When gas tank gauge is half full and I come to a hard stop and sometimes when moving, my car stalls, acts as though it was out of gas. I had a fuel tank sending unit replaced and it still does it. My car is a 1988 Honda Prelude SI with 170,000 miles.

Two possibilities come to mind. a weak fuel pump. You’ll need to test the line pressure. A full tank could be providing enough “head pressure” (from the weight of the gas) on the pump pickup to help it be able to maintain fuel flow, but ehen the tank gets low and the head pressure drops the pump …

Let us know how you make out. We do care.

I would be happy to keep you posted, again, many thanks.

Are you aying that 3 or more mechanics duplicated this condition,were allowed to spend, lets say one hour looking the car over and not one had any idea what was wrong? In my day letting a car with a sympton that was both so significant and easily duplicated get away from you not repaired was cause t…

How do you get the car restarted after the engine quits? If it is a case of a blockage not allowing air into the tank as the fuel is used, you might try opening the gas cap. You may hear a rush of air into the tank. That would at least narrow the list of possible problems,

I’m confused: you said “car stalls only when half full.” Literally meaning, it runs fine with more fuel, or less fuel–it only acts up at precisely 1/2 tank. Assuming you meant “car stalls only when half full or less,” that, plus the fact that it stalls when decelerating, makes me think that the fue…

The part about changing the fuel tank sender is a bit fuzzy and puzzling to me. A sender only provides a signal to the gas gauge; it does not have anything to do with the way the car runs. Other than a potential fuel pump issue, there are a number of things that could cause this. Idle Air Valve pr…

I presume that the fuel pump and sending unit are a a single unit, right? That eliminates the possibility that it is a pump, a pickup sock, or tubing inside the tank. Does this car have a ‘split’ fuel tank with half on either side of the spare tire cavity? If so, there must be some sort of mechan…

I have only done about 7 or 8 fuel pump, sending unit, or internal line replacements but I have never seen one where the pump, lines and sending unit were not all separate.

Car stalls only when gas tank is half full

Maintenance/Repairs

jgarvey November 18, 2010, 9:41pm 3

I don’t know the protocal about answering but here goes…thank you for your intelligent and quick answer. I have been to three mechanics and the dealer and have not gotten any diagnosis or solution that was anything but, at best, a guess. Now I will try and find a mechanic that will run this down properly in that I feel armed with adequate information. I thank you so much. Sincerely, Judy

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Car stalls only when gas tank is half full

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