my gas light does not turn on when my gas gets low it turns on 1 in a million what could my prob be? bad connection?

 

Have you run out of gas before? Could be a bad sensor. Iirc, it is a separate sensor for the light independent of the needle gauge.

 

You shouldn't be running your car low enough to have the light turn on to begin with - bad for the fuel pump....

 

Just how low are you letting it get?

We were test driving my Prelude last night after getting the new motor running and the fuel light came on for us but the needle was fully below the last white line.

Either way, like the other fellow said most electric fuel pumps stay cool by being drowned in gasoline. Consistently running it so low ups the odds of it failing. Well and the odds of you running out of gas somewhere.

 

Have you taken your cluster out, checked the connection of the bulb, and/or switched the bulb with another of the same size? Could also be a faulty bulb.

You don't want to be running your car low (like the others also warned), so the next step would be to "trick" the fuel pump light into thinking the tank is empty:

Find a schematic or something so u can be sure, but I am guessssssing that if you unplug your fuel floater assembly's wire plug (near the tank I am pretty sure), it will not be sending a signal to your dash. Also, test for resistance THROUGH the 2 wires on your floater assembly harness. You want a "resisted-level"...not 0 and not 1 (short vs open)....that level of resistance informs the dash of your fuel floater position.

Let us know what happens when you do any of the above.

 

my light works and ive ran it all the way were there is no bars showing i have a 4th gen prelude i just want all my features to work u know im thinkning maybe its a dirty connection but i should change the pump evenn thoe it works fine what do you guys think?

 

If it is not broke don't fix it. Why waste your money?

 

No that is incorrect. The pump is cooled by fuel flowing through it. That is why you should not keep trying to start it when empty because it will overheat and burnout. The sender for the low fuel light is supposed to turn the light on when 2.5 gals remain. The part# is
37800-S30-C03 METER UNIT, FUEL (1999-2001 only)
37800-S30-L01 METER UNIT, FUEL (1997-1998 only)

 

How is that incorrect?

So, it's ok to suck up any deposits on the bottom of the tank with the fuel pump? - Honest question, i'd like to know.

What if someone is driving up hill or down hill and the amount of gas remaining is not enough for the fuel pump and they try to start it?


What if "hypothetically speaking" the car shut down without the light coming on and someone tried to continuously start it in assumption that since the gas light did not come on, they still have that 2.5 gallons or more remaining.

Running the car to empty or below E in general, is not a good idea and should never be practiced as a precaution in the event of anything like that were to happen.

Now I'm no mechanic, but taking the above into consideration - the average person out there without any basic mechanical common sense may not think about any of that and could potentially cause damage to their fuel pump. Thinking it's "ok since the light didn't come on".

 

That is what I meant was incorrect

 

I would like to assume it's just a misinterpretation as to what I meant.

But it seems this argument is pointless.

OP and anyone else with the same question: run your car below E, wait for that pretty light to come on and keep doing this over and over again. It'll come on eventually, no risks at all, the guy above says so.

 

I don't know if I understand what the arguments are, but I think this:

it sounds logical that your pump is cooled by the gas around it.
anything less than half a tankfull probably starts exposing your pump.

Running on very low fuel does make a higher concentration of gas/trash....seems like another good reason to keep a few gallons in there and definitely keep your fuel filter changed.


but ultimately, I still want you to try unplugging your fuel floater plug harness and see if the light comes on...i am just curious. a more definitive test is to test resistance across the floater's resistor wires when low on fuel and when the tank is full. The resistance should change at a different gas level.

Last think to keep in mind...as I have done on my wife's neon: when i put the floater assembly back in the tank, I put it in at an angle and it ran out of gas when the floater was at the 1/4tank position and a full tank showed way over full on the dash gauge........I didn't want to blow your mind with this info when i made my first post.

Check your resistance and search for the correct spec for comparison.

 

I run my 2000SH 60mi. after the fuel light comes on EVERY tank of gas for over 7 years, and have never had any issues. My fuel filter is OE, and I only use BP & Shell premium. I have NEVER ran the car completely out of gas though.

 

you need a new fuel level sender. mine got rusty in there after 11 years and finally stopped giving me a light until i was on fumes

 

fuel level sender are they expensive and where can i get one? local auto parts store

 

This is your fuel level sending unit. You can see how it works. I would suggggggggeesst cleaning yours after pulling it from the tank. Then you can test it for proper operation.

the schematic I posted is the first honda schematic I found in google images...I didn't even look to see what car it is, but i posted it so you see generally how to test yours with a $10 multimeter.

 

Just for a goof, I google searched "honda low fuel" and found this...again, just showing you the info is out there.

 

Dangit, I just couldn't let it go....Here's a writeup on specifially how to do check/test the whole thing, stepbystep. It might even be your specific car?? I forgot what u are driving..lol

http://www.prelude power.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230744

Copy the address above and take the space out of it.