2003 Honda Accord gas tank fill up problem

I have a 2003 Honda Accord with the 4 cylinder engine.
Since about a month ago when I fill the gas tank up it will not fill
completely. After filling the tank the gas hand registers about 3/4 of
a tank or a little more and I can only get but about 9 gallons in the
tank when it registers about 1/8 of a tank. The manual says if the tank
will not fill completely to carry it to the dealer so I am thinking
they know this may be a problem. Before this started the gas hand
would register full each time I filled it and the tank would hold
several more gallons. The car runs fine and as best I can tell the
mileage is still good. Does anyone know what is causing this problem?

 

Did you or anyone jack up this car?
If they did so improperly, they could have dented the fuel tank, which
will both lower the capacity and cause the gauge to read incorrectly.

In the meantime, use the trip meter to determine mileage; reset it to
zero when you fill the tank, and divide the miles by the number of
gallons it takes to completely refill next time.

A failing sending unit can also cause inaccurate readings, and has been
caused in the past by a bad gasoline additive.

--Gene

 

Wasn't an additive, it was elemental sulphur in the gas at abnormal
concentrations. The gasoline manufacturer has been reimbursing for
repairs. I forget which one, google should help you out if you need
the info.

Problem was that the sulphur corroded the gauge sensor, which is plated
with silver (some are, don't know about Honda). Forms silver oxide
like what happens to granny's silverware. The black coating is an
insulator.

The gas companies put in an inhibitor to stop the corrosion, since all
gas has sulphur. Wasn't enough inhibitor in some batches of gas?

 

wrote in

Honda has trouble with this sort of thing in the past, and issued TSBs to
cover it. The problem was corrosion on the sender unit. They issued
replacement sender units with improved materials to handle the sulfur. This
was about six years ago though.

I would check with your dealer to see if there any TSBs covering this issue
wth your model. You may still be under warranty too, and if so, the repair
would be free.

 

It seems the sending unit is failing but they usually start to go at 6-7 years
into the life of the car. I'm thinking maybe something was damaged with the fuel
tank.

Nick

 

Not unless they're defective. Or the gas is.

 

I called a Honda Dealer. They said it was a new one on him. Here is the
infromation from the owners manual and by them printing it there I
thought they expected the problem to happen.

"Your car has an on-board refueling vapor recovery system to help keep
fuel vapors from going into the atmosphere. If the fuel pump keeps
clicking off even though the tank is not full, there may be a problem
with this system. Consult your dealer."

I hate to carry it to a dealer where they have never heard of the
problem and it is in the owners manual.

 

wrote in

Find another dealer. This one sucks.