Bad fuel gauge or what cause i just walked 5 miles to get gas

Astrosfan

Last night i was about 3 dots from being totally empty and had 24mi left according to my fuel gauge. I turned a corner, WOT through 1 and half of 2nd and then nothing......rolled to a stop, checked for oil leaks, ect....nothing!

Walked/jogged 5 miles home to get more gas.

WTF happened! I would assume i had at least a gallon left to get to the gas station next to my house!

Anyways, Put some more gas in it and its fine(i think). Im going to the dealership Saturday anyway to get another key(bought it used and they gave me only one key and tried to get away with it).

Any thoughts?

dmhenderson

It has been my experience that the 370 fuel gauge is wonky. I've had it go from 3 "dots" to the warning/no gas left display at a light. Don't trust it.

You shouldn't be running it dry anyway if you like your fuel pump.

m4a1mustang

Fuel starvation. The Z has trouble making sharp turns on low fuel.

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Mike

^
Especially if it was a right hand turn. You would just need to completely power down the car, then restart.

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ChrisSlicks

Sometimes it won't restart if you are still pointing slightly uphill. You might have to shake the car or turn it around to get fuel to the pickup. Regardless I've learnt to avoid WOT if I'm at 1/4 tank or below as I don't like walking that far

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JACKPAC

It's been my experience that I will get around equal milage from having 5 dots as I will get from the last 4 dots! As in, 50 miles while on 5 dots and as soon as it goes down to 4 I have about 50 miles to empty.

spearfish25

I wonder if Nissan knows about this issue. It certainly does affect the cars on the street during regular driving.

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Cheech

Being an "anal retentive" type of guy, I log every drop of gas that goes into the vehicle, and know almost to the drop when I'll run out (my wife hates this!!). Fortunately she can't see the low fuel warning (or has chosen to ignore by now).

If one is a fairly consistent driver, you should be able to know by your trip meter how many miles (kilometers) you have left, or by the number of beads of sweat on your brow (inversely proportional to the fuel guage) as the tank runs dry.

ChrisSlicks

Yes, but with fuel starvation none of this applies. You have fuel in the tank but because it isn't near the fuel pump pickup you can't use it. If you drive slow and cautious you can run it down to fumes, but drive it hard and you'll get a big surprise.

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Astrosfan

Yep, learned that first hand. Ive run it to one dot before. Even after letting it sit for 20mins it wouldn't start!

TypeOne

You don't have a cell phone?

chuckd05

happened to me a few times... 3 dots is the cutoff for me now..

right turns and uphill are def the triggers in my situations...

rather inconvenient but avoidable

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Astrosfan

i do, but by the time anyone could get to me i would have been home. Plus, i needed the exercise, its only 5 miles

joseZhartford

watch this video from burnout radio and he talks about ur problem at 5:10 mins YouTube - Nissan 370Z Nismo Review