Fuel Gauge Not Lighting All The Way UP

Cmike2780

After a few months now, my last light still doesn't light up after filling up, but it's gotten slightly better. The cluster replacement didn't really fix anything obviously. The 2nd start after filling up shows all of the LED's lighting up, so I'm just going to let it be for now. I just don't trust that guage anymore.

__________________

[09][MB][6-Spd MT][Touring][Stillen Gen III][K&N][Borla CBE][Evo-R]

crazyyankfan

After a year and 3 months of my 2011 Z, it finally happened yesterday. I thought this only happens on the 09' model. Anyway, the last light came up after I drove around today. So weird...

Cmike2780

The JX has a somewhat similar issue and was issued a recall. With all these incidents, I think we should report it to at least have Nissan's attention. If you've had a fuel guage issue or the issue with the car stalling with low fuel making a turn, please go to the site below and fill out the info.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

__________________

[09][MB][6-Spd MT][Touring][Stillen Gen III][K&N][Borla CBE][Evo-R]

crazyyankfan

But now it's gone. Could be just a glitch. I will see if it re-occurs.

Cmike2780

It's gonna come back on your next fill up. I thought the same thing.

__________________

[09][MB][6-Spd MT][Touring][Stillen Gen III][K&N][Borla CBE][Evo-R]

rudi

The only fix is to change the fuel sender. It happened to mine

crazyyankfan

Crap...you're right. It just happened again on my next fill-up.

Do they need to open up the interior panel to fix this?

Huan'z

Same thing happened to me. And show them a proof and they checked it out. The fuel sending unit was bad. They ordered the parts. Will call me to come back and have it replace. Took 3-5 days for the parts to arrive. They also need almost empty tank before bring it in. What I did is filled it up. (topped off) with the receipt indicate when I filled it up and told them how far the gasoline station from the dealer. I have no choice because I went there last couple of weeks but the result was normal. So there's no evidence or proof that showing it was bad.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

spoolio

update to my situation:
brought the car in and was told the sending units were bad and had to be replaced. So I paid to have that done.

Then ended up fuel starving on the highway (after getting off a right hand exit ramp) because apparently the gauge was reading that I had more gas than I did.

Returned to dealer and they said they screwed up the grounds on the connectors.

Problem occured again...brought back in and this time found that the gas tank baffle was compleletely snapped off and has been floating around in the tank!! How in the hell does that happen?! And why didn't they notice this the first 2 times??

Was given an outrageous quote to get a new tank put in. I argued that the $600 I spent on the sending units, which apparently were fine, should be credited so they knocked that off but it's still over $1k.

But the more I think about it the more I think this should be covered by Nissan. I might be at 50k miles but this is not a wear item. This is not something that should ever break on a car. Planning on talking to the dealership today so we'll see....

edit: Called dealership, was told to call Nissan Consumer Affairs to get a case started. Did that and should have their solution by COB tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Huan'z

I got a feeling your situation will be covered. Since most of our z had same problem.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Huan'z

Good luck buddy!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

spoolio

Just got my response from Nissan Consumer Affairs...they basically said screw you. They said the $600 that they knocked off initially was goodwill and had already been authorized by Nissan when the dealership had contacted them initially...and that's the best they'll do. I said no, that $600 was the credit towards me paying for work that didn't need to be done in the first place and her response was they didn't have to credit that so that's the "goodwill".

I told her this is the last Nissan I'll own and hung up.

Cmike2780

Do you have an extended warranty? The B2B warranty is only good for 3 year/36k miles and this isn't covered under the 5 year powertrain warranty. I think your only avenue is to prove that the baffle was somehow damaged when they installed the fuel senders if that's even possible since the dealer usually warranties thier work. If they damage your wheels while fixing your brakes for example, they should/will replace or repair your wheel. You already have some proof that the dealer didn't install the senders properly when you had to go back because they screwed up. I'm not sure where baffles are located in the tank or part No. so I can't really say for sure how it would be affected.

The tank itself is about $500 If you have to replace the whole thing. I think you have to bite the bullet on this one since you are no longer under the bumper to bumper warranty. If they knocked $600 off the new tank and install, it's the same as getting the senders replaced for free. The fact that it's not something that wears doesn't really matter in this case and would only apply if you were still under warranty. That's kind of why I encouraged people to file a complaint which could trigger a recall if enough people actually report the issue.

How did you come to the conclusion that the senders were fine?

The worst thing you can do is hang up and give up. Tell them that this problem is dangerous and that there should be a recall. Tell them that if you can't tell how much fuel is in the tank and the car dies on you while driving, it could cause you to crash. Nissan has other instances where a recall was inacted for a similar issue. Keep a record of who you talk to. The last thing they want is a lawsuit especially when a complaint is on record.

__________________

[09][MB][6-Spd MT][Touring][Stillen Gen III][K&N][Borla CBE][Evo-R]

jikhead

You need to take it to another dealership, explain it them, discuss calling Nissan USA back. The consumer affairs dept. doesn't know jack and they are basing their decisions on what that particular dealer is telling them. Believe me, I dealt with this at the beginning of the summer with fuel senders going out right at the end of my warranty.

Another dealer needs to explain to corporate what happened. You are not at fault for any of these. The problem was made worse by the mechanic that did the work. The most I would pay is for only the parts that were the original problem and the normal labor amount to fix that. All the additional parts and labor that got tossed in due to poor service manager and mechanic not properly inspecting the problem should be picked up by Nissan USA.

To explain what happened to me: dealer said nothing was wrong with my senders, I physically showed them proof via pictures of fuel gauge after filling up and as well when the low fuel light came on with 1/4 tank left. So then they said you're out of warranty, even though I brought it in at the warranty limit; they told me to come back 2-3 times. Service mgr. denied service. Called Nissan USA, they spoke to mgr, and denied me service because of what the dealership said. Took it to another dealer; explained what happened; showed them same proof; believed me there was a problem; replaced full sender unit; replaced the low sender unit week later cause they weren't for sure on it; they told Nissan USA yes, they were bad and they picked up all the charges.

Keep fighting it bro.

Huan'z

I agree with above! I went to same dealer but diff service manager. All we need is fighting and show them a proof that was bad. Don't give up buddy!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk