Honda Car Forum

It appears I have a dead spot at about 1/8 full. When it gets to
that level, the gauge suddenly goes to well below empty. But a
while later it comes back up to the right reading. Always happens
at the same spot, so I would assume there's a bad spot in the
sending unit. By the way, when the gauge goes to zero, the fuel
warning light does not come on, so it appears that's a separate
sending unit and circuit, which is a bit surprising.

Anyway, I wonder if I can remove the sending unit from the tank,
inspect it, and possibly scrape the crud off and fix it. That would
require being able to re-use whatever gaskets or seals are involved.
Can anyone with experience in this area tell me if I can do this
without having to use a new gasket?

"Peabody" <waybackNO784SPAM44@yahoo.com> wrote
> It appears I have a dead spot at about 1/8 full. When it
> gets to
> that level, the gauge suddenly goes to well below empty.
> But a
> while later it comes back up to the right reading. Always
> happens
> at the same spot, so I would assume there's a bad spot in
> the
> sending unit. By the way, when the gauge goes to zero,
> the fuel
> warning light does not come on, so it appears that's a
> separate
> sending unit and circuit, which is a bit surprising.
>
> Anyway, I wonder if I can remove the sending unit from the
> tank,
> inspect it, and possibly scrape the crud off and fix it.
> That would
> require being able to re-use whatever gaskets or seals are
> involved.
> Can anyone with experience in this area tell me if I can
> do this
> without having to use a new gasket?

Inspect the gasket and go from there. It is possible you can
re-use it for at least a short period of time. New at your
dealer the gasket should not cost more than around $20.
Online OEM sites list it for around $13 not counting
shipping/handling.

Tests for the fuel sending unit should be in the manual
linked at http://ww1.honda.co.uk/car/owner/workshop.html

Peabody <waybackNO784SPAM44@yahoo.com> wrote in news:vzqNk.8757$3w.4263
@newsfe19.iad:

> It appears I have a dead spot at about 1/8 full. When it gets to
> that level, the gauge suddenly goes to well below empty. But a
> while later it comes back up to the right reading. Always happens
> at the same spot, so I would assume there's a bad spot in the
> sending unit. By the way, when the gauge goes to zero, the fuel
> warning light does not come on, so it appears that's a separate
> sending unit and circuit, which is a bit surprising.
>
> Anyway, I wonder if I can remove the sending unit from the tank,
> inspect it,



Sure can. There's an inspection cover, either in the trunk floor or under
the back seat, I can't remember.




> and possibly scrape the crud off and fix it. That would
> require being able to re-use whatever gaskets or seals are involved.
> Can anyone with experience in this area tell me if I can do this
> without having to use a new gasket?
>
>


The gasket is about five dollars at the dealer. Why is it so important you
re-use the old gasket?


--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

Elle says...

> Inspect the gasket and go from there. It is possible you
> can re-use it for at least a short period of time. New
> at your dealer the gasket should not cost more than
> around $20. Online OEM sites list it for around $13 not
> counting shipping/handling.

Thanks very much.

Can you suggest an OEM site I could buy the replacement
sending unit from, assuming I end up needing that?

Tegger says...

>> Anyway, I wonder if I can remove the sending unit from
>> the tank, inspect it,

> Sure can. There's an inspection cover, either in the
> trunk floor or under the back seat, I can't remember.

Yes, I found it. Just behind the back seat, under the
rear edge of the trunk carpet.

> The gasket is about five dollars at the dealer. Why is
> it so important you re-use the old gasket?

If I can get a new one separately from the dealer at a
reasonable price, it isn't important to re-use the old one.
I just didn't know they would let me off that easy.

Thanks for the reply.

Elle says...

> Tests for the fuel sending unit should be in the manual
> linked at http://ww1.honda.co.uk/car/owner/workshop.html

Thanks for that link. The manual shows that a "fuel sender
wrench" is needed to remove and reinstall the sending unit.
Do you suppose something else would work? I don't have a
lot of tools.

Peabody <waybackNO784SPAM44@yahoo.com> wrote in news:_d7Qk.22593$7o4.9083
@newsfe01.iad:

> Elle says...
>
> > Tests for the fuel sending unit should be in the manual
> > linked at http://ww1.honda.co.uk/car/owner/workshop.html
>
> Thanks for that link. The manual shows that a "fuel sender
> wrench" is needed to remove and reinstall the sending unit.


Officially that's what they say, yes.

But you can just use a dull chisel and a small hammer to tap the sender cap
around until it comes loose.

--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

"Peabody" <waybackNO784SPAM44@yahoo.com> wrote
> Can you suggest an OEM site I could buy the replacement
> sending unit from, assuming I end up needing that?

Before you buy a new one, one more question: Is it when you
do a certain turn that the fuel gage drops? Because this is
pretty common on old Hondas. Lots of complaints about it
come up at the great site www.honda-tech.com .

To buy the part new, consider the following:
www.slhondaparts.com , California
www.bkhondaparts.com , Illinois
www.hondaautomotiveparts.com , Rhode Island

Note differences in shipping/handling charges. Before adding
s/h, the part will run you around $95 at these sites.
Remember also that increasingly local Honda dealers sell at
internet prices. I learned my local Honda dealer had an
online parts site and now regularly go in with a printout
from its site for a part. They happily honor the internet
price as long as I have the printout. I save on s/h, but I
pay local sales tax and the time it takes to have the part
in hand.

Other options are ebay.com (buy only OEM), where it looks
like wrecking yard fuel sending units are available for
under $100. E.g. for $38 total consider
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1994-...Q5fAccessories

From bkhondaparts.com, typing in the part number shows the
same FSU is used on the 94 and 95 Accord.

FSUs are pretty tough. I would consider a wrecking yard one,
especially at yards that have a return policy for 30 days.
So if you do not like the one you get, you can trade it for
another.

I pulled the FSU on my 93 Civic DX without too much
difficulty a few months ago. My 93 Civic tends to read empty
with about 3 gallons of gas in it, so I was thinking of
replacing it. I do have one from a wrecking yard but after
doing resistance tests (per the manul) on both, I am not
sure that the new used one will make all that much a
difference.

"Tegger" <invalid@invalid.inv> wrote
> Peabody <waybackNO784SPAM44@yahoo.com> wrote in
>> Elle says...
>>
>> > Tests for the fuel sending unit should be in the manual
>> > linked at
>> > http://ww1.honda.co.uk/car/owner/workshop.html
>>
>> Thanks for that link. The manual shows that a "fuel
>> sender
>> wrench" is needed to remove and reinstall the sending
>> unit.
>
>
> Officially that's what they say, yes.
>
> But you can just use a dull chisel and a small hammer to
> tap the sender cap
> around until it comes loose.

Ditto. I used a beat-up old screwdriver and a tiny hammer
and freed it pretty easily. Righty-tighty lefty loosy.

There was a paper like dust cover affixed to the top of the
FSU cap on my 93 Civic DX. I do not know its exact purpose,
nor how essential its replacement is.

Elle says...

> Before you buy a new one, one more question: Is it when
> you do a certain turn that the fuel gage drops? Because
> this is pretty common on old Hondas. Lots of complaints
> about it come up at the great site www.honda-tech.com .

No, I haven't noticed any correlation with turns. It
appears to be related to a specific fuel level - when the
tank is about 1/8 full. When it gets down to that level, it
suddenly goes all the way to the bottom. But then after
driving a while longer - maybe a couple gallons - it's
suddenly back to the right place.

That makes me think it's not the gauge, or a bad connection
or ground, but rather an open spot, or perhaps a grounded
spot, in the sending unit. I've never seen one, but I think
of it as a coil-type potentiomemter, with the contact
attached to the float.

In any case, if I can get it out in one piece, I can put the
ohm meter on it and find out what's going on. And maybe
even fix it if it's possible to get to the innards.

Thanks very much for the links to the parts sites. And I'll
check with my dealer too, just in case.