i have a 98 itr with 41k and recently it started burning gas. i get about 200 miles to each full tank of gas driving normally! and whenever i do drive hard a black cloud of smoke comes out of my exhaust and i can smell a strong scent of burnt gas. my itr has a Aem cai and a apexi dunk exhaust.

 

What kind of gas mileage did you get before the trouble started?

Have you noticed that you are burning oil? If so, have you measured how much oil you are burning over 1000-3000 miles?

Sounds like you are running very rich if you can smell the exhaust fumes. Maybe the cat is clogged and/or burnt up from running too rich?

Any MIL/CEL codes?

 

i used to get a least 260 plus, but now it's 200mile or less. i have noticed that it does burn a little bit of oil, but should it be burning oil? i use Ams oil which is synthetic. if my cat converter is clogged what should i do to fix it. i also recently picked up a jdm itr header and i am in the process of buying a cat converter. but i don't want the same problem of clogging up the new cat converter.

 

Do you have the 'check engine' light showing? If so, this may tell you what the problem may be.

 

nope... my check engine is not on.

 

If your cat is clogged, I do not think it is repairable. I'm not sure if 'clogged' and 'burnt' are the same things in defective cat language, but if they are, running richer than normal causes the mat that holds the catalyst to the cat piping melts, and the catalyst becomes dislodged. Sometimes it even burns due to the increased fuel, causing a situation where it is literally burning because unburnt fuel is being dumped right onto the catalyst, a situation it is not meant to handle.

I'm not sure if this is your case. If you aren't running some kind of engine management like a VAFC or Hondata, I can't see why you would be having a problem.

Other solutions? Take it into a reputable shop? Check your injectors? I'm not entirely sure.

 

Definitely sounds like the ECU is in open loop all the time (limp mode), usually it resets itself after being shut down and cooled off, it's hard to diagnose something like this online, and without gauges to monitor.

 

Replace/Clean: Air Filter, Fuel FIlter, PCV Valve, Spark Plugs, Distributor Cap/Rotor Button, Spark Plug wires.

Check Timing and compression (Easy to do and gauge is cheap at Autozone).

Then reset the ECU (Pull negative battery cable).

Go fill up and test out mileage.

 

Yeah, I'm with that, cover all the basic stuff first, probably not a bad idea to do any way. Fouled components in the ignition system can often cause unspent fuel just to come flying out of the tail pipe, possibly explaining what you're smelling.

Be aware though, that ITRs do burn some oil, and also due put out a small amount of black smoke under hard load especially into the Vtec transition.

Also, is your car really really slugish lately, if so, Jan is right, that's a good sign that your car is running in limp mode, as it dumps loades of fuel, usually to combat some other perceived problem, in this case, causeing one of its own...gotta love OBD2.

Any way, if you do all that and nothing. Take it to Acura, and at the very least get them to take a ride with you to give an opinion. Doesn't sound all that serious, you may even want to try some injector cleaner. It really doesn't work too well, but I guess it's better than nothing.

let us know what it turned out to be.

Later,
Aj