What causes excessively negative fuel trim in the Odyssey?
2 Answers
The reasons for excessively high fuel trim in the Odyssey include clogged fuel injectors and poor spark plug combustion; issues with fuel quality; measurement deviations in the mass air flow sensor, resulting in air leaks; prolonged failure to replace the fuel filter, leading to low fuel pressure; and higher-than-normal oxygen content detected by the oxygen sensor. Short-Term Fuel Trim Coefficient: Short-term fuel trim involves real-time adjustments to the fuel injection quantity based on the oxygen sensor's feedback regarding the air-fuel mixture's richness or leanness in previous working cycles. Long-Term Fuel Trim Coefficient: Changes in the long-term fuel trim coefficient represent qualitative adjustments made by the electronic control unit based on the cumulative quantitative feedback from short-term fuel trim corrections. Long-term fuel trim is a numerical parameter with a range of -23% to 16%.
I just dealt with this issue on an Odyssey last week. A long-term fuel trim that's excessively negative basically means the ECU is desperately trying to reduce fuel injection because it detects the mixture is too rich. The most common culprit is an inaccurate mass air flow sensor - if it overestimates airflow, the ECU will inject more fuel. Leaky fuel injectors are another issue; my client's car had aging injector seals causing fuel seepage. Faulty oxygen sensors can also falsely report rich mixture when it's actually normal. Don't overlook the fuel pressure regulator either - when it fails, fuel pressure can spike causing over-injection. I recommend first reading the trouble codes to see which sensor is reporting errors, then focus on checking these components. Ignoring this problem can increase fuel consumption by 2-3 liters.