I recently purchased an '04 Honda Civic (automatic), and I've noticed that right after I fill my tank to the half way mark, my car does this weird hiccup type of thing when I'm driving. It's kind of like someone very, very lightly tapping the break over and over again. The "hiccups" are/feel subtle & not major. There's no check engine light on but I've also been noticing my gas seems to be running out excessively quick. There's also a smell of gas inside the car when driving but only when fuel gage is at, or very near the half-filled level. I think the gas smell is stronger (when it's present) in the back seating of the car. I've checked under the car for any gas leaks but don't see any. Fuel line? Fuel pump? Car has 131k miles. Thanks for reading, and for any input.

 

Gas smell near the back seat is because the top of the fuel pump is cracked. It's probably not the reason for the hiccups. This happened to both my civics and I never had that issue nor did it affect gas mileage.

When was the last time you performed a tuneup?

 

gas leaks are tricky sometimes since gas evaporates so quickly, you won't 'see' a leak (wet). so the fact you looked under the car doesn't mean anything, it can evaporate before it ever drips on the ground if the leak is small.

inspect the area around the fuel sender, depending on where this crack is, maybe it's drawing air in and causing an airlock situation in the fuel rail that you feel as 'hiccups'. It would be interesting to see the O2 sensor readings at the moment you feel this hiccup. I also don't understand why you wouldn't get a 'random misfire' code, but sometimes if the misfire is small it doesn't set the check engine light right away.

 

Well I just bought it last week it was smogged this month by the previous owner.

 

Well I just bought it last week it was smogged this month by the previous owner.

 

Have the codes pulled. Maybe the PO disabled the cel light.

 

I would say the fuel pump needs to be cleaned or replaced. This was the case with my 88 Civic Wagovan years ago, at least. Hard acceleration with under a half tank of gas it would just stop for a second and then accelerate hard again. Didn't seem to do it with a full tank however. Replaced the fuel pump and issue was resolved. I don't remember if there was a gas smell though.

 

Thanks gonna change my spark plugs and clean fuel injectors

 

You should concentrate on that gas smell and check the top of the fuel sender for leaking gas ASAP. Sounds like your fuel sender is failing.

 

Check this out:

 

I used this to fix it
Electric Fuel Pump Filter For Honda Civic 1.7L 2001-2004 043-3012 16010S5A932

There is a video on the line that shows how.