The Love Of My Life Is Burning Gas Up

[esska11]

i have to say first i bought my 1992 sc400 2 years ago with 120,000 miles on it and ive babied it since day one had minimal problems most are just run of the mill or things such as the window regulator going out and the headlights fogging up typical stuff for this car...anyways...

my car has been burning gas up pretty bad i can smell a strong odor from the exhaust

the check engine light is not on nor is any other warning light

anybody else have this problem or know what the cause of it may be...im not really big into cars and dont know much about them honestly i just fell in love with the handling and the looks of this car and bought it im starting to learn since i actually give a crap about my baby but anyways any help would be greatly appreciated thanks guys

[sc4sooner]

my first guess would be that the catalytic converters are going bad.

[jbarhorst2]

Sounds more like the engine is running rich.

Possible O2 sensors or another emissions sensor.

Are you getting a CEL?

Tom

[esska11]

yeah i know its running rich and like i said im really ignorant when it comes to cars and i have no idea what CEL is to tell you like i said no check engine light or anything is on and performance wise nothing seems to be effected im just having to spend like 3 times as much money on gas and thats no fun

[UCF3]

CEL should stand for Check Engine Light, but you've already answered that question. Tune-ups are one of the reasons why a car runs rich. Has than been done lately? Do you hear any knocks or rattling from the engine after start?

[esska11]

check engine light haha...anways thanks for all your help guys ive got a tune up scheduled for next week dont know when the last time the car has had one, i bought some really nice plugs for the car so hopefully that fixes the problem...no check engine light...no rattling no knocking and she still runs fine...the only thing i will say is that when i just barely barely touch the gas or try to just keep up a constant steady speed the car kinda jumps or spurts almost....gonna have it looked at too didnt bring that up but guess i shouldve they might be related problems.....its only when i barely touch the gas though speeding up and slowing down are fine well again thanks for all your help guys i greatly appreciate it

[TomTA]

check engine light haha...anways thanks for all your help guys ive got a tune up scheduled for next week dont know when the last time the car has had one, i bought some really nice plugs for the car so hopefully that fixes the problem...no check engine light...no rattling no knocking and she still runs fine...the only thing i will say is that when i just barely barely touch the gas or try to just keep up a constant steady speed the car kinda jumps or spurts almost....gonna have it looked at too didnt bring that up but guess i shouldve they might be related problems.....its only when i barely touch the gas though speeding up and slowing down are fine well again thanks for all your help guys i greatly appreciate it

How many MPG did you loose? If your location requires ethanol to be added to your fuel you are screwed. Oregon requires 10% ethanol in the fuel. The result was a loss of about 3 MPG in my 92 SC400. I don't drive it hard at all and the driving style has not changed. The loss is entirely due to the ethanol in the fuel.

The worst part of adding ethanol to the fuel supply is that the net effect is MORE polution being put into the air. If you are one of those who believes Al Gore's lies this is a bad thing for global warming (now switching to global cooling). If, like me, you just like clean air it is still a bad thing. In addition we will pay more for our food because corn will cost more. Food for foreign aid will diminish or dissappear, and people will have to make choices based on not only higher fuel prices, but food prices too. Goodby mortgage.

Sorry for the rant, but that is the effect of ethanol on my budget and fuel cost. Of course the increased fuel consumption also increases the amount of fuel tax paid at the pump, which will probably keep politicians from taking the ethanol out of the fuel.

[Ratatat]

104 octane boost, one bottle to a tank, helps alot.

[jmin081]

CEL should stand for Check Engine Light, but you've already answered that question. Tune-ups are one of the reasons why a car runs rich. Has than been done lately? Do you hear any knocks or rattling from the engine after start?

my car has a similar problem-- rich white smoke from exhausts, no CEL, no tune-up in known history of my 93 sc400. however I do hear rattling after engine start. I also hear a clunkidy when i drive over a pothole, drivers side. Any ideas? Anything helps... thank you

[esska11]

CURE FOR MY PROBLEM

to anybody whos car might be running rich with no check engine light on......

i got new double platinum laser cut plugs for my car which makes it purrrr i barely knew the car was on..that may have fixed the problem BUT

probably obviously more important was my mass air flow sensor had been knocked loose and the vacuum seal around it had been broken...my car had been running extremely rich for a few weeks and cost me god knows how much extra on gas specially when its 3.65 a gallon for premium...

anyways it took two tiny screws and the seal was back in place my car now runs fine and the smell from the exhaust is gone and my gas mileage is as good and maybe a little better then what it was before....the sensor is located inside a small black box on the left side of the engine right in easy plain sight on top of the air intake its impossible to miss.....

but thanks for everyones help again