Hello,
First off, great forum folks. My bro gave me his 92 Accord EX Automatic. Sat in SC for 2-3 years. When I got it I did the regular tune up stuff
1. Changed the spark plugs
2. Changed the Distribution Cap
3. Changed the Oil, Oil Filter, Air filter and Fuel filter
4. Misc: Changed the TCU due to no shifting from 3 to 4. resolved now.
5. Changed transmission fluid

I noticed an issue that when I get to about a half tank of gas the car stalls when I'm traveling above 40 miles and drop to around 20-30mph. The idle just fluctuates down to under 500 rpm and when I press on the gas that's when it stalls. No issues re-starting just dangerous in heavy traffic.

Tried looking it up. A couple of folks have reported same issue. No resolution on those threads.

Could it be a corroded tank? fuel pump starting to go?
Kindly advise and TIA.
Dmx.

 

When you changed the distributor cap, how did the rotor look? Or did you change that too?

Honda idle-control system can be kinda finicky about how it's set up, and dropping from higher RPM is a difficult control action. Anything like a vacuum leak, or air in the cooling system, together with a mechanic who simply wants to grab a screwdriver & set the idle RPM can cause stuff like that. Check this out:
https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/for...e-speed-38734/

Seems like fuelpump problems should show up when the demand for fuel is highest, like during accelerating.

 

Thanks! Sorry...did change the rotor...will check setting the base idle...just curious though why consistently it would only occurr at half-tank...

 

Right, an idle-control problem doesn't really fit with the 1/2-tank behavior. But it's an easy check to do and it's quite popular for base idle to be messed up anyway.

Hoping someone else chimes in with a good idea about the 1/2-tank behavior. The fuel pump in the tank has a kind of suction tube to get fuel from the bottom of the tank. If that falls off, your pump would suck air when it gets below about 1/3 tank. But in that case you would have all kinds of trouble starting it back up.

 

an idea, not really a good one - while you're trying to resolve issue, I'd suggest a test:
open the gas tank cap at ~60% tank to let air pressure equalize (like 5 seconds) and see if this makes a difference.

 

Could it be the fuel system? When the tank is half empty, maybe there isn't enough weight to allow for sufficient flow of fuel? Just a thought. I admit I have no idea how the fuel system works.

I'd try to apply one of the fuel system cleaner solutions available at Walmart.

 

The fuel pump is mounted from the top of the tank, this means that the weight of the fuel has no effect on the performance of the pump. I had the same problem in my 93. What happens is when the pump starts to go bad and is exposed to air during deceleration the pump will shut off. What i did to reinsure that it was the fuel pump was to test the pressure at full tank and at half tank and under. I found that the pressure was off at below half tank. I replaced the pump and havent had a problem since. I did a list of other things before hand which were helpful yet unsuccessful which led me to believe it was my pump.