still only 10 gallons from E to F !

[AC439]

Well, I still can't pump in more than 10 gallons of gas. I put in a bottle of fuel injector/gas tank cleaner (as suggested) and still can't pump more than 10 gallons. The fuel mileage has not suffered (still around 29mpg). I was suspecting a blocked fuel vapor return line (from the top of the fuel tank to the filling port). I took the wheel off and disconnected the hose. I put a "snake" (like those use for unblocking the toilet) into the fuel tank through that hose and there was no resistance (I was able to push in about 15"). I also connected a hose to the line and blew air into it and air came out from the other end so there is no blockage.

One more thing, I always pump gas base on the fuel gauge but not the fuel light. My fuel light never comes on even the needle is very close to E. But during starting engine, it did come on briefly so the light bulb is working. I now suspect my fuel gauge sending unit is out of calibration? How do I check it? Does your low fuel light come on when the needle gets close to E? Are the fuel light and the fuel gauge connect to different sensors in the fuel tank? Do I need to drain the fuel tank and see if I have lots of junk in it?

thanks.
- Alex

[keruhas184]

Hey man, you're not alone. I've never gotten past 12 gallons based on the gauge. And I get 34mph... one of these days I should put a small gas container in the trunk and see how far she really goes :)

[Vinny]

the tanks hold 16 gallon and the light should come on somewhere in the area of 12 gallons used/4 left in tan. Gas guages arent an exact science on any car. Hell they arent even exact on multi million dollar aircraft. Personally I wouldnt worry about it. When both my accords read E it takes 11 0r 12 gallons to fill them. I wouldnt go too much into trying to fix a problem that REALLY isnt a problem

[k-roy]

I agree with Vinny, I only pump about 12 gallons to fill it up and I know for a fact that it holds 15.9 gallons. If its that important to you you can get a new sending unit from the dealership for $65.
I have only seen my warning light a couple of times in 3 years, and it did not even come on when I ran it dry once.

[SteveDX89]

It's not a big deal. Your gauge is just off a little bit. Mine is so far off, it only goes up to 3/4 when my tank is full and gets to E and I can still drive 100-120 miles.

[accordlxi2.0]

with the 86 it was 11.2 gal. to fill up. from e to f
with the mod's the mpg's improved a whole lot!

[Oyvind Ryeng]

Mine is so far off, it only goes up to 3/4 when my tank is full and gets to E and I can still drive 100-120 miles.
Me too! When my tank is jammed full the gauge shows "1/2" and when I really have 1/2 tank left, it shows "E".

[shepherd79]

if you are getting 29 mpg something wrong with your car dude. i am getting 37-40mpg on mine and i have some mods. something seriosly wrong with your car.
i know when my fuel light comes on i can fill up 12.5 galons.

[smufguy]

if you are getting 29 mpg something wrong with your car dude. i am getting 37-40mpg on mine and i have some mods. something seriosly wrong with your car.
i know when my fuel light comes on i can fill up 12.5 galons.

i get 27mpg on a city and 34mpg on a highway. Thats higher than what its rated . u get 37 - 40 in a city?

[shepherd79]

i get 37 in the city and 40 on highway. and my car is not running lean eather.

[smufguy]

i get 37 in the city and 40 on highway. and my car is not running lean eather.

and this is all with efi?? damn...........

[keruhas184]

Just a small observation of my guage: It decreases normally F to the middle, and then it drops pretty fast after that...

[accordlxi2.0]

oh yea their's something about the 3g tank's. it's like it'll go down slow till it get down to 1/2 tank mark, then it'll go down faster. cause it's like a lil hill or something . . . . .

[johndej]

hmm....... i ran my car to right above E and when i filled it up it took 11.6 gallons and on that i had gone 343miles giving me 29.5mpg city/highway driving. does that mean i still had 4 gallons left? as i recall i've never seen the gas warning light come on for it and i've always filled up at about the same mark every time.

[grove]

i drive till i see the light comes on. comes on everytime. my problem right know is that when i fill up, it moves slow as hell to the full mark, and it never does make it to the full mark it stops roughly at the 3/4 mark. thats if im driving around town. now when i drive home to florida or go on long trips the gauge will go all the way up. i want to fix the problem because its annoying to me. i have already changed out my sending unit that was easy. would changing my gauge maybe fix the problem. i have already jumped the wires at the sending unit to see if that made the gauge go up and faster or all the way, thinking that i had bad resistance in the sending unit or something. the gauge still didnt go up all the way. and it still went slow. dunno now. maybe i just had a bad jumper. used a small piece of saftey wire to jump the wires. im kind of scared to tackle the gauge because the dash looks like a pain in the but to remove. any suggestions? :sad2:

[accordlxi2.0]

could be a bad gauge, or could be off, like it was on my 86.
what happen's is the gas and/or vapor's get sent back to the tank, causeing the float to raise.

[AC439]

Thanks for all the insight. I have also noticed that after I fill it up, it normally doesn't go all the way to F until I start to drive it (when the gas is bouncing around inside the tank, it seems somehow get the sending unit to work). Also, the fuel level (as shown on the gauge) goes up when I accelerate forward or going slightly uphill. And it will go down when I decelerate or going downhill.

Yesterday I pumped it up with a little less than 10gal. After 50 miles of so, my gauge reading is now at 3/4. It shows even a little lower when I decelerate (as mentioned above).

I have owned this car for 10 years and I used to pump about 12.5 or even 13 gal and it will shoot past the F mark. At that time, I was able to drive the car for close to 100 miles before the needle dropped below the F mark. If my gauge is off, I'm not going to worry too much about it.

Also, I think my MPG (29.5) is pretty good consider driving with A/C on all the time. I know it's above spec. For a car of this age, I really have no complaint.

Oh...taking the dash off to get to the gauges isn't that bad. I did that one time just to replace the blew D4 light. I'm going to do this again soon because there is a dead spider there right below the A/T shift indicators.

- Alex

[AC439]

with the 86 it was 11.2 gal. to fill up. from e to f
with the mod's the mpg's improved a whole lot!

What mods did you do to improve the mpg?

[AccordAddict]

Thats an evo style front bumper.

[my86dx4dr]

untill recently i was only getting 12/16mpg
(roughly)

it sucked putting 20 bucks in every 3 days.

but then i realized i needed plugs and a tuneup.

explained why i was misfiring in the morning. cracks in the wires.
and all of the electrode was gone on all 4 plugs

[accordlxi2.0]

well i had a carb, you have efi, that one thing ya got solved.
i had a intake, exhuast, coil, um a tec dizzy, but it was from a bone yard, MAJOR tune-up, ngk spark plugs, k.e.m. wire's and cap and rotor. cleaned that carb out real well, using seafoam, and gumout spray cleaner.

before i got 170 on a full tank.

after that i got about 350 from a full tank. and that's HELLA good consider i have a heavy ass foot.

my test was going to elgin, i did about 60-110mph coming and going. the best thing was my job paid for it.

and that car did real good as for gas milege.

plus look at shepherd79, he has a lxi.

[grove]

well i think i fixed my gass gauge problem somewhat. cleaned the contacts on the sending unit and plug filled it up took 13 gallons. course i like to drive till my light comes on, yeah the light was on it works. lol. and now my gauge goes up to the full mark. doesnt go past it and is still is slow getting up there. i think im gonna put viagra in the tank or in the lines, maybe that will make it get up there quicker. i just bought the car recently so i dont know really now exactly how many miles i can go on a tank because it keeps on varying everytime. maybe because the gauge might be going bad or my foot wont stay off of that darn pedal. even when i force my foot off the pedal the mileage still varys. thats why im trying to get the gauge to work probably. :rockon:

[AC439]

well i think i fixed my gass gauge problem somewhat. cleaned the contacts on the sending unit and plug filled it up took 13 gallons......... :rockon:

Could you share with us where's the contacts on the sending unit? Is it around the fuel pump area? Thanks.
- Alex

[accordlxi2.0]

the sending unit is separate from the fuel pump, it's on the pass. sode of the tank, he probaly cleaned the connector's, i say clean then put some electric grease on it, that way it's won't get rusty or realll wet.

[AC439]

the sending unit is separate from the fuel pump, it's on the pass. sode of the tank, he probaly cleaned the connector's, i say clean then put some electric grease on it, that way it's won't get rusty or realll wet.

Thanks for the info. Should I gain access to it from underside of the car, from the trunk or from below the rear passenger seat?

[accordlxi2.0]

your crazy, you have two option's, fold the rear seat down, or go in through the trunk.
but under the carpet, their's a plastic cover, in the spare tire area thier are two gray metal cap's with tar around it.
on the pass. side is where the feul seder is located, remove the metal thingy in disconnect it.

[grove]

all i did was clean the connector from the stock electric grease. and its now working better i didnt put anything back on, seeing how it works first before i put anything back on.

[AC439]

Thanks dudes ! I did finally get to the connector. The electrical contacts are in perfect shape (shinny). I cleaned it up and even clamp tighter the copper on the connector side to ensure a good snug electrical contact.........put it back and it is still doin' the same. So out of curiosity, I watched the fuel gauge while I unplugged the connector from the sending unit, it dropped very slowly to E. When I plugged it back it, it rised slowly to the middle (with about 100 miles after a full tank up). So I think the problem is probably in the gauge itself.

Also, I found out that my "low fuel light" (the orange light) DOES NOT turn on when I turned the ignition 2 clicks (without starting the engine). I believe it is supposed to be on during the light check ??

(Man ! the tar around the sending unit opening is pretty messy !)

[grove]

sorry for not telling you about the tar, it does get pretty messy. :uh:

[accordlxi2.0]

sorry also, yea that tar is messy.
but no it only supposed to come on only when i's low on gas before the E on the E, if it does'nt then you can test out the bulb too. or replace the low fuel sensor.
the gauge goes up and down slowly on my '86 i don't know about the one i have now.

[AC439]

I borrowed a friend's 88 accord owner's manual.

On page 16, it says "When the needle indicates E (empty), a usable reserve of about 4L (1.1 US gal) remains in the tank."

On page 19, under the Fuel Reserve Warning light (orange light), it says "If the warning light glows, it means you have about 10L (2.6 US gal) or less fuel remaining and should refuel."

So, if everything is working correctly in my car, I'd suppose to see the orange low fuel light comes on BEFORE the needle hits E. I've never seen my orange light on even when the needle hits E. Are there anywhere in the factory manual tell us how to troubleshoot this? (yeah, I know, I'm goin' crazy with this problem)

[AC439]

Ok, I did a little more playing around with the car. I checked the grounding circuit at the fuel level sending unit and it is good. I also figured out that the low fuel light is also connected to the fuel level sending unit and have confirmed that my orange light is working. I tapped the sending unit with a screw driver while watching the fuel level and the fuel needle went back to the normal reading and it stayed there !!! But when I drove the car today, the fuel level went back to incorrect low reading. Therefore I can conclude I have a bad fuel level sendng unit. And the orange light does not comes on before the needle reaches the E mark double confirms this. - A