1990 Honda Accord LX, runs out of gas after filling the tank?

I have a 4 cylinder Honda Accord LX. I filled up the tank with 11 dollars worth of gas. I ran it for a while, then it stops cause it ran out of fuel. I fill it up with 11 dollars again. My whole dashboard doesnt work, the tachometer, the the odometer and fuel gauge dont work. In fact the fuel gauge stays on full. The RPM sometimes works. I dont know what might be causing the running out of fuel? I think something is preventing the flow of the rest of the gasoline to go through cause only 1/4 of the tanks runs out while I still have 3/4 tank left. Is it the fuel pump, fuel filter, the fuel pump relay, the injectors or what? Please let me know asap.



Steve Says,

Thanks for asking me your fuel question.

First of all, there is no way for me to know for sure what is causing your problem without being able to run some tests. I'll tell you what some of these diagnostic tests are so you can do them if you want.

The first thing I would do (if it hasn't been replaced recently) if replace your fuel filter. They are fairly cheap and need to be replaced periodically. I'm not sure that is what it causing your problem but they can cause similar fuel system problems.

If your car still stalls then you need to check your fuel pressure (this will tell you if your fuel pump is bad). You need to either buy or borrow (some auto parts stores will loan you a tool) a fuel pressure gauge for your car. You also need to find out what the fuel pressure is supposed to be for your car. You should be able to find that from the auto parts store of you could ask your local auto repair shop. Then hook the fuel pressure gauge into the fuel lines and try to start the car. See what the pressure reads. If it is low then you most likely have a fuel pump problem (if you have not replaced the fuel filter by the time you do this test you need to do that first).

It is not likely that the fuel injectors are bad. They usually do not just stop working, they usually get worse and worse over time and they usually don't all go bad at once so I don't think I would put too much effort into checking them.

Feel free to leave me a comment with the results from this test and I can help you more. Please let me know when you have this problem figured out too.