So I noticed yesterday while driving around that on long, sweeper type curves, my gas gauge goes WAY down. Like if I'm at 7/8ths tank while sitting, in the middle of the curve the gauge will read under 1/2 full. After I'm out of the turn, it goes back up again. My concern is that I'll be having fuel starvation issues while on track, and since this thing will be seeing a lot of that, I would like to not blow up the engine or something. Has anyone had a problem like this? The car is a '92 CX, is there maybe no baffling in the tank or something?

 

it's electrical I believe my 94 ex sedan does the same thing. there is a whole bunch of archived threads in different forums about fuel gauge contained in the post

 

no, its not electrical. its just the fuel sloshing around. my civic does the samething. anytime i'm below 1/3 of a tank the engine will cut out on long sweepers. just keep the fuel above 1/2 tank and you should be good.

 

I didn't think it was electrical, as it only does that on long corners (or at least, that's when the gauge has time to go down...). Is there any solution beyond keeping the tank 1/2 full? Fuel cell foam baffling or something?

 

hi.

i race a 95 DX hatch in H1 with the ECHC. my gas gauge is totally wrong the whole time i'm on the track. it reads pretty much close to empty most of the time (i generally start the race with around 1/2 tank or a little less).

good news is -- it has never, ever starved on the track while racing. all my other race cars have starved, severely. the Probe will starve at 1/3. the Protege between 1/4 and 1/3. i have run the honda down to E during a race, and no starvation. that was "true" E, also. i let the car sit for 5 minutes after the race, cooling off, with the motor running, and it was on E. took almost 10 gals to fill it up.

yes, the gauge is not accurate while on the track. no, it probably won't starve, though.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Todd Reid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yes, the gauge is not accurate while on the track. no, it probably won't starve, though.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Just what I needed to hear, thanks

 

i would differ with reid....as i have had fuel starvation when tank has 3 or fewer gallons...

 

can this method be applied to prevent fuel starvation in hondas??
i know its a huge deal with the evo crowded and this is the solution to it

 

I'm not entirely sure what's going on there in those pics. And Chad, you do get starvation? Would a difference in fuel pumps matter for that?

 

He built a basin so the fuel can't slosh out.

My 93 DX varies 1/3 of a tank going up steep hills and on sweepers. No fuel starving yet. edit: varies 1/3 of a tank when below 1/2 a tank.

The CX has a smaller tank than the DX so that might be the difference between Todd Reid and the others. I think the CX holds 10 and the DX holds 11.9 gallons.







Modified by clemsonhatch at 6:13 PM 1/2/2005

 

CRX + 1/3 of a tank or less + long sweeper = FUEL STARVE

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by clemsonhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">He built a basin so the fuel can't slosh out.
[/i]</TD></TR></TABLE>

Is that equivalent to baffling an oil pan then? I really don't want to go to something that extreme. The CX tank is smaller than the DX tank, but even if has a smaller capacity, I'd think unless the design was different, both tanks would slosh around the same way. I guess I'll find out for sure in Feb at VIR...

By the way, Chad, is your hatch a CX or what?

 

I have a '92 CX and autoX. I've made runs that start UNDER E, and have never starved.

Just another data point. And yes, the gage is all over the place.

Ed

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by edlocke &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a '92 CX and autoX. I've made runs that start UNDER E, and have never starved.

Just another data point. And yes, the gage is all over the place.

Ed</TD></TR></TABLE>

I on the other hand starve with anything less than 5/8s of a tank in my EF when autocrossing. At that point, I just run with a full tank. The thought of that 20-30 lbs of fuel sloshing around the back of the car when I'm transitioning through the slalom makes me shiver.

I am in the process of baffling my tank. Its out of the car and I'm about to cut it open. I'm glad those Evo pics were posted. It'll help me to describe to my welder/fabricator what it is I want done.

I also thought about using little trap doors like the ones in this picture at the bottom left:

 

Ok, so let's add some things up here. An EF Civic and a CRX starve while low on gas. I'm going to assume the design of those tanks is somehow different and crappy, since that seems consistent (though granted, within this small sample). For the EGs, the DXs DO NOT starve, and the CX example given doesn't either. Whatever model Chad's is DOES though... For the EGs, there are two tanks available: the CX and VX have the 10-gallon ones, the DX and Si have the 11.9-gallons.

Edlocke, are the crazy readings of the gauge consistent, or just completely random? One of the reasons I was ruling out something wrong with the gauge (at least as far as this is concerned, it is definitely otherwise screwy) is that it was consistent in going down through a corner.

 

Just put an Integra gas tank in the Civic and your sloshing problems will go away.

 

The cx tank will starve with ~3 gallons in it, as chad said. Just keep it somewhat full, cheapest solution.

 

.....and what about EF guys? Are we SOL?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Reid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just put an Integra gas tank in the Civic and your sloshing problems will go away. </TD></TR></TABLE>


not true.....i have one in the old race car!!!

 

i have yet to starve and i've been autocrossing and tracking at far less than 3 gallons. don't worry about the gauge either, it's a joke.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Black R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">.....and what about EF guys? Are we SOL? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Seems tank dependent. I know guys that fuel starve past 1/2 tank. We could usually go to 1/3rd. Some cars would go down the last gallon or two. Heard from one guy that after the car was wrecked, the fuel starve point changed. Can't recall if it was up or down, just presume its a note of their finikiness.

 

[QUOTE=.RJ]The cx tank will starve with ~3 gallons in it [QUOTE]


Damn right it does!

While on the subject. FYI...A fuel tank from a CRV has the exact mold to fit under an EG but the width of the tank is too much.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Littleton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">A fuel tank from a CRV has the exact mold to fit under an EG but the width of the tank is too much. </TD></TR></TABLE>

lol...

 

I had starvation problems with mine, the upgraded fuel pump fixed it.

 

Looks like someone needs a surge tank. These have been used quite a bit overseas for some time now. Below are some quick examples: