wrote:
> I have a 2002 Honda Civic EX. I am having trouble with the cars
> gas mileage and also with power. Here is what its doing: Every time I
> get to a ¼ of a tank it runs really bad. At first when I am starting
> my car it has to crank like 4 or 5 times before it will fire up but if
> I crank it once or twice and then turn it to the off position and then
> try again it will fire right up like it is suppose to. The other things
> it is doing is it will stall out on me when I try to accelerate and
> sometimes will die unless I ride the clutch. Then when I am just
> sitting at an intersection it will stutter and bog out like it wants to
> die. The catch to it is though when I am on a full tank it runs fine
> except for the bad gas mileage. I am not a mechanic by any means and I
> have taken this car to 3 different people and have gotten 3 different
> answers. I am tired of wasting my money with dishonest people.
> The check engine light is on and it reads that the fuel is
> running lean, but why would I be getting this bad of gas mileage. When
> I say I am getting bad gas mileage I am getting about 200 miles to a
> tank and anyone who owns a Honda knows that's horrible. The problems
> that have been told to me are this
>
> 1. That I have a crack in my exhaust manifold.
> 2. I need a new fuel pump.
> 3. My fuel gauge is off.
>
> I am hoping some one on here might be able to help me out on
> figuring out what's going on so I can get my car back to normal
> conditions.

One simple guess is water or such in the gas somewhere; add gas drier
to tank and change fuel filter, (probably best to do at more or less
the same time). Both relatively cheap and easy and you have to change
the fuel filter every now and then anyway, so if it's wrong, no big
loss. If that doesn't do it, check fuel line pressure, might be a
clogged fuel line that needs to be blown out, might be the fuel pump,
might be a cloggy injector that might be fixable by injector cleaner or
might need replacing.