Getting desperate..please help!

I've been having the problem of fuel consumption for quite some time now. Before, my car has been misfiring and having bad fuel economy. Replaced the ignition leads and spark plug which seems to fix the misfiring problem but its still drinking like hell. I do get a smell of fuel coming from under the bonnet i think. What else can i do?? change the fuel pump? I'm getting quite desperate as i'm only getting around 25 mpg and am getting quite broke from all this! SOmeone pls help me

the best and obvious thing to do is identify the leak, follow the fuel lines, check when the car is running and not

I've just been examining my old spark plugs and its showing signs of coked. ..i've read that this is caused by incorrect mixture adjustment: mixture too rich (which would explain the high fuel consumption and smell of unburnt fuel), defective cold starting device and this can be rectified by correctly adjusting mixture and starting device...but how do i adjust the mixture??

you cant actually do it yourself its computer contriolled. you need to try the things that effect it, i would think about changing your lambda sensor this is one thing that when faulty can send fuel usage through the roof. i think you can get them checked also to make sure first.

check all the little wires that go into all the sensors around the engine (two coolant sensors in the head, sensor in exhaust manifold (sometimes two if you have a much newer car) and check the state of the little temp sensors in the throttle body.
just give them all a wiggle.

My car does has done this two or three times now, the first time I cured it by driving it very hard and under hot conditions, the 2nd time this also seem'd to fix it, but the third time it took about a week of driving it around until the ecu finally remembered where it was and leaned the cold start injector off, and now it runs fine.

I did about 300miles in that week, which is normally just under 3/4 of a tank, but it actually drank 1 3/4 tanks

Thanks for all the replies. I've just replaced my lambda sensor which i got from the scrappies. Hopefull that will cure it. I'll have to check on the other sensors tomorrow. At the moment i've only done just above 100 miles with half tank gone

fingers crossed let us know how it gets on

Bummers..just had a drive around today and theres still a smell of fuel coming from the engine. Checked all electrical connection and all seems fine. what else could it be?? fuel filter? fuel pump?..but i've looked under the car and don't see any signs of leaking fuel.. i'm quite sure its coming from the engine compartment because when i drive it hard i can smell whiffs of it. i've now done about 120 miles with just below half tank gone. The last time i only managed 191 miles with a full tank. Hopefully this time it goes above 200!

Right...just changed the fuel filter...not too sure if that would sort it out but i think its unlikely..160 plus miles done with only a quarter tank to go!

dam thats nasty mpg. for some reason it is over fueling. has to be a sensor i would of thought unless it could be an ECU prob.

Sigh...nasty indeed...OMG now an ECU problem??..this is really killing me..what should i do then? just send it to a garage?

Are you down on power? High fuel consumption also could be down to:

Blocked air filter.
Blown head gasket between cylinders.
Coolant temp sensor.
Lambda sensor(remember the one from scrappy could be faulty also).
Coil packs.
incorrect timing.
Burned valves

Rich

Also where are you?

I don't think i am down on power..everything seems to be fine..driving wise. Nothing unusual it terms of performance. I don't think it is clogged air filter as well because i recently installed an induction kit. Its true that the lambda sensor i got from the scrappies is also faulty..but is there a way to test it? without having fancy gadgets ofcourse..

A new one is only about £30 froma motor factor so its worth just getting a new one.

But i'm just worried i'm spending money on something i am uncertain of. I don't mind spending £30 if it will get it sorted...but what if it doesn't? I'll be stuck with 3 lambda sensors.