OK so for about 2 years now my gas gauge has been acting up. It is/was never a problem for me since I just set my trip-o-meter everytime I filled the tank and would run it to about 420-450 miles before going to fill again. But i have some spare time and cash now so I am looking to fix this problem. The problem is that my gas gauge either reads approx 1/4-1/3 a thank shy of what is in it. (just filled and says 3/4 full; drive 200 miles on a tank and says 1/4 full; etc....) or it just completely bottoms out (rests on the pin way BELOW the empty mark). It will even change what it is doing in the middle of driving, as in will be reading a 1/4 tank shy then bottom out then 10 mins later go back to 1/4 tank shy. People have told me it could be a bad ground or the little bob (not sure how it works but thinking its like a toliet bob to sense fuel levels) is stuck on something. The car is a 95 LX if its not in my avatar/signature. Any ideas/methods to fix it?

 

there are connectors under the back of the rear seat that go to the level float that is the place to do testing to findout if the guage is bad or the float is bad, I'll see if I can find a schematic to help you

 

Please ellborate on what you mean by testing? continuity testing or some kind of mechanical testing? I am pretty damn good with tools and mechanical junk (mech engineer in training and a builder for years) just not so good with cars....yet. and car electronics completely baffle me 75% of the time unless its a simple circuit like audio powering.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondadude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">there are connectors under the back of the rear seat that go to the level float that is the place to do testing to findout if the guage is bad or the float is bad, I'll see if I can find a schematic to help you</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sweet. Think you can dig up one for a 99 accord also?

Bump!

 

Behind the rear seat on the pasenger side there is a round plate that can be removed to get to the connector, unplug it then Ground the yellow/blue wire, and turn the key on ; the fuel gauge should start to rise and get up to full, don't leave it grounded for a long time; it could damage the gauge. if the gauge goes up to full the float sensor is bad.

 

Hijacker!!! LOL the 99 should be the same

 

lol my bad! thanks man. I'd rather add an inquiry to an existing post than make a new one with the same question.

 

OK thanks a lot. I'll try this tonight when i get home from work and let you know the results. If it is a bad gauge what do I have to do? and if it is a bad float what do I have to do? and I am assuming the cover is in the same place on 2 dr's and 4dr's (forgot to specify i have a 2dr sorry guys i broke the rule .....)

 

UPDATE:

OK so i tore off the rear seat and there was only a small black plastic cap about the size of a half dollar and there was nothing below it. just a piece of plastic/metal was too cold to tell the difference. Any advice?

 

On my 96 it was behind the back seat. I found it easier to put the seat down and pull up the carpet than to go through the trunk. You'll see a shiny steel trap door with a few bolts and electrical connections. To determine whether the problem is in the gauge or the sending unit you'll have to take it out of the fuel tank itself...really not that big of a deal just don't smoke and make sure you have a fire extinguisher nearbye. When I tested mine I kept it plugged in and played with the float, helms says to watch the needle and don't let it drop below empty or you'll ruin the guage. You can also hook the sending unit up to a voltmeter I believe and see how it registers the increments. I never found the cause of my problem (I suspect the guage) but low and behold the guage started working and low fuel light suddenly works...like a month after playing with it.

edit: its more on the passenger side to the front of the spare tire area

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by razorskater &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">OK so for about 2 years now my gas gauge has been acting up. It is/was never a problem for me since I just set my trip-o-meter everytime I filled the tank and would run it to about 420-450 miles before going to fill again. But i have some spare time and cash now so I am looking to fix this problem. The problem is that my gas gauge either reads approx 1/4-1/3 a thank shy of what is in it. (just filled and says 3/4 full; drive 200 miles on a tank and says 1/4 full; etc....) or it just completely bottoms out (rests on the pin way BELOW the empty mark). It will even change what it is doing in the middle of driving, as in will be reading a 1/4 tank shy then bottom out then 10 mins later go back to 1/4 tank shy. People have told me it could be a bad ground or the little bob (not sure how it works but thinking its like a toliet bob to sense fuel levels) is stuck on something. The car is a 95 LX if its not in my avatar/signature. Any ideas/methods to fix it?</TD></TR></TABLE>


I recently posted a thread about this same problem in my 1998 EX V6 sedan. I've also posted it on the superhonda forum, and asked a guy at Autozone. Seems the same answer I get from everyone is that it is the fuel sending unit and that it's not worth the trouble or money to fix because if you pay attention to your mileage you'll know when to fill up. I don't know. Personally, if I had the money (big IF) I would probably want to get it fixed just because it annoys me. I was told you get to the fuel assembly by taking out the floor of the trunk (under the spare). I'm not about to go digging around in there, so until I can pay someone I'll just stick to the trip-o-meter method.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Schmitey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I never found the cause of my problem (I suspect the guage) but low and behold the guage started working and low fuel light suddenly works...like a month after playing with it.

edit: its more on the passenger side to the front of the spare tire area</TD></TR></TABLE>

Two things:

1) my low fuel light always worked and seemed right on the money, when the light came on and I filled up put about 14.75-15.25 gallons in the car (15 gal. tank) Would this indicate a bad gauge since obviously the sensor is still letting me know when im about to sputter to a hault on the side of the road?

2) DAMN IT! i was looking UNDER the seat not behind it mis read that part. well i now know how to run audio wires to the trunk of the car the right way with taking the seat out at least. Will check under the trunk carpeting tonight, maybe tomorrow. supposed to be low teens tonight dont know if i want to be climbing around in my car with subfreezing air on the other side of the metal.

 

1. No! They are two different sensors. There is the guage sending unit and then another little sending unit for the dummy light. They are on the same assembly in the tank and I believe on the same electrical hookup, but not the same sending unit. That's why I say you gotta remove it and see what the guage does. At this point it could still be either one.

2. Yeah I can definitely relate with that! Like I said make sure you've got a fire extinguisher nearbye, I really don't want to have to say "I told you so" after your car/house catches on fire (good practice for anything fuel related).

As I mentioned earlier there is a steel cover held down with 3 screws. Under that you'll find the electrical connector (3 prong). There are 5 nuts under the cover that hold the sensor. The sensor assembly is about 12 inches long and I believe is pointed towards the front of the car...it takes some manipulating.

To test the guage (you could use the sensor itself, but you don't know if its bad) put a jumper between the YEL/BLU and BLK wires on the connector. Obviously do this with the ignition off. I was wrong earlier (yes I do mess up!) MAKE SURE THE GUAGE DOES NOT HIT FULL otherwise you could damage it.

Here's the electrical diagnosis for the sensor itself:
With the whole float/sensor/wire assembly pointed AWAY from you the A terminal is on the left and B is in the middle. The clip (or were the clip should go) is pointed up. At empty the resistance is 105-110 ohms (horseshoe is ohms right?), half is 25.5-39.5, full is 3-5 ohms. Obviously it doesn't have to be entirely accurate but you should see some flux in the numbers.

Hope this helps!





Modified by Schmitey at 7:34 PM 12/20/2005

 

what'd you find?, I was just hoping for an update

 

I actually never went through with figuring out what the problem is. Sent the car into the shop to have a full tune up done and to look at a pull I had in the steering wheel. Found 2 busted motor mounts and a bad passanger side axle. So I am putting off the gas guage deal until after my account has recovered from the tune-up/motor mount/axle repair job. I am going to be doing the mounts myself with a friend who is pretty good with cars and having the shop do the axle. But thanks for all the input and I will post up what I find out when I diagnos the gas gauge problem.

 

I really don't want to know how much that is costing you! If you're doing the motor mounts you might as well do the axle too its really not that hard IMO just takes some tough love to slap it in place. It should idle and drive like a new car now if you had that many bad mounts!

 

Well the decision really is up to my friend who is the mechanic. He works for a Van conversion place and he said he just feels uncomfortable with doing the axle. I am still in the learning stages of a car's inner workings so until I learn more I have to go by what he says he can handle. Plus the shop I get my work done has known me and my family for years now, the manager knows me personally on a first name basis, and typically cuts the labor and parts rates to cost. On my first car they swapped out 2 axles, clutch, and welded in a new muffler with only 2 hours labor charged to me. I normally would have had them do the mounts this time around but I just want to learn more about my car and doing something like this is a start.

 

That's the most reasonable shop I've ever heard of!

And I like the sig, I constantly say that to my ricer friends all the time! "If it ain't broke don't fix it!"...but what do they know they still go to Jiffy Lube!

 

Yea I love that shop, and its an STS if ya can believe it. They are just individually owned so the guys behind the counter have more control over it I guess. Plus we are really good costumers. My family has 4 cars total that each gets driven about 15-20k a year and I am the only one that does any of my own work.

As for the if it aint broke dont fix it thing, I've found it to be true so many times. People I know keep putting fancy **** on their cars/houses/whatever only to have it break down. All you ever do when you start tinkering is mess up whatever kind of synergy had formed in the system. (except all you guys that acutally know cars inside and out no offense but for weekend tinkerers I feel this holds true)