Fuel gauge anomaly ?

[93civicvx]

Hello,
I have a 1993 Civic VX ( purchased in Dec of 2010 w/ 175k on the clock...).
No matter where the fuel gauge is, when I make right hand turns, the gauge "drops" about a quarter of a tank, then slowly resume it's pre-corner position. The Honda dealer says that this is normal ( ! ) I find this hard to believe and was wondering if anyone out there has had this issue and has a solution/remedy for it. I realize that one could just say to replace the sending unit, but looking for less expensive options if one exists.
Thanks,
Douglas

[Frank Lee]

The least expensive option would be to ignore it, and only look at it when it's stabilized. It is normal.

[NachtRitter]

Yep, normal. Happens also when heading up (or down) steep grades. I did what Frank suggested... ignored it, and read only once it's stabilized

[some_other_dave]

For an illustration of why this happens, fill a wide pan about 1/2 way with water. Now tilt it a bit--not so much that the water slops out, but enough to notice. Look at the level of the water in the pan on the "downhill" side. Is it halfway up the side of the pan?

Now tilt the pan the other way, and look at the level of the water on the "uphill" side. Not halfway up the side of the pan, either, is it?

The sender for your fuel gauge is showing you the level of the fuel in the tank near one side or the other. As the fuel sloshes around, the reading changes. Most of the gauges are pretty heavily damped so that they don't react to sudden changes, but if the change goes on for long enough (probably on the order of tens of seconds??) the results will show on the gauge.

Frank's advice is, indeed, the best way to deal with it.

-soD

[Old Tele man]

...it's also one of the initial "signs" that the float-level "pivots" are wearing-out inside the gas tank, causing a much large "change" in signal to the gauge in one (worn) direction than the other (not-worn).

...eventually, the gauge will only seem to "work" when it's full and then become "erratic" as the gas level in the tank goes down.

[93civicvx]

Thanks everyone for the responses ! I do appreciate your alls time.
Old Tele Man - appreciate the "why" it is happening - had my assumptions as to the mechanics of what was going on, but wanted a more definitive answer... Assuming there is no DIY fix action or mod, the only way to solve the issue is to replace the sending unit with a new one, as getting one from the junk yard would be a crap shoot...
As far as just living with it, I launch rockets into space for a living and allowing an anomaly to go unresolved is well, unthinkable ! LOL I wouldn't be able to sleep at night ! LOL I will let it ride for now as I am currently on the quest to resolve safety & mpg issues for the moment, but will get around to the sending unit as the car pays me to drive it ! i.e. I also own a 1991 5.0 Mustang ( purchased new in May of 1991 ) and it only gets 17.5 mpg ( was getting 21.5 mpg with the stock 2:73 gears 'till I dropped in a 3:55 gear in the rear... ). I set up an "excell" ( Numbers program on my iMac ) with functions set up such that every time I put gas in the VX, it tells me how much $ I saved NOT driving the 5.0 !! So, the money "saved" pays for tweaks/mods to the car

[vskid3]

If it were me, I would just leave it and check how many miles the trip odometer has when it's at about half a tank. Then if the sender completely dies, just fill it when you get to that many miles.

[Old Tele man]

Originally Posted by vskid3

If it were me, I would just leave it and check how many miles the trip odometer has when it's at about half a tank. Then if the sender completely dies, just fill it when you get to that many miles.

...I agree, that's what *I* would do, unfortunately, we had two other drivers (wife and teenage daughter) who are not so numerically-consciencious about the odometer readings.

...result? $400 to have the float/sender/pump assembly replaced in our '87 Astro Van.

[SentraSE-R]

I'd hook up an MPGuino if I were the OP.

[Old Mechanic]

My 94 VX did that from day 1 when it had less than 28k original miles in the spring of 2008.

Totally normal and if you replace the sending unit, you are wasting your money.

regards
Mech