quarter tank of gas left = car shutoff?

So ever since I bought my 94 accord, with 130k miles, I have had a problem, and one problem only (thank god) - ever time my gas reaches quarter tank or below, the car shuts off when I do certain things.

The certain things are:

When I come to a kinda of quick stop from high speeds, or even sometiems low speeds (the rpm drops then sometimes goes back up, but sometimes it just drops all the way and the car shuts off)

Second is when I have the ac on and its quarter tank and below, the car shuts down whenever I stop.

Is this a common problem or what? It is really annoying and embaressing when you have to turn on your car when your the first car behind a green light

Someones got to have some kinda answer to this question, I''ve never had that kinda problem my self - so I dont have any answers..
 
                             WheelBrokerAng 

Thanks for the fallacy of begging the questions lmao.
 
well it CAN be a few things:
 
1) the fuel pump
 
2) the fuel sensor
 
3) something else I forgot :D

It could also be the keyswitch. As you decelerate, the keys may swing and cause the switch to open and shut car down. I have had a very similar problem w/ my 94 EX, but it is so intermittent that I can''t be sure, but suspect keyswitch.
 
This is a tricky problem to isolate between, Main Fuel Relay, Fuel Pump, and Keyswitch. I used a tell-tale light rigged to the fuel pump power supply line to verify I was not getting fuel pump run when power was applied. That cured a frequent, intermittent no-start, however I have since had a very rare (months apart) failure after heavy decleration at highway speed w/ low fuel. In main lanes of Houston traffic, this is a hair raising experience until it restarts in neutral while coasting(always thankfully).
 
A tell-tale light rigged to ignition power wire at distributor (blk/yel usually) should confirm if keyswitch is failing.
 
good luck

The inlet for the fuel pump (in the tank) has a kind of nozzle & screen.  If that falls off, then the pump inlet is not down at the bottom of the tank.  It probably starts sucking air at about 1/4 tank.
 
Anyone know whether this is possible?  I dont remember hearing much about it so its not real likely but maybe??
 

Fuel pump is in a baffle (tube w/ small holes at bottom) should trap fuel to prevent loss of fuel supply due to sloshing or deceleration. Still it might be possible for fuel level to get low enough to cause a problem under deceleration.
 
good luck

I''m wondering if you''re absolutely certain that a 1/4 tank of gas is left when your fuel gauge is reading 1/4.  I used to cut it really close before filling up, and when the tank was really empty, even parking a slight downhill would make it hard to start, and there''d be a cut-out around corners.  If you''re actually running lower than you think it could be problem.

could also be a malfunction with the fuel guage itself.  when it hits a quarter tank it could be sticking and then giving an inaccurate fuel read.  but wouldnt the gas light come on when it got too low?
 

I am having the same problem, however mine involves stalling going down hill.  94 EX W/ 132K.  Got the car from my dad and he said that he just has been keeping more than a quarter tank in it.  Not really an option trying to sell so if anyone actually knows whats going on, I would love to hear. I guessing the fuel pump. 
 
thank you.

Same problem happened to an older buick of mine. Since it is a pressurized system, it shouldn''t matter if the gas is sloshing about, but if there is a leak somewhere (talking vacuum leak here, not gas) it won''t be able to suck the gas through the lines. Also; like someone previously said in this thread, the fuel pump has a bit of a resevior that should protect against that, but it isn''t enough to keep a car running solely on that for more than a few seconds. We are talking like less than 1/2 a pint of gasoline.

I would check the gas guage first like someone else suggested; if it is just that then you are going to save yourself a lot of trouble.
Next I would check for vacuum leaks in your fuel lines, fuel filter, fuel pump, and tank. It also might be as simple as changing the fuel filter, when is that last time you have done that?

I was thinking about giving the fuel filter a change, thats a good idea.  Just seems to me that with little tank in the gas, there has to be a bigger issue than the fuel filter.  Runs like a champ till the gas gets low.  I used to have a 96 accord coupe with an automatic trans and ever since the car had 26K, if you parked on a steep hill with not too much gas in the car, it wouldn''t start.  I''d have to coast it to flat land and start it up.  I was assuming that the fuel pump is taking fuel off the back of the gas tank which assisted the issue, but I really don''t know.  I will post what I find out.  thanks for the input!

Unlikely to be a fuel filter issue, since the problem occurs when decellerating hard or parked downhill. Fuel filter should be a constant problem w/ either drivability symptoms or full-time, no-start.
 
Note, fuel pump is at the back of the tank, so parking downhill would allow fuel to drain away from the fuel trap and would cause a no-start w/ low (?) fuel level.
 
First step in solving an intermittent stoppage problem is determing whether fuel starvation or loss of ignition power supply is the cause. This is why I suggested the tell-tale light. W/ the light bulb in the cabin on one of the systems, you can immediately see if ignition power or fuel power has been lost. Loss of power to the fuel pump could indicate either loss of ignition power, or loss of Main Fuel Relay power, so monitoring ignition power would be more useful.
 
I used a fuel pump power tell-tale light earlier on my 94EX and was able to confirm that power was available w/ no fuel pump run, so I replaced the fuel pump which resolved w/ the intermittent no-start issue, but I still have the very occasional engine-stoppage while decelerating heavily and low (1/4-1/8) fuel level.
 
good luck

My car engine ran rough when started following being parked on an incline. After a year or so of this the fuel pump failed. The pump was the problem.