Anyone have any suggestions? We bought this 99 Accord coupe I4 Auto 6 months ago, and the low-gas light doesn't work. We know because I've had to rescue my wife on the side of the road a couple of times. It's a real pain in the ***! I don't know if it's a dead bulb in the light, or a problem with the sensor. I do know that the actual gas gauge works fine. (If only my wife would pay attention to it.)

I was at a dealership for a tire mount and they said it's probably the "sending unit" and that they would charge $75 just for a diagnostic fee. I'd rather save that money - so does anyone know what the problem is, and how I might be able to fix it myself or at least buy the parts myself?

THANKS!
Avi

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by avi4now &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">(If only my wife would pay attention to it.)

so does anyone know what the problem is, and how I might be able to fix it myself or at least buy the parts myself?

THANKS!
Avi</TD></TR></TABLE>

you pointed out the problem already. my wife is car dumb, too, but you would think your wife shoulda learned her lesson after the 1st time.

 

I don't wanna get too indignant here, but you could be a little more understanding. My wife has had a very stressful semester and a tough year. She commutes 2 hours a day, sometimes in a lot of traffic, sometimes very late or very early. Also, she learned to drive and was always used to cars where that damn light worked. I don't think that's so dumb of her.

Now, does anyone have any useful suggestions?

 

It's usually a bad sending unit like your buddy said.

 

If you ground the Lt.green/red wire at the sending unit, the light should shine. If it does, you know it's a bad sending unit.

 

Is this something that would be covered in a Haynes manual or Chilton manual?

I personally wouldn't spend much on getting it fixed. If you don't get it fixed, try to get your wife in the habit of filling up when she stops and the tank is at or less than 1/4 full.

 

You may as well check the lamp. I don't remember, but does it light up when you first turn the car on, before you start the engine? The bezel around the cluster has 2 screws at the top, 2 clips on the bottom. The cluster has 4 screws & several plugs for wiring. The lamp is 3.0 watts.

The sender is attached to the fuel pump assembly, you get to it through the floor of the trunk. There's a round lid with 3 screws, up towards the back seat. After you clean any crud off the top of the gas tank, pull the electrical connector & 2 fuel lines. A bunch of bolts, & remove the assembly from the fuel tank.

Three wires from the sender. Black is ground, yellow/blue is the signal for the gauge. Light-green/red is the switch for the low-fuel lamp. It should have continuity to the ground wire when the float is down.

You might want to clean or replace the fuel inlet filter screen while you're in there.

 

yep sounds like a sending unit problem..

 

for what you are going to have to do to repair the problem I would not even bother with it. Just explain to your wife that letting the car run out of fuel is a very BAD thing for the fuel pump a few humdred dollar part that you do NOT want to replace.