gas tank issue???

A forum for the legendary Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti QX4.
jennjack74
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2007 10:34 am
Car: 2006 Pathfinder

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Supposedly my 2006 Pathfinder has a 21.1-gallon tank. Every time I have gone to fill it up, it only takes in 18 or 19 gallons. I even drove around the other day below E with the warning light on just to use up all the gas in the tank. It still only filled up with 18 gallons. I don't understand this. Does anyone have any thoughts?


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KoukiS14
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Nissan usually has a bit of reserve in their tanks. My 240sx had about 3 gallons, so even if I was on or a bit below E, I'd never get the full amount.

So far, my experience with the QX4 is the same -- When I'm on E, I still have some fuel in there.

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jennjack74
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Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2007 10:34 am
Car: 2006 Pathfinder

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Thanks for the reply. It's just really annoying because I never truly know what kind of gas mileage I'm getting.

02QX4ME
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Joined: Thu May 17, 2007 6:22 am
Car: 2002 QX4 4WD

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If you really want to know how much gas is still in the tank, you could bring a plastic gas tank (5 gallon or so) with you. Keep driving until the car dies so you know how many more miles beyong the "E" light, and you could roughly calculate the gallons. Nissan's spec should be accurate, and doing this is just for fun to me.

I thought about doing but never did it. Most times I fill the gas before "E" light comes on.

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fueler
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your symptoms are normal, my 99 QX4 does the same exact thing.... 21 gallon tank that only needs 18 gal to fill, even when I thought that the tank would be bone dry.... Never ran out of gas in this car....

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SnowSurfLax
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Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2007 2:14 pm
Car: 1999.5 QX4, 2006 M35 Sport

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jennjack74 wrote:Thanks for the reply. It's just really annoying because I never truly know what kind of gas mileage I'm getting.
Here's what I do:

Fill up the tank as full as it goes (don't top it off, that's bad!)

set the tripometer to zero.

Drive until you hit E

Fill up again.

Divide the Miles on the trip by the gallons you just pumped in.

Voila! there's your MPG. I do this constantly. My driving style yields about 14-15MPG per tank. I do an even mix of highway and city driving. When I drive up to LA and use the cruise control, I can average about 22MPG.

I do have a K&N on mine which did boost my MPG by about 1.5 MPG. ThoughI may have gunked up my MAF with it, not sure yet. Going to clean it someday when I quit being lazy/too busy.

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KoukiS14
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Yeah, you don't need to know how many miles the tank will hold to calculate mileage. . hell, I usually fill up halfway and still do the math.

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KoukiS14
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SnowSurfLax wrote:I can average about 22MPG.
Holy hell - what's your secret to this? I can never get over 16.4, and always use cruise.

02QX4ME
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Joined: Thu May 17, 2007 6:22 am
Car: 2002 QX4 4WD

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95% of my drive is city. I typically got 15 MPG. I tried last tank with slow start and followed post speed, and I got 15.7 MPG. Only one time I was driving 95% freeway, and I got around 19 MPG.

02QX4ME
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And I always use regular 87.

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SnowSurfLax
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Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2007 2:14 pm
Car: 1999.5 QX4, 2006 M35 Sport

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KoukiS14 wrote:
Holy hell - what's your secret to this? I can never get over 16.4, and always use cruise.
It might be that I get a tailwind on my way up and drive straight through at about 75mph with no stopping or having to cut my speed (because of traffic/slow drivers). It's about 130 miles one way.

Last few times I drove up thattaway I did 80 and had to fight the wind and retards and got about 17mpg.

Not sure what else to tell you.

When I first got it and ran the AC and lead footed it everywhere, I got about 12-13mpg. After my K&N filter was put in, I got a small bump in mpg.

I want to reduce some weight on my beast if I can. Anyone ever thought about getting lighter rims? The stock tires weigh a ton. Going to do that one of these days, shave a couple hundred pounds off it if I can...

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88pathoffroad
Posts: 122
Joined: Sun May 20, 2007 10:13 am
Car: 1988 Nissan Pathfinder XE V6

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Just so you know, it's not a very good idea to run the tank dry often, the fuel cools the fuel pump inside the tank and they're NOT cheap to replace.

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SnowSurfLax
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Car: 1999.5 QX4, 2006 M35 Sport

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When you say "dry," are you referring to completely emptying the tank or just running it down to the reserve? When I fill up, I usually pump anywhere from 15 to 18 gallons.

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KoukiS14
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I usually just let 'er run dry and then call AAA -- get a tow and save some money.


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