Low Fuel Warning Light

My 86 Accord low fuel warning light has always illuminated at about 220
miles after filling and I could count on 75-100 miles remaining on the tank.

I have had a 99 Accord for 2 years, and the fuel light has come on 4-5
times, but at inconsistent mileage, and I usually fill up when I think the
gage is reading too low to go further. This weekend I ran out of gas, and
the low fuel light never came on. The gage was below empty, but I had a can
of gas in the trunk, so I drove to see if the light would ever come on.

Why would the low fuel light be intermittent and so inconsistent on the
newer Honda?


John

 

I don't know, but my 2001 Civic's fuel light is worthless, I don't even
pay any attention to it whatsoever. And the fuel gauge is very
inconsistent too.

 

I forget the behavior of my 87 Accord, I think the light went on
rather late, but all the Hondas I've had since, the light always went
on with 2 to 3 gallons left, generally closer to 3, and never failed
to go on AFAIK.

J.

 

I've noticed strange gauge behaviour in my 2004 Civic as well. The "top
half" seems to go down more quickly than the "bottom half". But I really
can't complain; the car did 42mpg on a recent road trip.

On the other hand, the gauge in my '93 Accord was the opposite. The "bottom
half" went down more quickly than the "top half".

I never let the tank get low enough on either car to trigger the light.

 

Isn't it considered bad form to run the gas tank so low? The reasoning
I recall is that stuff settles to the bottom and you don't really want
that being sucked into the engine. Of course, if you do it all the
time, I guess the sludge is sucked in in small stages so perhaps isn't
as bad as doing it all at once. But I'm just a lurker. Perhaps the
knowledgeable folks will chime in.

 

That's not the only reason. The biggest reason I see is that the fuel
pump, if in the tank, uses the gas for cooling. Running tank too low
reduces it's ability to be cooled by the fuel.

 

Same thing with my 2004 Accord, it may be due to an odd shaped tank while
the sending unit is linear. I had an older Camry where the top half of the
tank would last twice as long as the bottom half.

 

The past poster is correct about the sending unit being linear, and the
tank being tapered. As well, some sending units don't see a reduction
in the amount of fuel in the tank for some time.... You drive for 100
km (60 miles), and the guage hardly moves from a full tank. Once it
starts to drop, it drops faster than you might expect. As for running
with low fuel levels, we live in a cold climate (Ontario Canada) and
running with low fuel levels increases the amount of condensation in
the tank, when days are warm and nights considerably colder. I try not
to run my vehicles with less than a half tank.