RJTech

Hi,
I have a 1996 honda civic LX stock automatic..... about 5 months ago my check engine light came on and i went to the dealer.... they replaced the fuel injectors and water pump and new spark plugs and new distributor cap and wires and new timing belts and had clean the engine.....

the problem has occured before my check engine light had came on but i just want to inform you on the changes.....

May 2006 my mom drove the car and got to a very mild accident where my mom was stopped behind a suv on a u turn where there is yield when the vichele tried to move into the lane of traffic but suddenly stopped my mom caught the lady from behind and she just damaged her hood from the front by hood latch and the grill.... everthing was fine but i noticed the engine is running louder since then....

my problem is that when i make a right turn (going fast or slow) i see my guage drop low i mean much lower and when i make a left turn(fast or slow) I see my guage rise a lot..... is this normal???.... I also seem to be riding a lot on Empty and not getting much mpg on a full fuel tank 11.9 g and getting around 300 or less miles on a tank but i should be getting around 350 to 400 miles per tank.... i mean it could be due to my driving habits or that i have gotten plus gas before and then changed to regular gas......

I am have changed my air filter and opened the windows instead of A/C and checked my tires for pressure..... and i dont need a new battery....
Could i be in for a new fuel pump or fuel regulator or fuel tank???

thank you for your help!!!!

instrument

wow, so your question is why you're getting bad gas mileage, and your gas guage is moving..

the loudness is probably your resonator, possibly it got disconnected in the fender bender.

the gas tank is a common problem.

your gas mileage could be due to a lot of problems, but after all the work you've had done they shouldn't be an issue. You could try another tune up.

RJTech

but my guage moves a lot..... in a normal vichele i dont see the guage move at all... but when the guage moves a lot and i get on empty and I only pay for 8.25 gallons out of 11.9 gallons when i fill it up meaning I still have more than 2 gallons left before i refilled and my guage is telling me i am almost out of gas.....

dpaton

If I drive hard with 1/2 a tank or less, I can get the gauge to go from full to empty and back around a set of S curves near my house. Right turns starve the sensor, left turns flood it. It's a function of where Honda put the sensor and the way they baffled the tank.

As for the level issue, in all the Hondas I've owned and driven, E was never actually empty. There's always a gallon or two left, because by design, you can't usually get all 11.9g out of the tank. I mostly use the trip odometer to tell me when I need gas. The fuel gauge is just a hint.

SpeedoKing

i have the same problem and agree with RJTech both my civic have done the same thing.

instrument

if you truly think something is wrong you can get a new sending unit... its relatively simple to install.

RJTech

thanks for everyones time............ may i ask what is a sending unit?

RJTech

thanks man.... at what mileage do you feel ur civic is at empty?

dpaton

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RJTech &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thanks man.... at what mileage do you feel ur civic is at empty?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Depends on how I drive. Around town, I usually get 240-280mi out fo a tank (30ish mpg). On the highway, 325+...I've hit as high as 58mpg on the highway, but that was downhill with a tailwind. After a few tanks you'll get the hang of it, and know exactly how far you can push the fuel gauge for a given driving style.

FYI, the sending unit is the fuel level sensor. It 'sends' the level to the gauge, hence the name. It's not a tough thing to change out, but my experience has been that the gauge and the sending unit/sensor are both inaccurate enough to make the replacement of one or the other worthless without calibrating both beforehand.