Accord has three gallons left when fuel gauge on Empty?

The electric fuel pump is in the tank and those three gallons of gas are there
to help cool the pump. Run the tank below empty on a regular basis and you'll
shorten the life of the fuel pump. They're not cheap to replace. Keep the tank
half full or better and the fuel pump will last a lot longer.

 

Among the dozens of cars I've owned, only the Mercedes had fuel guages
that were linear (when they worked).

 

Yeah I've fallen victim of that effect a few times. I parked the car after
the gas light was on for a while on a mild day. It got cold overnight and
then I couldn't start it. I put a half gallon or gallon of gas in the tank
and it started and made dense clouds of steam. If you run your tank down to
almost empty, that condensation can be enough to water down the gas enough
to get you stuck. It doesn't help if the gas has plenty of water in it to
begin with.

Aron

 

My '88 Accord has the gas light come on when there are 3 gallons left. It
is fairly accurate but sometimes it comes on when there is a little more or
less. This isn't necessarily usable gas. I have had the engine quit with
as much as 1.5 gallons in the tank and have pulled into the gas station with
less than .5 gallons in the tank. It depends on water content or something.
So now I assume that I have about 50 miles left to be conservative.

 

Try putting some dry gas in there to help get rid of some moisture. I
normally fill up around a quarter tank since I don't like driving around too
close to 'E'. Closest I've ever gotten was about a gallon or slightly less
in the tank before I filled up. Never ran out of gas (yet!).

-Dave