Bad Fuel Gauge

[bhind]

I just recently purchased a 2002 Insight that had body damage. It had been hit high is the tail gate area. I had the car fixed and everything works great except the fuel gauge. When I picked up the car from the body shop the low fuel light was on and there was two ticks left to empty. I filled the tank but the meter did not change. Once the two ticks were gone they have not returned and the low fuel light is still on. I was wondering if anyone has had a similar problem and would have a recommendation? Is it possible that the accident caused the tank float or measuring devise to stick? If so, will I need to drop the tank to replace?

[allitt]

My car has just been repaired from a similar rear end crash. the fuel gauge did not work at all and the insurance paid another 2K to replace the dashboard panel as well as 12 hourse of labor to remove move components onto the new panel and them reinstall. The kicker is the gauge now show a reading that is 3/4 of a tank high when it is in fact empty. This electronic setup is truely one weakness of the 1st gen car.

[linkrod]

I purchased a salvaged 2000 Insight that had been hit on the drivers rear side. It had a fuel guage that was reading about half fuel when in fact it was empty. The problem turned out to be a broken fuel gauge sending unit. The sending unit is located in the gas tank. I purchased a used fuel pump unit on carpart.com. (Sending unit is a intergral part of the pump). I installed it myself and now the gauge works perfectly. The pump can be installed without removing the gas tank. It is located behind the drivers seat and does take time to replace the unit but not overly complicated.

[bhind]

Thanks for the info. I will track down a pump and give it a shot.

[Insightful Trekker]

When I purchased my sending unit it was avaiable seperately from the pump assembly. I'd recommend saving the $$$.

But alas, I checked 2 different online Honda parts sites and it appears it has now been "bundled" with the pump assembly. I'll see if I can dig-up the old PN. Expect a follow-up reply on Friday, 11.20.09

A "hard" slosh in the tank from an accident is all that is required to "tweak" the sender to the point of no return. No you can't see any damage either. Been there, done that, got the "broken" sender to prove it.

Linkrod is correct tank removal is not required.

HTH!

[bhind]

Thanks for the information. I purchased a fuel pump off ebay for $25. When I went to install it became apparent that the two were different. I later found out that the fuel pump for the CVT is different from the manual trans. I was able to switch the fuel sending units between the two pumps, reinstall and now it works great.