re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review Quote:
Originally Posted by for_cars1 Apart from trying a different renowned petrol bunk to rule out adulterated fuel, please try the following: - Do not fill premium petrol, what is marketed as premium petrol is just the normal gasolene laced with additives. Irrespective of whatever marketing gimmick is used to sell this as premium fuel, these additives can be harmful to the engine in the long run and may also clog the fuel injectors. The engine is designed by the manufacturer to run with normal petrol, please stick to normal petrol.
- Check the wheel alignment at an independent center where they have proper facilities. Thankfully the 4th gen City has only Toe adjustment of the front wheel, there is no Camber and Castor adjustment. Often improperly aligned wheels can reduce fuel efficiency and also wear out the tyres prematurely. Always get wheels balanced and aligned every 10 to 12 K Kms at an independent tyre center.
- Since your car is regularly serviced at A.S.S, it is expected that the wear&tear parts/fluid consumable replacements are being done as per schedule. Pull out the dipstick in the engine bay and check the state of the engine oil, shouldn't be too black and sticky. Next time it is taken for service, preferrably a different authorized center, switch to the synthetic engine oil which Honda now sells for the Petrol City, cost difference is not much.
- I presume most of your day to day running is bumper to bumper and the distance is quite short. Such cycles are unhealthy for the engine as there is not much scope for it to open up and operate at its optimum thermal efficiency. Get the fuel injectors and spark plugs checked during the oncoming service. Take it for a spin regularly on highways to keep it free running and unclogged.
- Are you observing any clutch slippage? A slipping clutch can also bring down the mileage, please get it checked during the service as well.
With all the above above checks, your FE should hopefully be back to normal  |
Thank you so much for the detailed response.
* I don't use premium fuel but I have used Liqui Moly injector cleaner twice in the fuel. But that was quite a while back and the effect seemed to last only for 1 tank. I hope this hasn't caused any permanent damage. I've been filling up at the same pump for the last 2 years and the mileage displayed on the car's computer matches my calculations so there isn't any shady stuff going on at the pump. However, I wonder if the fuel quality at the pump itself has degraded.
* I got my wheel alignment done from an independent tyre shop - Saifee tyres around 6 months ago. The car has only done about 10000 Km so far. I've not yet done balancing yet but somehow I don't think the wheels are the culprit
* During the previous servicing 5 months ago, synthetic oil was filled- there's apparently no choice anymore at my service station and mineral oil isn't available any longer. I checked the levels recently and they were normal. But I remember the ASC charged me quite a lot more than the rate specified on the Honda website for the oil change.
* I hope the injectors and spark plugs haven't really developed issues in less than 10000 km  My daily run is in dense city traffic, but it's actually much smoother than it was earlier and takes less time. But the mileage was much higher earlier. Still will ask them to check these things too.
* I'm reasonably sure the clutch isn't slipping. I assume you mean that the rpm would increase without proportionate increase in speed, which is not happening. The gearbox however is horrible in my car from day 1 and complained about it at every servicing during my warranty but Honda's only response every time was 'clutch bleeding' which didn't make any difference. Also, the car accelerates quite strongly in 1st and 2nd gears without pressing the accelerator at low speeds to the extent that i need to press the brakes to slow down the auto acceleration (again, I complained about this too but Honda claims it's normal). The gearbox is really hard & rough and changing gears is like a wrestling match and also the car jerks a bit once the gears are changed. Both these problems existed since day 1; however this was not impacting the mileage earlier.
Last edited by mxh : 8th October 2017 at 20:32.
|