2014 Rogue wouldn't start - sputters

[kdawgud]

I have a 2014 Rogue SV that wouldn't start one morning last week. It just made sputtering sounds (to my non-expert ear it sounds like it didn't get enough gas). I tried jumping it just to be 100% certain it wasn't the battery (made no difference; battery is fairly new anyway). I then let it sit for about 30 minutes and tried starting it again. Sputtered several more times, but eventually did fire up.

Could this be an issue with the fuel sender? I've already had it replaced in 2015 (it died right as the recall was announced). It seems too coincidental to have fuel sender issue a 2nd time.

It's at the dealership now, but they haven't seen it happen again. Is there any specific test I should ask for?

[Rogue Jarhead]

Well assuming that you have gas in the tank. I know , but you’d be surprised how many people rule out the simple obvious reasons first, chase their tail for two days and it comes back to the simple and obvious. So make sure.

With that said, the dealer my have put an aftermarket cheapie sender in it the first time. I’ve see Auto Zone and others show up at dealers when they didn’t have a part in stock and they really needed to get the customer back on the road. Sometimes it takes several days to get a needed part shipped, and of course most people don’t want to wait.

[kdawgud]

Yep, gas was in the tank. I had to double-check that day for sure

As far as the sender being a fraudulent part, anything is possible but I doubt it. The reason I doubt it is that mine failed back in 2015 right as the recall on the original senders was announced. My Rogue sat at the dealer for ~25 days because there was a delay in getting the new parts from Nissan. I had a free loaner that whole time, so I doubt the dealer would have covered that cost only to have put in a phony part at the end of that time.

Interestingly, I got the car back from the dealer a few days ago (they still couldn't reproduce the issue). I haven't seen any problems since either - and have been driving it every day. Makes me nervous that it can happen again, but there's no explanation thus far as to why it occurred.

Do you know if the fuel sender is activated only when engine is started? Or does it also activate when you turn on the vehicle accessories to pre-pressurize the line? I had a (possibly ridiculous) theory that maybe I was using the accessory setting the night before when loading up the car, but never started it and maybe the engine got flooded a little overnight or something.

[Rogue Jarhead]

That’s possible I suppose. When you turn the ignition to accessory you should be able to hear a little buzz from the right side rear area if I remember correctly. That noise would be your fuel sender/pump.

[whizkidtn]

Sounds more like the in-tank fuel pump being bad. There was a recall for metal debris in the pump unit that could cause it to fail if memory serves for certain VIN numbered 2014 Rogues. Mine supposedly was not in this group even though I did get the recall letter from Nissan.

[kdawgud]

Yep, mine was replaced under the recall.