2000 Accord EX ran out of gas with 5 gallons left in tank

My daughter bought a 2000 Accord EX V6 on Saturday. She was driving on
the freeway yesterday and it died (the guage showed between E and 1/4
and the low fuel light hadn't come on). She called triple A and after a
2 hour wait they arrived, put in 1 gallon of gas and it started right
up. When she filled the tank it only took 11 gallons of gas. I'm new to
Honda's so I'm asking here if this may be a common problem. My guess is
a weak fuel pump or a semi-clogged filter but maybe you knowlegable
people have a different explanation of what it could be? I have a fuel
pressure tester but no specs on what it should read for this car. Any
help would be appreciated. The car was as-is so "take it back to the
dealer" would not be an appropriate answer. Thanks in advance.

No diagnostics performed. Car quit. Car started later. I don't see
that you have a gas problem just because you added gas. Could have
added oil and maybe get the same results. Did you leave something out
of your question? If not, could be all sorts of electrical things.
Simple to find, or not. Take it to the dealer or a Honda specialist.

On 25 Jul 2005 20:48:27 -0700, wrote:

>No diagnostics performed. Car quit. Car started later. I don't see
>that you have a gas problem just because you added gas. Could have
>added oil and maybe get the same results. Did you leave something out
>of your question? If not, could be all sorts of electrical things.
>Simple to find, or not. Take it to the dealer or a Honda specialist.

About all you can do is keep driving it. Obviously be prepared when
it gets low again. If it consistently dies at the same point, it
would certainly seem to indicate a pump of filter problem. I assume
you have looked for any damage to the tank itself.

If it happens at different levels in the tank then you need to look
elsewhere. Good luck.

High wrote:
> My daughter bought a 2000 Accord EX V6 on Saturday. She was driving on
> the freeway yesterday and it died (the guage showed between E and 1/4
> and the low fuel light hadn't come on). She called triple A and after a
> 2 hour wait they arrived, put in 1 gallon of gas and it started right
> up. When she filled the tank it only took 11 gallons of gas. I'm new to
> Honda's so I'm asking here if this may be a common problem. My guess is
> a weak fuel pump or a semi-clogged filter but maybe you knowlegable
> people have a different explanation of what it could be? I have a fuel
> pressure tester but no specs on what it should read for this car. Any
> help would be appreciated. The car was as-is so "take it back to the
> dealer" would not be an appropriate answer. Thanks in advance.


-------------------------

As Gordon mentioned, inspect the tank carefully for a dent, preventing
the sensor from falling to the bottom of it's stroke. Carry a gas can.
Run a bottle of injector cleaner thru that puppy anyhow . . Who knows if
it's been done lately.

'Curly'

On 7/25/05 9:10 PM, in article , "High"
> wrote:

> My daughter bought a 2000 Accord EX V6 on Saturday. She was driving on
> the freeway yesterday and it died (the guage showed between E and 1/4
> and the low fuel light hadn't come on). She called triple A and after a
> 2 hour wait they arrived, put in 1 gallon of gas and it started right
> up. When she filled the tank it only took 11 gallons of gas. I'm new to
> Honda's so I'm asking here if this may be a common problem. My guess is
> a weak fuel pump or a semi-clogged filter but maybe you knowlegable
> people have a different explanation of what it could be? I have a fuel
> pressure tester but no specs on what it should read for this car. Any
> help would be appreciated. The car was as-is so "take it back to the
> dealer" would not be an appropriate answer. Thanks in advance.

The low fuel light might not work & the gauge also might be messed up.
Since she just got it, there are lots of possibilities, most of which
probably have something to do with why it was traded by the previous owner.

There could be some water in the tank. That would cause it to stop and
later restart as you described.

Look for any dents or obvious damage to the tank, then if you don't find
any, my next guess would be water in the tank or a clogged filter (which is
also in the tank on a 2000).

Exactly the same thing happened to me in my 98 civic. There was a huge dent
in the middle of the tank, meaning when I did highway driving, it would die
at about 1/4 tank. In the city I was fine, due to turning and whatnot all
the time, allowing the fuel to slosh around and make it into the pickup.

It got to the point where my car would be sputtering, and yet I could only
fit 33 litres into the tank (its a 46 litre tank). The dent was huge.

The dent was from something I smoked on the highway, and could not avoid
without putting my life in danger. sucks but what can ya do?

Hope this helps
t

motsco_ _ wrote:
>> My daughter bought a 2000 Accord EX V6 on Saturday. She was driving on
>> the freeway yesterday and it died (the guage showed between E and 1/4
>[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>> help would be appreciated. The car was as-is so "take it back to the
>> dealer" would not be an appropriate answer. Thanks in advance.
>
>-------------------------
>
>As Gordon mentioned, inspect the tank carefully for a dent, preventing
>the sensor from falling to the bottom of it's stroke. Carry a gas can.
>Run a bottle of injector cleaner thru that puppy anyhow . . Who knows if
>it's been done lately.
>
>'Curly'


--
Message posted via http://www.carkb.com

"High" > wrote in message
...
> My daughter bought a 2000 Accord EX V6 on Saturday. She was driving on
> the freeway yesterday and it died (the guage showed between E and 1/4
> and the low fuel light hadn't come on). She called triple A and after a
> 2 hour wait they arrived, put in 1 gallon of gas and it started right
> up. When she filled the tank it only took 11 gallons of gas. I'm new to
> Honda's so I'm asking here if this may be a common problem. My guess is
> a weak fuel pump or a semi-clogged filter but maybe you knowlegable
> people have a different explanation of what it could be? I have a fuel
> pressure tester but no specs on what it should read for this car. Any
> help would be appreciated. The car was as-is so "take it back to the
> dealer" would not be an appropriate answer. Thanks in advance.

I have heard of tanks deforming because the vent system is plugged. Sure
sounds like the tank is the problem.

TWW wrote:
> "High" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>My daughter bought a 2000 Accord EX V6 on Saturday. She was driving on
>>the freeway yesterday and it died (the guage showed between E and 1/4
>>and the low fuel light hadn't come on). She called triple A and after a
>>2 hour wait they arrived, put in 1 gallon of gas and it started right
>>up. When she filled the tank it only took 11 gallons of gas. I'm new to
>>Honda's so I'm asking here if this may be a common problem. My guess is
>>a weak fuel pump or a semi-clogged filter but maybe you knowlegable
>>people have a different explanation of what it could be? I have a fuel
>>pressure tester but no specs on what it should read for this car. Any
>>help would be appreciated. The car was as-is so "take it back to the
>>dealer" would not be an appropriate answer. Thanks in advance.
>
>
> I have heard of tanks deforming because the vent system is plugged. Sure
> sounds like the tank is the problem.
>
>
Thanks all for your input. I finally got a chance to inspect the tank,
and sure enough the tank is pushed up about 4 inches and there is an
imprint of a floor jack in the bottom. Anyone have info on how to change
tanks?

Man that SUCKS! First thing to do would be to locate a good used one from a
wrecker. It will probably still be on the vehicle, so it will give you a
good opportunity to see how it comes off, and you can just use the reverse
logic to put it on.

I'm sure a Honda Shop manual would have better details on how to do this,
they are floating around for free on the net, or available for $50-80 on
different websites that sell books.

t

High wrote:
>>>My daughter bought a 2000 Accord EX V6 on Saturday. She was driving on
>>>the freeway yesterday and it died (the guage showed between E and 1/4
>[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>> I have heard of tanks deforming because the vent system is plugged. Sure
>> sounds like the tank is the problem.
>
>Thanks all for your input. I finally got a chance to inspect the tank,
>and sure enough the tank is pushed up about 4 inches and there is an
>imprint of a floor jack in the bottom. Anyone have info on how to change
>tanks?


--
Message posted via CarKB.com
http://www.carkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...-cars/200507/1

High wrote:
> Thanks all for your input. I finally got a chance to inspect the tank,
> and sure enough the tank is pushed up about 4 inches and there is an
> imprint of a floor jack in the bottom.

Too bad the car was just purchased--it would be satisfying to take it
back to the last schmuck that worked on it and have them replace the
tank they damaged through negligence. Oh well...