good education - then a job with decent wages, next purchase a modern vehicle and service it by the book. Work for 40+ years and then retire!

 

[Kaeiii]

Thank you for recommendation. Ill going through the process of elimination; fuel filter, fuel pump, etc til I get decent mpg...

 

[williamsji]

Hi, I recently bought a CRV for colllege. Im very happy about the look and interior. I just filled up $43 dollar from nearly empty. I had reset the odm to see my mileage from fill. So I got 240mile with 15 gallons, thats 16 mpg. I changed the air filter, oil change, spark plug, oil change also. I don’t know why I’m getting such low mpg.
Please, advices are welcome!

For these old CRVs... honestly that is about right for mostly in town driving and short trips. Could be even worse if you have a really heavy foot.

You did not specify your driving conditions..... city/highway, distance per drive, city and state, etc... so it's hard to tell for sure based on the limited information provided.

I would not be swapping out parts just to see what it does for mileage though. I would rely on tangible reasons for replacing parts... and mpg variability is not one of them.

 

[larryr]

Inflate tires to 35 lbs.

is your parking brake stuck?

is a brake caliper not releasing?

did you put in correct spark plugs and iridium spark plugs cannot be regapped?

you do not say what year CR-V please tell us.

validate your odometer with distance app on smart phone - some are 25% off.

 

[Kaeiii]

For these old CRVs... honestly that is about right for mostly in town driving and short trips. Could be even worse if you have a really heavy foot.

You did not specify your driving conditions..... city/highway, distance per drive, city and state, etc... so it's hard to tell for sure based on the limited information provided.

I would not be swapping out parts just to see what it does for mileage though. I would rely on tangible reasons for replacing parts... and mpg variability is not one of them.

I appreciate your advice. To be honesty; I drive like an old lady, I get plenty of honks throughout the week.
I let off the gas to shift over the ger in position as I see the rpm raises while the gear is not shifting over.

 

[Kaeiii]

I drive mostly city, not often hwy. I live in Orange County, CA to be transparent.

 

[racoon]

Since it's mostly city driving, and in an area known for heavy traffic, my guess is it's a lot of stop-and-go driving, and sitting at red lights waiting for it to turn green. The conditions you drive in are what's causing your low fuel mileage.

The fuel filter may be worth changing, but unless the pump stops delivering fuel to the engine it won't help to change it.

You also mentioned lifting off the gas to shift gears? It's a manual transmission with a clutch, not an automatic transmission?
And what year is your CR-V?

 

[Kaeiii]

Since it's mostly city driving, and in an area known for heavy traffic, my guess is it's a lot of stop-and-go driving, and sitting at red lights waiting for it to turn green. The conditions you drive in are what's causing your low fuel mileage.

The fuel filter may be worth changing, but unless the pump stops delivering fuel to the engine it won't help to change it.

You also mentioned lifting off the gas to shift gears? It's a manual transmission with a clutch, not an automatic transmission?
And what year is your CR-V?

It’s an auto 2000 crv 4wd with 171k miles.

 

[larryr]

It could be worse - when I was in college I had a 1958 Buick Roadmaster - made when cars were made with real steel and lots of chrome as standard - it got 5MPG in town and 8MPG on the highway - but gas was 23 cent a gallon. It ate tires every 5000 miles. Only 2 power options - power brakes and power gas consumption.

 

[racoon]

It’s an auto 2000 crv 4wd with 171k miles.

So when you said you lifted off the gas to get it to shift, are you saying the transmission does not want to shift into a higher gear?
Have you changed the transmission fluid using Honda Automatic Transmission Fluid?
Just doing a single drain-and-fill doesn't change all the fluid. So you drain-and-fill, drive far and fast enough for the trans to shift through all gears, then repeat the drain-and-fill/drive, and then a third time.

 

[williamsji]

I drive mostly city, not often hwy. I live in Orange County, CA to be transparent.

I live in the bay area, so similar traffic and driving conditions. Given these driving conditions.. the mpg you are seeing is about right actually. Older gen CRVs were not known for great city mpg (often below the Honda specs), but were fairly decent on long freeway trips. The engines are on the larger side for 4 cylinder engines at the time. I looked up the spec mpg for your year CRV here https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymake/Honda2000.shtml and as you can see.... in that era.. CRVs were spec'ed at 19 city, 23 highway, 21 combined (assumes 50/50).... so I don't see a problem based n what you have reported.

My prior CRV (gen3 2008), which I drove under very similar conditions was pretty consistent in giving me 15-16 mpg. I also was not heavy on the pedal, mostly because I knew the short city trips and stop and go driving would eat up fuel economy. City driving with lost of lights to stop at and then accelerate from is particularly hard on mpg.

Sometime when you plan to make a longer and mostly freeway drive, and not in rush hour LA traffic, do a fill up and then refill and check total miles vs gallons consumed. I expect you will see low to mid 20s under those conditions.

The great part about your generation CRV is those engines are built to last... and last.. and last.