I hate my gas tank... grrrrrrrr.

[LincolnW]

I suppose this is just a vent more or less...

I just hate how much faster the second half of the tank goes than the first.

I get all excited because I get so many miles to the top half, then the needle seems to drop like a bomb on the second half. Since I only calculate my mileage when I fill up, it gets my hopes up to get 250 miles to the first half... then 60 miles later I am at 1/4 tank.

Anyways, I'm at 310 miles right now, and have about 1/4 tank left. I wish I could get 250 from the first half and 250 from the second half. Oh well, maybe once I perfect my driving techniques a little more...

I wish there were an FE driving class, or someone that could drive with me for a day and give me pointers on what I could be doing to increase my FE a bit. My boost/vac gauge should be here soon, hopefully that will help me modulate my throttle a bit better.

[FormulaTwo]

Yes, that is def annoying.
As of right now im sitting at 310miles, a little under half a tank.
But im sure in 70 more miles the needle will slam down and ill be filling up at 380
haha

must be somethin with hondas

[philmcneal]

type out exactly what you go through (like lights, how long the distance is, conditions of roads?)

are you still stopping at red lights? if yes you got to slow down a lot more! remember you want that light to turn green on you by the time you approach it, so slow down and time that light!

[ketel0ne]

Originally Posted by philmcneal

type out exactly what you go through (like lights, how long the distance is, conditions of roads?)

are you still stopping at red lights? if yes you got to slow down a lot more! remember you want that light to turn green on you by the time you approach it, so slow down and time that light!

I find the hardest thing about the red lights are the 2 lanes of 30-35 cars each already sitting at them.

[LincolnW]

Originally Posted by philmcneal

type out exactly what you go through (like lights, how long the distance is, conditions of roads?)

are you still stopping at red lights? if yes you got to slow down a lot more! remember you want that light to turn green on you by the time you approach it, so slow down and time that light!

Haha... the funny thing is, I actually try to do this. You know what happens? People speed ahead of me and get over into my lane in front of me, which makes me have to stop anyways. lol

It's like in traffic when I try to play it just right so that I never come to a stop. I end up leaving enough room in front of me so that I can drive at a slow pace... then people see the gap and shoot over into my lane and slam on their brakes.

I know what you mean though, I will work on that.

[rh77]

I've had this problem with every Honda I've owned. I think the tank is shaped like a trapezoid with the smaller part at the bottom (or the sensor/voltage is messed up). I don't think it's the driver...

RH77

[JanGeo]

Yeah I hear ya - I get about 90 miles to get to the full mark when I top off the tank then when the light come on at E there is 2 gallons left but the last 1/4 tank is about 1 gallon and about 2 gallons from half to 1/4 tank and 6 gallons from half to full full. The problem is you really can't use the reserve to the end without possible damage to the fuel pump. My Geo used to go below the red line and stop moving when it really got low and even then it would be pumping air in the gas that it did pump. I remember putting in 10.7 gallons into a 10.9 gallon tank once in PA on a trip.

[rh77]

Originally Posted by JanGeo

Yeah I hear ya - I get about 90 miles to get to the full mark when I top off the tank then when the light come on at E there is 2 gallons left but the last 1/4 tank is about 1 gallon and about 2 gallons from half to 1/4 tank and 6 gallons from half to full full. The problem is you really can't use the reserve to the end without possible damage to the fuel pump. My Geo used to go below the red line and stop moving when it really got low and even then it would be pumping air in the gas that it did pump. I remember putting in 10.7 gallons into a 10.9 gallon tank once in PA on a trip.

If I hit 200 miles at the 1/2 way mark, then I know I'm on track (33-34 mpg), despite the "drop like a rock" style of the gauge after that. I just think that the low Cd, efficiency of the auto trans at 50-60, and the gear ratio justs makes it better to cruise at "DWL"/low-constant throttle and let the speed scrub off on the highway hills. When getting the car moving from a stop in town, the FE sinks hard. I got 42.6 mpg on the 52 mile journey from the airport today. Now when I test it in town tomorrow, it'll be around 26

RH77

[DracoFelis]

Originally Posted by 90CivicStandard

I get all excited because I get so many miles to the top half, then the needle seems to drop like a bomb on the second half. Since I only calculate my mileage when I fill up, it gets my hopes up to get 250 miles to the first half... then 60 miles later I am at 1/4 tank.

FWIW: The fuel gauge on my CRX does this too. And IMHO that's not a problem with the tank, so much as a problem with the silly gauge. And yes, it is annoying that the silly thing is very non-linear.

OTOH as long as you are aware of this effect, you can mentally compensate for it. For example, if I don't get at least 200 miles by "the 1/2 way mark", I can pretty much tell that my FE will "suck" on that tank. OTOH if I get 250-300 miles by that mark, I'm on my way toward getting another 40+ mpg tank...

Bottom line, I look at the "fuel gauge" as a crude (and non-linear) measuring tool only. And as such, I consider this a minor annoyance at best. Yes, in absolute terms my fuel gauge is very wrong, but it does move in the right direction (i.e. goes down when I use up fuel, and raises when I add fuel). So all that is needed is to learn how to calibrate/read the gauge (which I now have, by comparing the effects of that non-linear gauge to how many gallons of fuel I add at fillup).

[kickflipjr]

My saturn's tank is fairly even. At 200miles I am on 1/2 tank at 400miles I am out of gas.