My 91 Accord will run great when its full, but as soon as it gets to half a tank or less, it dies when I let off the gas, put on the brake, and/or put it in neutral.

I've been told that it could either be that my gas gauge is WAYYY off, that my fuel pump is going out, that I may have a bad gas cap, or something about a hose at the gas tank sucking in air or something?

Any ideas?


And thanks for any helpful comments.

 

When it gets to half a tank does the amount required to fill it up correspond with the size of the tank?

 

When you unscrew the cap, do you hear a pssssssh sound of pressure relieving? You might have a bad cap. They check them here in Colorado for emissions, but your local auto parts store might be able to check it like they do radiator caps.

Go to the bank and take out a loan so you can fill it clear up once. If it takes 16 to 17 gallons and it said half full, you have a bad guage or sending unit.

What happens after it dies? Will it restart or do you have to add fuel before it will run again?

 

When it is at about a half, it doesn't take but about $10-15 to fill. I've had it on "E" before and it took about $30-35.

Now I do hear what it appears to be alot of air coming out when I take the cap off. It does start right back up when I crank it. It runs fine and idles fine, but while in motion, and i'm off the gas and coming to a stop or just off the gas period it dies.

 

First, short your service connector and post any error codes.

I would hook up a fuel pressure gauge when you are having the problems. Low fuel pressure could be due to a bad fuel pump, clogged fuel filter, or bad pressure regulator.

 

Short my connectors?

 

Find the little two-pin blue connector below and right of your glove box. It may still be taped to the harness. The connector will have nothing connected to it currently.

Then take a paper clip and cut it so it is a U-shaped loop about 3/4 inch long. Use the part of the paper clip that closely matches the spacing between the two female contacts in the connector.

Turn off the key. Short said connector with the paper clip. Turn on the key and watch for the check engine light to flash. Count the flashes, and don't worry if you miss a sequence, it will repeat over and over. Long flash = 10, short flash = 1. Long pause = next number coming up. There are lots of posts on here how to do it. When you get the codes, post them here and someone will tell you exactly what they mean.

I think your fuel pickup line has a hole in it, or something's wrong there. Could also be a bad fuel pump.

 

That's what I would do too. Does the fuel pressure drop just before it stalls?

 

When was the last time that the fuel filter was changed? If it's been a while then changing that is cheap and it may fix your problem. I would say diagnose before you start just putting parts into the car but if the fuel filter needs changed anyway then start there.... it sounds more like a problem with the pickup line to me but you never know until you diagnose...

 

I had a very similar problem - check out the thread here https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/m_46472/tm.htm

My fuel tank was corroded beyond repair, and clogging the pickupstrainer- I got this car after it sat in my buddy's backyard for a year.