nwk00

Mine is erratic. Sometimes two bars, sometimes one. But it always takes about 10 gallon when the refuel light comes on.

HondaGuy347

Yes, the myth is that if you let your gas tank get too low, you will suck up silt/crap from the bottom of your tank. However, I read in the tech section of Road and Track a while back that that isn't true, because the fuel pump always sucks from the bottom of the tank, otherwise you would run out of gas when there was still gas in the tank. They speculated that the myth began when parents told their kids that so the kids didn't leave the parent's cars with no gas in the tank. BTW, with regards to the age/color thing, where are all the 17 and 18 year olds getting their S2K's?? I'm 19, and I have about three years until I get mine! (College graduation)

socal28

My gas gauge seems to be eratic too!
It fluctuates +/- 1 bar. e.g. If my meter is at exactly half, next time I jump in the car, there will be 1 bar added, then goes back down to half mark afer awhile.
Even when I've driven with no bars, stop the car, get back in later, I get 2 bars left, then down to 1 later.
I don't have confidence in my gauge!

Y2K++S2K

I routinley wait until all the bars are gone before I fill up. Why would I want to fill up more often than is necessary. With two gallons left there is plenty of time to get gas at the next stop. I have also never run out of gas in any car I have ever driven.

gregstevens

I actually ran out of gas on the country road one day after all day at Gingerman. Scared me sheetless...I had a hot date that night too, still had a two hour drive back to Chicago... Made it to the date, but the car started right up after putting a couple of gallons in and there was no ill effects of running out. I still catch hell from the people at Gingerman...(rightly so... )

And when my gas light comes on I will fill up and put in 10.3 gallons in. Always...

Sondra S2K

The only time I have run out of gas, I was showing a bar remaining and the fuel light had just come on. I don't remember what it took to fill it, but I clearly remember being annoyed...

The lesson to learn here is that it's better to trust your intuition than a gas gauge. I fill up when I have 2 bars left, and if I've been driving like a bat out of hell, I'll refill it sooner (hard driving makes the gauge less predictable due to sloshing of gas in the tank). During one Hill Country drive, I went from 4 bars to one inside of 5 minutes. That reinforced the idea with me that it was better to go with the noggin!

Da Hapa

I have been unwilling to tempt the automotive gods and have filled up pretty quickly once the gas light comes on (usually two bars left but very sensitive to any incline/decline). I usually have 2 3/4 to 3 gallons left using the 13.2 gallon mark as full.

I believe that the idea of the gas at the bottom of the cars tank being bad is a myth. The fuel pump extracts gas from the bottom of the tank in modern cars. However, on a related note, I can tell you that you should never fill up at a gas station while the truck is dumping fuel into the tanks. There is a tremendous amount of sediment in the UST's (underground storage tanks) that gets stirred up and can cause havoc on your car. How do I know this seemingly useless piece of trivia, you ask? Well... Citigroup provides financing to Exxon, Tosco, BP Amoco, Shell, Texaco and just about everyone under the sun. These guys are the ones who told me.

As to the question about the damage to the fuel pump if the tank is bone dry. An ex-girlfriend once ran out of gas in her late 80's Accord. At that time, Honda had engineered its cars to need some gas in the tank to provide lubrication, et al. At least that is what the dealership told us as they replaced the fuel pump and a couple of other things in the car. Maybe that has changed, maybe not. I wouldn't run the risk.

ScottB

On airplanes they tell you not to because sucking air damages it. Of course there are other more important reasons for not running out of gas in an airplane. I wonder, however, if sucking air in a car can be damaging to the pump or engine.

pcloadletter

My friend ran out of fuel in his 1998 z28 and fried his fuel pump. I know it's not a Honda, so who knows?

shaner

I wouldn't worry about the fuel pump sucking in sediment:
there's a big coarse filter through which the fuel is drawn through. When I took out the fuel pump, I saw a little stuff at the bottom of the tank (I shined a light in the tank) but all particles were too large to fit through the "filter"...