Registered: Mar 2003
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 43

I cannot believe nobody has complained about the dumb gas tank. Every time I go to the gas station to fill up, it stops about 3 gal. short of full. I don't think anybody is aware of this. At least I haven't seen any complaint posts.

I have no children. I drive for a living. When I go to the gas station by want to make it worth my while. I am looking for maximum range with minimal amount of stops. I am sure this is not a California only issue.

And all of the Greenpeace activists who are going to complain about spilling fuel can go to a rainforest. I really don't want to hear it....... I'm not talking about it sloshing out of the tank. I'm talking about it not being anywhere near full. It decreases your overall range by almost 100 mi.. it must be some type of design flaw. There's no excuse for it being 3 gal. short of full.

Here is what Member "bhk" else said.
"Filled up today...........it was almost EMPTY, the light never went on! It took 17.355 gallons"

What???? Almost empty and it took just over 17 gal.??? I dare anyone to try and get 21 gal. into their tank. I don't think its possible.

I'm not saying the tank is not built to accept 21 gal.. I because think the design of the tank, its next to near impossible to get all the fuel in to full.

What you will find is the fuel pump just keeps clicking off. I have spent the time and forced the gas in. I went to 17 gal. when the first click came. I was able to get in 3 more gallons with extreme difficulty until I finally gave up. My hand was actually sore from the continual clicking of the pump.

This is so aggravating I can't see straight. And I know there is nothing I can do about it.


Jay M.
Touring Nav/Res

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Registered: May 2005
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 85

I had the same thought. Filled up my tank for the second time over the weekend when the car was near empty. Range said it had approximately 20 miles left. First time I filled up we still had a quarter tank. It took just over 17 gallons. Remember thinking to myself that was a bit strange because the manual indicated 21 gallons. Getting a true fill up would be nice for the extra 80 miles or so.

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Registered: May 2005
Location: Pac NW
Posts: 215

It's highly unlikely you'll ever get a true "full-fill" on any vehicle. Because of the way the fuel pickup is designed (i.e. it's not set up like a kitchen sink drain in the bottom of the tank, it sits up off the bottom to keep you from sucking sediment all the time) plus you have residual fuel in the lines even after the fuel pump has gone dry.

Just about every car on the road is designed with a built in reserve after the gauge reads "E" and the fuel light comes on. On most cars this is about 1 1/2 to 2 gallons. Honda's traditionally have been a little generous with this, but I don't know if there's a specific amount on the '05 Ody like 3 gallons, since I've not run the tank down that far yet.

This is to prevent a whole host of people getting stranded on the road because they just don't pay close attention to their gauges. Also, it's to compensate for any inaccuracies in the gauge/sensor because you don't want the tank to run dry (like going uphill or on a funny corner) and not have the light go on if you've designed it to the ragged edge (2 oz left, only on level ground).

And how do I know about the first part? Ask my brother who ran his car bone dry (sucking air and having the car crap out on him in the middle of the road). According to the trip computer he *still* had a half gallon or a gallon left! (which is how he ran dry because he *thought* he could make it to a gas station on half a gallon)



--> Andy

(edit: Added in Italics)

Last edited by Pahtoe on 06-14-2005 at 07:38 PM

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: So Cal
Posts: 12661

Your MID is wrong. Definitely set up to show less miles available than there really are. You don't want a very low tank in a fuel injected vehicle. And guess what? Topping off has nothing to do with rain forests. Two things happen. One is that fuel is forced into the charcoal canister and the entire evaporative recovery system causing failures and check engine lights. The second, especially in CA is that the fuel starts feeding back into the stations recovery system. So keep topping that tank, only you will loose. How can you make MPG calculations if you top off?

And guess what? the old days are over. Hug a tree for me!

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Registered: Sep 2003
Location: Ohio
Posts: 2250

Keep forcing fuel in and you will soon find out why there is an air bubble when the tank is full. The closed fuel system will suck fuel into the EVAP system and you will have to have it replaced....

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2004 ODY

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Registered: May 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 600

Typical, adjust from metric I never get more than 35 litres in my Corolla's 50 litre tank and 65 litres in my Ody tank which is 80+ litres.....

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Registered: Mar 2005
Location: Houston
Posts: 1120

I mananged to get over 20 gallons in mine but running the pump on slow. I found this out when I set the pump handle to slow while I went in to the store from some coffee and when I came back it had pumped over 20 gallans. And it Texas we do not have to recover things that you do in Calif. If you over fill it just goes all over the ground. I did not have any spills at all. My tank was full and my gauge stayed for a lot longer then normal.

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Registered: Mar 2004
Location: Lubbock TX
Posts: 781

quote:

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Originally posted by jmehren


...
What you will find is the fuel pump just keeps clicking off. I have spent the time and forced the gas in. I went to 17 gal. when the first click came. I was able to get in 3 more gallons with extreme difficulty until I finally gave up. My hand was actually sore from the continual clicking of the pump.
...

---

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2004 Odyssey SSM EX
1993 Toyota Camry

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Registered: Mar 2003
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 43

quote:

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Originally posted by jono
Congratulation!, you have ruined your evap canister. The charcoal inside it is now soaked with gasoline.

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Hmmmm...... A 21gal. tank and it always stops filling 17 gal. even when at 0 miles to go????? Now evap canister ruined over a 4 gal. shortfall???

I understand what you are saying, but I'm right back to the 4 gallon shortage.... I would understand if the gas pump cliicked off at 20.5 gal. or even 20.0 gal. then trying to top that off and ruining your evap canister..... but there is a huge differance between 17 gal. and 21 gal. when filling up from flat empty....

On another note, anybody who says it's bad for the motor/fuel pump by running your tank down to almost empty is wrong. Fuel pumps do not suck gas out from the top. They suck fuel from the bottom of your tank and pump the gas up. No matter what, you are going to suck sediment off the bottom of your tank. Whether or not your tank is completely full or completely empty.

Besides, hopefully the gas station you are using has decent fuel filters in-line and you also have the Honda fuel filter.

Oh, one more thing, I always drive cars under warranty. If I ever had a problem with anything like this it's going back to Honda.

But the sediment at the bottom of the tank is totally off subject. The issue here is, never being able to get a full tank in the Odyssey. I know for a fact I could get at least another 30 to 40 mi. with an extra 4 gal. (Give or take a little).

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Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Location, Location
Posts: 1510

quote:

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Originally posted by jmehren
Oh, one more thing, I always drive cars under warranty. If I ever had a problem with anything like this it's going back to Honda.

---

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2002 EX - Transmission replaced at 84,000km (52,000 miles). Sold at 104,000km.

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Registered: Mar 2005
Location: NJ
Posts: 122

As a sidebar, here in NJ we don't have self serve and you are at the mercy of the gas station attendents who tend to click their way to rounding up to the next dollar so there is no change to be dealt with on the bill and the tip.

Anyhow, so yesterday my wife asked this attendent at the Mobil to fill-er-up and yes it stops between 17 and 18 gallons. But the idiot forgot put the cap on altogether! It was left dangling and my wife also did not notice it until reaching home.

Luckily there are no scratches on the body from the cap but no fuel seemed to have sloshed out. Anyone know if this would have caused any problem on a dry sunny day? Thanks.

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Registered: Sep 2003
Location: Ohio
Posts: 2250

21 gallons is the volume of the tank, not the volume of usable gas. Other things are involved like expansion of the gas, the evap system. Also tha accuracy of the pump is not necessarily that great. I made a formal complaint once when I put 14 gallons in a 12 gallon tank at a cut rate station. If you force the tank full as the gas warms up and expands it will force gas to the EVAP and ruin it.

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2004 ODY

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location: Brentwood, TN
Posts: 893

quote:

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Originally posted by Ody-sama
As a sidebar, here in NJ we don't have self serve and you are at the mercy of the gas station attendents who tend to click their way to rounding up to the next dollar so there is no change to be dealt with on the bill and the tip.

---

What? You TIP the gas station attendant?

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Current Hondas:  2005 CR-V EX-SE, Pewter Pearl; 2001 Odyssey EX-NAVI, Starlight Silver
Previous Hondas: 1997 Accord EX-L Forest Green; 1992 Accord EX, White; 1982 Accord DX hatchback, Silver
Hobby:  geocaching

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Registered: May 2005
Location: Pac NW
Posts: 215

The sediment remark is not off subject. The point of it was because of the way the fuel pickup is designed there is fuel left in the tank even when you *think* you've run empty. This was also the point of my comment about my brother "running out of gas" even though the trip computer (and subsequently the amount of gas he was able to pump in later) both agreed he had fuel left even through the car stopped.

Did you try to fill and get 17gal when the van had stopped bone cold dry, or just when the gauge read Empty? I guarantee you there is still fuel left the moment the needle drops to "E". Even my old '60's Chevy had a reserve built in after the gauge ran empty (at 10mpg, thank God! )

William also makes a valid comment about there being some air on top because of expansion/sloshing.

In Oregon we're also at the mercy of the pump jockeys, and more than once I've had fuel slosh out past a vented cap because the guy was overeager with the topping off. One comedic incident occured back when I had that old Chevy. The filler was behind the license plate, and at a shallow angle, which meant that when the guy tried to overfill, it literally vomited gas right back at him!

Needless to say he didn't try to top off my car after that.

--> Andy

Last edited by Pahtoe on 06-15-2005 at 04:54 PM

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: So Cal
Posts: 12661

So what part of the MID is wrong don't you get? Just because it says you have only 20 miles or even 0 miles left doesn't mean your tank is completely empty. You seem like the kind of guy who is never going to be happy until you run the thing completely dry and then fill it. If you did that you might get 19.5 in there. It reads empty exactly where Honda wanted it to. This works for the majority of the owners. Having a large margin of fuel left has saved my a** more than once. I do not want it redesigned to please you. And how do you figure mileage if you top off? By the way, topping off is illegal in our state.

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