Honda Car Forum

Beginning about 4 months ago, the fuel gauge on our van began randomly
dropping to completely empty, remaining there for some variable amount of
time, then returning the (apparently) correct reading. It sometimes also
reads somewhere in between zero and correct for a while.

The dealer has replaced a fuel sending unit, cleaned connections and
grounds, none of which has improved the problem. The Honda tech support
line claims they have no other instances of this problem that has not been
solved by the new sending unit.

Most frustrating is that it can happen twice in 5 miles and then not again
for 50 miles. The dealer has driven the van and not had the problem occur
while they had it. After 5 visits (under warranty), we are now "charting"
the instances of the problem, but there are no correlations that I can
see -- it happens when the tank is at any level (but more often when it is
below 1/2), sometimes upon starting up, sometimes when accelerating, steady
speed, turning, hot weather/cold weather,etc. -- but it cannot be "made" to
happen by exaggerating any action.

Any ideas? I do not think this charting is going to reveal a eureka moment
once we bring the van back in.

George

George Kritselis wrote:
> Beginning about 4 months ago, the fuel gauge on our van began randomly
> dropping to completely empty, remaining there for some variable amount of
> time, then returning the (apparently) correct reading. It sometimes also
> reads somewhere in between zero and correct for a while.
>
> The dealer has replaced a fuel sending unit, cleaned connections and
> grounds, none of which has improved the problem. The Honda tech support
> line claims they have no other instances of this problem that has not been
> solved by the new sending unit.
>
> Most frustrating is that it can happen twice in 5 miles and then not again
> for 50 miles. The dealer has driven the van and not had the problem occur
> while they had it. After 5 visits (under warranty), we are now "charting"
> the instances of the problem, but there are no correlations that I can
> see -- it happens when the tank is at any level (but more often when it is
> below 1/2), sometimes upon starting up, sometimes when accelerating, steady
> speed, turning, hot weather/cold weather,etc. -- but it cannot be "made" to
> happen by exaggerating any action.
>
> Any ideas? I do not think this charting is going to reveal a eureka moment
> once we bring the van back in.
>
> George
> ================

Have you sought an answer at ODYCLUB.COM ?

Higher density of Ody-heads there... :-)

'Curly'

P.S. I'm betting it's a loose / corroded ground connection. Are you in
an area of the world where they use salt on the roads in winter ?

===================

Thanks for the suggestion. I have posted it over at odyclub.com, with no
suggestions so far. We do use a lot of road slat here, but the folks at
Honda said the grounds were not very dirty and that they have cleaned them.
No improvement.



"'Curly Q. Links'" <motsco__@interbaun.com> wrote in message
news:40198D90.6000809@interbaun.com...
>
>
> George Kritselis wrote:
> > Beginning about 4 months ago, the fuel gauge on our van began randomly
> > dropping to completely empty, remaining there for some variable amount
of
> > time, then returning the (apparently) correct reading. It sometimes
also
> > reads somewhere in between zero and correct for a while.
> >
> > The dealer has replaced a fuel sending unit, cleaned connections and
> > grounds, none of which has improved the problem. The Honda tech support
> > line claims they have no other instances of this problem that has not
been
> > solved by the new sending unit.
> >
> > Most frustrating is that it can happen twice in 5 miles and then not
again
> > for 50 miles. The dealer has driven the van and not had the problem
occur
> > while they had it. After 5 visits (under warranty), we are now
"charting"
> > the instances of the problem, but there are no correlations that I can
> > see -- it happens when the tank is at any level (but more often when it
is
> > below 1/2), sometimes upon starting up, sometimes when accelerating,
steady
> > speed, turning, hot weather/cold weather,etc. -- but it cannot be "made"
to
> > happen by exaggerating any action.
> >
> > Any ideas? I do not think this charting is going to reveal a eureka
moment
> > once we bring the van back in.
> >
> > George
> > ================
>
> Have you sought an answer at ODYCLUB.COM ?
>
> Higher density of Ody-heads there... :-)
>
> 'Curly'
>
> P.S. I'm betting it's a loose / corroded ground connection. Are you in
> an area of the world where they use salt on the roads in winter ?
>
> ===================
>

> P.S. I'm betting it's a loose / corroded ground connection. Are you in
> an area of the world where they use salt on the roads in winter ?

My bet is with Curly here.

I have the exact same situation with the fuel gauge with my 2001 Odyssey.
It has got about 50K km on it. I'm past the warranty period so I'm on my
own.

George: Did you find a resolution? Where exactly was this ground
mentioned? I'm in Toronto so it very well could be a corroded ground
contact.

Any idea on a cheap/self fix?
thanks in advance.
leo