Ok so I have a 96 Accord LX wagon that I am in a bit of a dilemma with...


The dilemma is that as far as my owners manual is concerned, and as far as my window sticker is concerned, and as far as Fuel Economy and New Cars, Used Cars, Car Reviews and Pricing | Edmunds.com is concerned...I should have a 17 gallon fuel tank






So, that's 4 different sources that all say I should have a 17 gallon tank

Now, on top of that, I have done a decent amount of searching the forum here and I also came up with the same result...17 gallons.

As for my dilemma, ever since I owned the car, the most fuel I have been able to ever put in the tank is around 13.5-14 gallons.

That's it.

I have run it down to where it ran out of gas AT the fill station, fill it up, and it's just under 14 gallons

There isn't any issues I am aware of, the car has only 80K miles, and there aren't any dents in the tank that I can tell when I look underneath.

SO

Is my tank actually just a 14 gallon tank (which is more like what I would expect in a car this size) or am I somehow not able to get the extra 3 gallons of fuel in there??

SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME MY FUEL TANK IS FULL OF HIGH QUALITY HEROIN AND THAT MY GRANDPA USED TO RUN WITH THE MAFIA

thanks for reading my ridiculously long post and please vote, have a good one

 

I was always told that it was technically a 14 gallon tank with a 3 gallon reserve. So 17 gallons total. You're in the reserve when the gas light is illuminated in the cluster. I have seen over 14 gallons go in 3 different fifth gens and that was always after the owner had driven it with the gas light on. You could potentially have an issue with the sock on your pump not being able to effectively scavenge fuel at such a low level. You may not technically be out of gas but it's just so aerated that the car refuses to run on it.

Really, you shouldn't be running it that low anyway. Deliberating running a car out of gas is just stupid and it's hard on components like the fuel pump.

 

It's 17, but don't run it down that low. Fuel pump is cooled and lubricated by gasoline, do not run it dry as not only will you stall out the engine, but you will also cause damage to the fuel pump from overheating and sucking junk from the tank.
I usually refill around the 1/4 tank mark ~10gallons to fill up.

 

Ok thanks for the feedback