state police behind me and got towed, yay love fuel starve!

cossie1600 · 05-05-2012, 12:03 PM

Last night my wife was out, I decided to take the dogs to my friend's place to hang out. As I came off a highway off-ramp (sharp right hand U turn), car suddenly cut out and I had to coast to a stop at the shoulder. Despite numerous attempts , the car refused to start backup. I had about a 1/4 in the tank and 6 LED on the fuel gauge before it happened. Of course once the fuel sloshed to the other side, my gauge was showing 2 LEDs. I must have tried to start the car at least 40 times in the next 15 minutes, yet the car just refused to do so. After sitting for about 10 minutes, I decided to call AAA to have them tow me to a gas station. When they offered to bring gas, I declined because I needed at least 10-15 gallons. Just as I got off the phone with AAA, the state police came and got behind me with his lights up. He proceeded to help me rush the tow truck driver to the scene. While we were waiting, I was explaining him the situation. He was just puzzled at how a nice looking sports car can have a design flaw this big. He was great and he waited with me until the tow truck driver came. There were at least 200-300 cars that had passed me during that time, everyone probably thought I got busted for doing something stupid. Well maybe stupid for buying a car that has a design flaw like this, but then I honestly didn't know about it when I bought the car since everyone only complained about oil temp.

Anyway, the tow truck driver came. He was able to get me to a gas station relatively quickly. Instead of just dropping the car immediately, he allowed me to fuel up while the car was still on the flatbed. 14 gallons later, car was full and it started on top of the flat bed. He proceeded to lower the vehicle and we were both on our way. The incident ate up 1.5 hours of my time, my dogs were scared $hitless as we were sitting on the side of the road. I was probably seen as that road rage maniac who got busted by the police with the police behind me flashing his light. This all happened with 5 gallons of gas in the car.

Moral of the story, don't let the car run down past 3/4 of a tank as fuel starvation can happen at any points lower. If you are lucky, car will pick right back up (which I have had happened many times in the past). Yet if you are unlucky like me, you will end up seeing your car on the back of a flatbed in front of a cop getting towed away.

Please do all Z owners a favor, report the fuel starvation issue to the NHTSA. Hopefully if enough people bitches, NHTSA will look into it and perhaps issue a recall. There is currently no fix for it right now short of replacing the gas tank or keep filling it up all the way.

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

If my wife wasn't pregnant, I would be shopping for another vehicle today. I love the car, but some of these stupid problems just drive me insane

Thechidz · 05-05-2012, 12:26 PM

That sucks

Mt Tam I am · 05-05-2012, 12:33 PM

Fuel starvation is a weird feeling. last month at the track I was low on gas (stupidly knowing this was an issue), about a quarter tank, and a sweeping right turn. I thought I'd shifted into the wrong gear, several seconds later it made a slight popping sound ( or some kind of sound), and all was well again. It happened again on the next lap and then I slowed down on all right handers.

I would think a small reservoir tank in between gas tank and combustion chamber would solve this inexpensively. I am not a mechanic or engineer so what do I know.

Z_ealot · 05-05-2012, 12:41 PM

oddly enough on my 2011 i have never had this issue with fuel starvation even when running on 1/4 tank and making long sweeping right hand turns on an onramp going about 50-60....makes me wonder if nissan secretly addressed this issue in the 2011 and up, guess i'll have to wait for some more 2011 and up owners to chime in.

my2004Z · 05-05-2012, 12:49 PM

I dunno, I have an '09 and have regularly run the tank down below the 1/4 tank mark and have never had a problem even with spirited driving on curvey roads with and without elevation changes. I wonder if there is a problem or defect with a batch of tanks versus the overall design of the gas tank. Someone who has had the problem definitely needs to cut their tank in half and do a video for the rest of us. Any takers?

bloodo · 05-05-2012, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by my2004Z

I dunno, I have an '09 and have regularly run the tank down below the 1/4 tank mark and have never had a problem even with spirited driving on curvey roads with and without elevation changes. I wonder if there is a problem or defect with a batch of tanks versus the overall design of the gas tank. Someone who has had the problem definitely needs to cut their tank in half and do a video for the rest of us. Any takers?

Same here, I have an 09 and ran the car a couple time with one LED left on the high way off ramp/on ramp and never had a problem.

LakeShow · 05-05-2012, 01:21 PM

I have an 11' and had the Fuel lights down to one and one time it showed the dash marks meaning no more gas and didn't turn off. Idk.

christian370z · 05-06-2012, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by my2004Z

I dunno, I have an '09 and have regularly run the tank down below the 1/4 tank mark and have never had a problem even with spirited driving on curvey roads with and without elevation changes. I wonder if there is a problem or defect with a batch of tanks versus the overall design of the gas tank. Someone who has had the problem definitely needs to cut their tank in half and do a video for the rest of us. Any takers?

Ditto, no matter how hard I've pushed the car through hard canyon roads or long sweeping on ramps on near a quarter of a tank and RE-11s, I've never had even a hint of fuel starvation. It's weird to see some owners seem to get fuel starvation so often when others never have a problem.

Bucketlist2012 · 05-06-2012, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christian370z

Ditto, no matter how hard I've pushed the car through hard canyon roads or long sweeping on ramps on near a quarter of a tank and RE-11s, I've never had even a hint of fuel starvation. It's weird to see some owners seem to get fuel starvation so often when others never have a problem.

Ah yes...Some good news...

I just plan to keep the gas tank as full as possible...

I will stay positive that this won't happen, and no complaints until it does..

Good to hear that some people don't get the fuel starve problem..

I do love the 370Z....But I loved my ROCK SOLID 350Z that never ever gave me any problems..

I am hoping my purchase of the 370Z 2009 , turns out the same..

I have bigger issues like Brain and Heart problems...Those are tougher to Fix, haha, so 370Z problems are at the back of the bus, in my world..

Have a great Sunday.

Mike V

Red__Zed · 05-06-2012, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christian370z

Ditto, no matter how hard I've pushed the car through hard canyon roads or long sweeping on ramps on near a quarter of a tank and RE-11s, I've never had even a hint of fuel starvation. It's weird to see some owners seem to get fuel starvation so often when others never have a problem.

everybody has a different understanding of what driving "hard" is...you can take a look at the tank and it tells you pretty much everything you need to know

Red__Zed · 05-05-2012, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z_ealot

oddly enough on my 2011 i have never had this issue with fuel starvation even when running on 1/4 tank and making long sweeping right hand turns on an onramp going about 50-60....makes me wonder if nissan secretly addressed this issue in the 2011 and up, guess i'll have to wait for some more 2011 and up owners to chime in.

you just aren't taking turns long/hard enough. You can definitely still starve an '11 no problem.

A lot of people that have not had an issue simply aren't driving that hard. It is not terribly common on the street, unless you have unfavorable banking/slope.

cossie1600 · 05-05-2012, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mt Tam I am

Fuel starvation is a weird feeling. last month at the track I was low on gas (stupidly knowing this was an issue), about a quarter tank, and a sweeping right turn. I thought I'd shifted into the wrong gear, several seconds later it made a slight popping sound ( or some kind of sound), and all was well again. It happened again on the next lap and then I slowed down on all right handers.

I would think a small reservoir tank in between gas tank and combustion chamber would solve this inexpensively. I am not a mechanic or engineer so what do I know.

Z has a returnless system, very hard to do

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z_ealot

oddly enough on my 2011 i have never had this issue with fuel starvation even when running on 1/4 tank and making long sweeping right hand turns on an onramp going about 50-60....makes me wonder if nissan secretly addressed this issue in the 2011 and up, guess i'll have to wait for some more 2011 and up owners to chime in.

See below

Quote:

Originally Posted by my2004Z

I dunno, I have an '09 and have regularly run the tank down below the 1/4 tank mark and have never had a problem even with spirited driving on curvey roads with and without elevation changes. I wonder if there is a problem or defect with a batch of tanks versus the overall design of the gas tank. Someone who has had the problem definitely needs to cut their tank in half and do a video for the rest of us. Any takers?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cgmg21

Sorry to hear the bad news. Kind of sucks that it took 1.5hrs out of your life, but at least things are back to normal. Oh congrats on your wife being pregnant.

Ty

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhcoss

I have run my 2012 down to the dummy warnings telling me to fuel up and havent had this happen to me. I wasn't even aware this was a problem.. I am going to fuel up more often now

Iit is a fuel pickup issue. The cup that is used to hold fuel is simply too small. It is part of the fuel pump assembley. The whole part should be redesigned. As far as I know, all fuel pump assembly is the same from 09 to 12.

Btw, the problem usually happens when you come out of the corner, not entering the corner since only a small amount of fuel is being held in the cup. If you gun it and use up the fuel inside it, you are sol. You either get a hick up or you have to get towed.

Z has a returnless system, its going to take more work to install another pump. My friend who designed my trailer hitch can do it, but I am hesitant about blowing another 1k in the car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazz-Z

If I had a car that had this issue I would be really peeved, and taking legal action. I almost hesitate to say that I have an '09, and haven't had this problem. I wonder if the guys on the forum that have the fuel starve problem could compare notes on their builds to see if there was a defective lot of fuel pumps that are causing this issue.

Frankly I think that a lot of the other complaints I hear about the Z on this forum is just a bunch of BS grousing about nothing more than individual idiosyncratic irritations, or misinformed expectaion. The fuel starve issue, however is serious and potentially life threatening.

I wasn't driving the Prius, can't do 170......

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenchan

cossie -were you going 170mph and told officer you can go even faster?

kenchan · 05-05-2012, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cossie1600

I wasn't driving the Prius, can't do 170......

gl on the fix.

dirtrat · 05-06-2012, 12:27 PM

I had my 2011 down to ZERO LED's before (By accident) and never had this problem before. The range indicator was totally confused!

houkouonchi · 05-11-2012, 02:28 AM

2010 here. I have had the fuel starvation issue twice (once on the track once off). It surprised me on the one off the track but when it happened to me I lost power for about 10 seconds or so until the engine picked up again so I didn't let the car come to a complete stop and wasn't a huge inconvenience both times. I didn't think i was low enough for it to happen in both situations though.

05-05-2012, 12:03 PM	#1 (permalink)
cossie1600 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: californee way Posts: 5,380 Drives: 370, Leaf Rep Power: 30	state police behind me and got towed, yay love fuel starve! Last night my wife was out, I decided to take the dogs to my friend's place to hang out. As I came off a highway off-ramp (sharp right hand U turn), car suddenly cut out and I had to coast to a stop at the shoulder. Despite numerous attempts , the car refused to start backup. I had about a 1/4 in the tank and 6 LED on the fuel gauge before it happened. Of course once the fuel sloshed to the other side, my gauge was showing 2 LEDs. I must have tried to start the car at least 40 times in the next 15 minutes, yet the car just refused to do so. After sitting for about 10 minutes, I decided to call AAA to have them tow me to a gas station. When they offered to bring gas, I declined because I needed at least 10-15 gallons. Just as I got off the phone with AAA, the state police came and got behind me with his lights up. He proceeded to help me rush the tow truck driver to the scene. While we were waiting, I was explaining him the situation. He was just puzzled at how a nice looking sports car can have a design flaw this big. He was great and he waited with me until the tow truck driver came. There were at least 200-300 cars that had passed me during that time, everyone probably thought I got busted for doing something stupid. Well maybe stupid for buying a car that has a design flaw like this, but then I honestly didn't know about it when I bought the car since everyone only complained about oil temp. Anyway, the tow truck driver came. He was able to get me to a gas station relatively quickly. Instead of just dropping the car immediately, he allowed me to fuel up while the car was still on the flatbed. 14 gallons later, car was full and it started on top of the flat bed. He proceeded to lower the vehicle and we were both on our way. The incident ate up 1.5 hours of my time, my dogs were scared $hitless as we were sitting on the side of the road. I was probably seen as that road rage maniac who got busted by the police with the police behind me flashing his light. This all happened with 5 gallons of gas in the car. Moral of the story, don't let the car run down past 3/4 of a tank as fuel starvation can happen at any points lower. If you are lucky, car will pick right back up (which I have had happened many times in the past). Yet if you are unlucky like me, you will end up seeing your car on the back of a flatbed in front of a cop getting towed away. Please do all Z owners a favor, report the fuel starvation issue to the NHTSA. Hopefully if enough people bitches, NHTSA will look into it and perhaps issue a recall. There is currently no fix for it right now short of replacing the gas tank or keep filling it up all the way. https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ If my wife wasn't pregnant, I would be shopping for another vehicle today. I love the car, but some of these stupid problems just drive me insane

05-05-2012, 12:26 PM	#2 (permalink)
Thechidz A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: NY Posts: 1,009 Drives: Nissan 370z Monti Bl Rep Power: 16	That sucks __________________ I <3 my car

05-05-2012, 12:33 PM	#3 (permalink)
Mt Tam I am A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: California Posts: 10,709 Drives: 370Z T/S/N 6MT & XKE Rep Power: 3843	Fuel starvation is a weird feeling. last month at the track I was low on gas (stupidly knowing this was an issue), about a quarter tank, and a sweeping right turn. I thought I'd shifted into the wrong gear, several seconds later it made a slight popping sound ( or some kind of sound), and all was well again. It happened again on the next lap and then I slowed down on all right handers. I would think a small reservoir tank in between gas tank and combustion chamber would solve this inexpensively. I am not a mechanic or engineer so what do I know. __________________ "Does the carpet match the drapes? NO!!! I don't date bald women." Nissan Motorsports 34R Oil Cooler. Stillen CBE. Hotchkis Sport Sway Bars. KW Variant 3 Coilover System. Stillen Gen3 CAI. Michelin Pilot Super Sport. Stillen Brake Ducts. Carbotech™ XP10/XP8 Pads. Z1 Front Rotors. Z1 Stainless Brake Lines. Two degrees of camber

05-05-2012, 01:21 PM	#7 (permalink)
LakeShow A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: L.I., NY Posts: 5,307 Drives: Everything Rep Power: 26	I have an 11' and had the Fuel lights down to one and one time it showed the dash marks meaning no more gas and didn't turn off. Idk. __________________ \|2013 Audi S4\|Ibis White/Black\|S-Tronic P+\| \|2013 370z\|PearlWhite/Persimmon\|Touring/Sport/Nav\|F.I. CBE 18" CF\| \|Sold\|2011 370z\|Gun Metallic\|Touring/Sport/Nav\|

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05-05-2012, 12:41 PM	#4 (permalink)
Z_ealot A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 2,045 Drives: 09 370Z Touring/Sprt Rep Power: 10091	oddly enough on my 2011 i have never had this issue with fuel starvation even when running on 1/4 tank and making long sweeping right hand turns on an onramp going about 50-60....makes me wonder if nissan secretly addressed this issue in the 2011 and up, guess i'll have to wait for some more 2011 and up owners to chime in.

05-05-2012, 12:49 PM	#5 (permalink)
my2004Z Enthusiast Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: New Mexico, USA Posts: 285 Drives: 09' 370Z w/Sport 7AT Rep Power: 38	I dunno, I have an '09 and have regularly run the tank down below the 1/4 tank mark and have never had a problem even with spirited driving on curvey roads with and without elevation changes. I wonder if there is a problem or defect with a batch of tanks versus the overall design of the gas tank. Someone who has had the problem definitely needs to cut their tank in half and do a video for the rest of us. Any takers?

05-06-2012, 12:27 PM	#14 (permalink)
dirtrat Base Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Sacramento Posts: 170 Drives: 2011 370Z/Touring/Sp Rep Power: 15	I had my 2011 down to ZERO LED's before (By accident) and never had this problem before. The range indicator was totally confused!

05-11-2012, 02:28 AM	#15 (permalink)
houkouonchi Enthusiast Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Ontario, California Posts: 440 Drives: '14 GT-R '10 M6 370z Rep Power: 15	2010 here. I have had the fuel starvation issue twice (once on the track once off). It surprised me on the one off the track but when it happened to me I lost power for about 10 seconds or so until the engine picked up again so I didn't let the car come to a complete stop and wasn't a huge inconvenience both times. I didn't think i was low enough for it to happen in both situations though.