i just replaced my '89 civic with an '04 civic, and i love it, EXCEPT...

does anyone else find that the fuel gauge fluctuates wildly when below about a quarter tank? this happened in my old car too, but not nearly as badly. yesterday i had a quarter tank until i sat pointing uphill at a stop light for a couple minutes. when i pulled away the gauge flatlined, the fuel light came on, and it stayed that way for several miles before finally creeping back up to 1/4. later the same thing happened and i decided to fill the tank, just to be safe, and find out how much gas i ACTUALLY had (over 3 gallons, it turned out), despite the "empty" reading. is this typical of civics, or is mine especially bad? is it a fixable problem?

also, it took me a while to notice this, because it's faint, but the dashboard on the passenger side is fading unevenly, getting lighter on the passenger airbag cover and on the dash around it. has anyone else had this issue, does it get worse, and what (if anything) have you done about it?

any input would be appreciated!

 

If it's under warranty still, you should probably just take it to the dealer.

 

I believe all Civic/Teg fuel gauges are similarly odd in that respect. The plummet very quickly and take a good while to raise back up. I have had 3 different gauge clusters in my civic (2 civic, 1 integra) and when I toss it around a corner or am experiencing a hill, the fuel gauge will drop substantially and rather quickly. When I level back out, it takes a few seconds for it to creep back up to position. I think it's just the way the sending unit works. :dunno:

 

i agree...in my 94 hatch it plumits very quickly and slowly raises when going around a corner, accelerating fast, or a hill...in my first 94 hatch i had the 3" tach and it didn't seem to do it as bad, but maybe i'm just not remembering correctly...maybe i had the same problem with my toyota camry as well...i guess that's just how the japanese do it? to scare you into buying gas?

 

my gauges do the same thing and i have a 2000 si and 2000 ex. not really sure the deal with the dash though. armor all?

 

:werd: my '98 Civic does the same thing. When the tank is full, you have to put a shitload of miles on it before it budges from the "F", and when you get down to 1/4 tank, it dances all over the place.

 

:werd: I go on the highway around 80mph and it seems to eat fuel like crazy but then when I slow down it goes back up...