Hey, I'm completely new at this...I've had my 1996 Honda Accord for almost a year. It has had some minor problems, but recently I've noticed one that has become an issue...
are Accords supposed to be good on gas mileage? Because lately it seems like I'm constantly refilling my tank, which isn't very good money-wise :shakehead So I was just wondering if Accords are supposed to be good for gas mileage (again, it's a '96, not sure if that matters?), or is there a leak or something? What should I look for?
Responses would be really helpful. Thanks!!

1) Welcome to AF :)

2) Is this a sudden drop in mileage?

3) Approx how many miles to a tank?

4) Have you had any maintenance since you got it? Oil changes, checkups, filters etc?

5) Any other problems you noticed? Even little things may help diagnose.

5) I like the number 5

It could be as simple as an oil change or an air filter cleaning. You should get about 28mpg city and 33 hwy. I think you have a 15 gallon tank so do your calculations accordingly. Look for any puddles or dark stains under the car after it sits overnight.

My '95 just ran 225 miles (highway) on less than half a tank...I'd call that very good..

Some simple things that will really screw with your mileage are dirty air filter/restriction in the airbox (depending on where you park, I've found many bird/mouse nests in airboxes...and chipmunks will pack them with acorns! :grinyes: )stuck PCV valve...faulty fuel pressure regulator...this requires use of a fuel pressure gauge, you can borrow one at Autozone...you just hook up the gauge to the service port, start the motor and pinch the fuel return hose closed with a vicegrip. If the reading shoots way up, the regulator is defective, which allows the injectors to spray way too much fuel on each cycle....while you have the gauge hooked up you could test for leaking injectors, when you shut the car off it should hold pressure in the rail....if the reading slowly bleeds off over time, one or more injectors is sticking open slightly and allowing fuel to dribble into combustion chambers even when they should be closed...a bad o2 sensor can make them burn dirty and waste a lot of fuel...not really any way to tell without a reading of the voltage flow or a visual inspection, but if it's original, it's probably not in real great shape...then of course there's the regular tune-up, plugs, wires, cap and rotor and a fuel filter, if it's got more than 75,000 miles on the original stuff, it could definitely benefit from some new stuff...

I have a 96 EX V-6 and get a consistant 25+ MPG with mostly hwy at 70-80 mph. I recently got 26.3 on one tankfull. I have 150K on the clock. Not sure what engine you have but you can compare with this.
Jeff