Yet another Fuel Starvation Thread

[Cheech]

Fuel pump replaced under warranty.....

This is my experience of the dreaded fuel starvation design flaw and describe the symptoms.

I never experienced the fuel starvation problem until after my Z was taken into a Nissan dealership for routine maintenance. So my suspicions say they did something to the car, but that's just me being paranoid. Seriously doubt the two are related.

Recently when the fuel gauge dropped to the 4th dot, a rumble could be heard from the rear of the car. Best way to describe it, is it sounded like a jet engine off in the distance. This was sitting still, car idling. Did not matter whether the a/c was on or off, clutch in or out, etc. Also experienced the fuel starvation intermittently when accelerating on a straight stretch.

The tech at the Nissan dealership thought it sounded like the fuel pump was sucking air.

The sound would go away when fuel tank was filled.

The dealership took the car for a couple days to replace the fuel pump. It was brought in with 4 dots left so the problem was present for the techs to diagnose. When the car was returned, the fuel gauge was at 1 dot. The sound was no longer present after changing the fuel pump. A quick stop at the gas station to fill up, saw 17.67gallons go in.

What's interesting is with 4 dots left on the gauge, the distance to empty calculation was displaying 75miles which seems pretty low for nearly a 1/4 of a tank.

I believe the calibration of the (old) fuel gauge somehow got out of whack. Does it have the intelligence to re-calculate a DTE based on the trip meter and amount of gas added? Is it possible to re-calibrate it?

On one road trip, I had taken the fuel gauge all the way down to having no dots left and still able to go 30miles (extremely lucky).

The only sub-note to this story is I have to take her back in Monday morning to have the interior cleaned. During the removal of the fuel pump, they spilled gas on the carpet behind the seats nice eh? ...... not!


Cheech

[alvitdk]

Thanks for the write-up. The fuel system is something else, isn't it.
I sometimes have 4 dots left and it says 90 miles to empty. I turn my engine off, next morning back on and it reads 1 dot and 0 miles left, whoever designed that should

[shadoquad]

This sounds different from the typical fuel starve, which is only experienced when turning extremely hard through a sweeping right turn. I've experienced that on a track and it is a dangerous and irresponsible design flaw.

What you have going on sounds different and still extremely scary and frustrating

[takjak2]

A new stock fuel pump will not solve this problem. You may have cooked the stock pump running it dry and therefore without a cooling bath.

Phunk is going to be taking an order for the second batch of his beautifully engineered solution which cures both problems. Buy one.

[UNKNOWN_370]

Z34 gas gauges are a POS. They shoulda just kept the third gauge analog. I'm sure they won't make this mistake in the Z35.

I fill at 5 dots to avoid the BS. But my mileage changes dramatically at the slightest of accelerations. That whole fuel mileage calculation system is garbage.

[MJB]

I agree, doesn't sound like typical fuel starvation people experience on hard right hand turns. I've driven around with just 1 dot several times before and have not experienced anything like that.

[kenchan]

Originally Posted by takjak2

Phunk is going to be taking an order for the second batch of his beautifully engineered solution which cures both problems. Buy one.

does that change the fuel indicator to show EMPTY when it's at the middle? problem solved!

[2xtreme1]

Um this might be unrelated but, Full Dots; I drive 80 Miles then it goes down to 1-2 dots (highway miles) Then it goes from like -2 dots to like -8 dots in 20 more city miles LOL. Not really but it feels that way.

[takjak2]

Originally Posted by kenchan

does that change the fuel indicator to show EMPTY when it's at the middle? problem solved!

If you wanted to you could disconnect the sensor on the driver side and it would never read above half, but that wouldn't prevent the fuel from going over there. With Phunks product, being on one dot isn't an issue, even in a 1G turn.

[Jordo!]

Originally Posted by 2xtreme1

Um this might be unrelated but, Full Dots; I drive 80 Miles then it goes down to 1-2 dots (highway miles) Then it goes from like -2 dots to like -8 dots in 20 more city miles LOL. Not really but it feels that way.

That's actually "normal".

The fuel senders in the tank are touchy and changes in the dummy gauge do not do a great job of changing according to fuel consumption.

I think the it tends to be somewhat more accurate on either pole, but everything in the middle is a bit of a guess.

I always fill up as I creep past 1/2 a tank and keep track of my mileage between each fill-up, so its not an issue.

[Cheech]

I might have to change my driving habits.... I use to drive until the tank was nearly bone dry on my last two vehicles (Pathfinder & Frontier) and never had an issue with fuel pump or condensation in the tank (they never sat long enough for condensation to form ). But with this car.... I dunno.

Knowing the fuel gauge problems, I rely less on it and more on the trip meter. Typically get about 400miles to the tank. Closer I get to 400, the more beads of sweat start forming on my forehead. We'll see how this new pump performs....

[Cheech]

Originally Posted by takjak2

A new stock fuel pump will not solve this problem. You may have cooked the stock pump running it dry and therefore without a cooling bath.

Phunk is going to be taking an order for the second batch of his beautifully engineered solution which cures both problems. Buy one.

I was looking at the thread on these pumps, but at a $1000 a pop, it's a little pricey

[chrischhorn]

Originally Posted by 2xtreme1

Um this might be unrelated but, Full Dots; I drive 80 Miles then it goes down to 1-2 dots (highway miles) Then it goes from like -2 dots to like -8 dots in 20 more city miles LOL. Not really but it feels that way.

I've actually had dots re-appear when going from city driving to highway lol.

[axmea?]

I have yet to experience this but this insight give me a pretty good heads up. Glad I have my warranty to 75k.

Thanks Cheech!!!! Hope to see you in Cerritos.

[snowsurfdirtx]

Originally Posted by axmea?

I have yet to experience this but this insight give me a pretty good heads up. Glad I have my warranty to 75k.

Thanks Cheech!!!! Hope to see you in Cerritos.

Me too. Definitely worth the extra money when something expensive breaks