M45 Fuel Gauge problem??? Post here if you have/had it!!!

[szh]

Will post result later!

Please, yes!

I have now had my first incident with this issue! Gotta take it in to get it fixed.

2003 M45.72500 miles or so.Sometime last week (2/XX/09).

The gas gauge said more than 1/4 full, mileage was about 310 (since I had done some highway miles that tankful, it seemed to make sense), and I ran out of gas - I thought my engine had died for some reason. AAA took me to a gas station and sure enough, a fill-up tank brought the car back to life.

I have two witnesses to the gauge being off - the two tow truck guys and a San Jose police officer who parked behind me and turned his lights on - to make sure that no one rammed me or my car (even though I was able to make it to the shoulder) in the dense commute traffic on Capitol Expressway - whew!

Z

[Bob24]

2007 M4522,000 miles

I had it happen and I brought it in. They said they fixed it but it still had the same issue. Mine would not accept a full tank of gas and would cut off at about half full. Then when it took a full tank it would only read about 60% full. When it was empty, it still read as though I had gas left.

They finally changed the fuel sending units and it seems to have fixed the issue.

[Boon]

2007 M4522,000 miles

I had it happen and I brought it in. They said they fixed it but it still had the same issue. Mine would not accept a full tank of gas and would cut off at about half full. Then when it took a full tank it would only read about 60% full. When it was empty, it still read as though I had gas left.

They finally changed the fuel sending units and it seems to have fixed the issue.

First I have heard of this on the 06+. Hopefully it doesn't become an issue for you guys as it has with us............

[Boon]

Have seen a few people lately with this issue who haven't posted in here. If you have had this issue and haven't posted please do. It has helped a few people and I would like it to help many more. Thanks.............. Boon

[szh]

I just got mine fixed last week ... under the Extended Warranty. I filled it up with gas Friday evening, but have not yet driven enough to see where it goes down to.

Z

[peter_rabbit]

2003 M4584K milesSt.Louis Mo

The gas hand was working fine up to about a month ago. Unfortunately i didn't purchase the from an Infiniti dealership so there for i had to go with a different warranty company that doesn't cover the things that goes wrong with these cars. I swear they must have someone looking at these forums and purposly not covering the things that are discussed. Paid 19k for the car 2 years ago and now it's only worth 12k. Looks like i'll be looking for something else this fall. Maybe a new Maxima, F150, or G8

[mjlyn]

I have a 2006 M35 that i bought about a month ago. Had fuel gauge problem......long story let me start at the begining.

Bought the car with 51,000 miles from a used dealer in Atlanta. Everything perfect the first week. At the end of first week my sister calls to tell me that she saw the dealership on a TV news show. They were being investigated for selling wrecked cars that had clean Carfax reports. Place called Atlanta Ultra Cars. In the report many of their cars had clean carfax reports but Autocheck showed that they had unibody damage. So i'm thinking %&$#@.

I pull a Autocheck report on mine and it is clean...so i breathe a sigh of relief but am still a bit weary. That night 50 miles from home at 11pm and it dies. Wont start. At this point i'm thinking id been had by this dealer bigtime. Gauge was showing just under half tank....i had only had the car a week and had filled up once. I had noticed that when i filled it up the needle stopped a bit before the top line......every other car i have ever had goes beyond the top line when full.

Did not even think about adding gas and had it towed to the nearest dealer.

Next day dealer calls and tells me that it is out of gas.....and that there is a screw missing on the sending unit....asked me if someone had been working on the car. So i tell him the story about the dealer and i assumed that someone had repaired some damage on the car and had tampered with the fuel tank.

So they replaced the sending unit and charged me 160 plus the 200+towing charge.

I did not really question it.....i was frustrated with the used car dealer.....and it appeared that the tank had been tampered with.

But now i am wondering if this was not a fluke event and that there is a problem with some of these cars. (i also have the problem of the gas pump clicking off with the tank only half full. If set it on the slowest notch it does ok so i am not too concerened about that.)

Do you guys think i should contact the dealer about the charges? They were super nice and helpful at the time. Crown Infiniti in Birmingham Alabama.

[Napervegas2003]

Well mine started at about 70K miles, just took to dealer last week (about 94K miles now) infiniti corporate is no help, they say its not a documented problem with the car and are quite good at a rehearsed speech with everything is handled on a case by case basis. Its about $900 for parts and install. will be nice to know how much fuel is in the tank again.

When i took it to the Infiniti dealer they were amazed at how clean my car is for an 2003, I bought it used from a Lexus dealer and will have to say after having been through non warantee issues on both an expensive lexus and and expensive infiniti, will be going the Lexus way with my future purchases. Very disappointing since I really do like the car, but with a known defect and the fact that the new cluster is only warranteed for 12000 miles and most likely will fail again, they would not even agree to extend the warantee on their overpriced faulty parts, maybe that was asking for too much?? Too bad they did not put that gauge in a Sentra, then they would actually have to recall it, but as an owner of a not so mass produced vehicle thats part of the fun.

I will say the local dealership in Lisle IL has been good and did give me a nice loaner car, especially since I did not buy it there.

[szh]

Well mine started at about 70K miles, just took to dealer last week (about 94K miles now) infiniti corporate is no help, they say its not a documented problem with the car and are quite good at a rehearsed speech with everything is handled on a case by case basis. Its about $900 for parts and install. will be nice to know how much fuel is in the tank again.

Please point Infiniti Corporate to this thread at NICO. And/or print it out and take it in to the dealer.

The 2003 definitely has a problem with the fuel gauge after some time, and it is clearly a fault with the original design/product.

I would not take NO for answer from the Consumer Affairs folks ...

Z

[carolynn34]

I too am having a problem with my 04 M45 gas gage. Always reading full. I notice it gradually get worse. Just got off warranty in Jan 09(68,000 miles only) and Infiniti refused my claim ($1K repair). I've always had annoying problems like my tire gage not working properly, trunk latch never opens up when my hands are full of groceries and finally the speedo cluster assembly need to be replaced. The dealer is not helping either because I stopped taking my m45 to them for oil change - when Firestone 1 minute from my house can do it for 1/2 price. I'm warning M owners out there to watch out for this defect in their cars especially when close to end of warranty date. If will never buy another infiniti again. I should have stayed with the LEXUS brand. INFINITI SUCKS!

[CakeDaddy]

I too am having a problem with my 04 M45 gas gage. Always reading full. I notice it gradually get worse. Just got off warranty in Jan 09(68,000 miles only) and Infiniti refused my claim ($1K repair). I've always had annoying problems like my tire gage not working properly, trunk latch never opens up when my hands are full of groceries and finally the speedo cluster assembly need to be replaced. The dealer is not helping either because I stopped taking my m45 to them for oil change - when Firestone 1 minute from my house can do it for 1/2 price. I'm warning M owners out there to watch out for this defect in their cars especially when close to end of warranty date. If will never buy another infiniti again. I should have stayed with the LEXUS brand. INFINITI SUCKS!

HMMM. on an 04? I guess we can kill the noise that its only with the 03's. This is unreal at how many people are checking in with this issue. RECALL!!!!

[carolynn34]

I just took my 04 M45 to infiniti Lisle also. They didn't really want to admit that it's a known problem. Only have 68,000 and just got off warranty. I'm so disgusted with Infiniti right now. They denied my claim- case by case basis was their response. I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER INFINITI AGAIN. Me too replaced a Lexus and never had problems with that car. I will tell everyone I can not to buy an Infinit. GARBAGE!

INFINITI of Lisle is no help either.

[carolynn34]

Yeah, what are the odds of the only other guy I personally know that owns an 03 M45 has a gas gage problem? Now I'm having the same problem. There should definitely be a RECALL!!

[jus103]

Had the same problem, Purchased new gauge cluster from Infiniti, problem fixed for now, we'll see if it come back.

[carolynn34]

Hey Boon,

Thanks for starting this forum on gas gage problems. Unfortunately for me Infiniti declined my claim and I'm going to do everything I can to blog and complain about their cars. If I can warn just one person not to buy an Infiniti, my time will be worth it letting people know to beware. I have an 04 M45 68,000 and gas gage cluster need replacement 1K repair. I will never buy another infiniti again.

Carolynn

[stylesj]

I have an Infiniti M45 2003 and I have had a fuel gauge problem. It roughly started around at 65k miles. The gas gauge is inaccurate, I ran out of gas twice on the road and the gauge needle read half a tank or close to a full tank full! I ran out of gas twice on the highway and thank God I'm still alive to complain about this problem. I didn't know that this was a known issue but came across this forum and found out that it is. Took my car to an Infini dealer and got a call that I need a new gas gauge and the price was going to be $400+ to install. If this is a known problem with Infiniti they should not charge for the install. If I can't get them to wave the price or get some kind of discount I won't purchase another Infiniti in my life to come across the same known problem!

[carolynn34]

You should contact infinit customer service. They will tell you it's a case by case basis. I got denied and will never buy an infiniti again. Infiniti even had the audacity to send me a postcard wanting to know how their customer service was. My repair was going to be $1K minus 10% discount. I just reset my travel miles eac h time I fill up so I know how much I've driven. NO MORE INFINITIs for me, my family, friends and coworkers. I tell everyone I know not to buy infiniti. GOOD LUCK

[austexm45]

I had the same issue with my 2004 M45 at 32K miles last week. I have the Infiniti Elite warranty, but the dealer said that it was not covered by the warranty. After a call to the finance guy at the dealership who sold me the warranty in the first place, it was magically covered, otherwise it would have been a $700 repair. I really do think that it matters who you speak to. I agree that Nissan should honor all requests whether under warranty or not.

[LaCapitalRue]

I tried Infiniti Consumer Affairs back 2008 but was shot down originally. I plan on trying again but is there a way to turn off the "check engine light" while I plead my case?

[szh]

I tried Infiniti Consumer Affairs back 2008 but was shot down originally. I plan on trying again but is there a way to turn off the "check engine light" while I plead my case?

A local Autozone can provide you with a free rental (leave credit card number as a deposit) for an OBD-II reader unit that can reset the CEL.

Z

[Napervegas2003]

resetting the check engine light. I tried that first myself, they guys at the illinois dot inspection site knew right away that it had been reset and made me come back once i put some more miles on it, after about 50 miles or so the electronics in the car figure out that the signal is not there between the sender unit in the gas tank and the gauge in the cluster. which of course the light comes back on, and they cant test your car with the light on.

[LaCapitalRue]

I bought an OBDII reader and it reset the 1st time for about 2 weeks but CEL came back on I was wondering if there was a way to trick the sender unit so prevent the CEL from coming on.

It's kinda frustrating (and embarrasing) to have to constantly hit the "prev" button every time I get in my beautiful M.

[candymanfb]

What did the reader state was the problem? You should actually repair the issue instead of resetting it?

Good luck

[paperfootball]

55K 03 M45

Just started a few months ago with the gas gauge becoming unreliable--no biggie as I rarely drive the car. Last week the service engine soon light comes on--can't deal with that so I guess I will be making my way to the dealer. I have my car serviced there and have somewhat of a relationship with a service advisor....we shall see.

Does anyone know what would haapen if we purchased a gauge cluster off of ebay? Could we reprogram the mileage to correspond with actual mileage?

[M45Caliber]

Nissan is well aware of the issue - they should fix this for free. read ALL the posts here and/or search the site. Have your service manager read this thread.

[fx35ripoff]

FYI Clear Lake Service Department wrecked my FX35. Bought it from Lois, he was great. They forgot inspection sticker. Brought it back and they tore the bumper and smashed the fender. Offered to fix it, wouldn't make a deal on another car. I'll repost when this is settled.

[danbgood]

I began having same issue with gas gauge on my 03 M45 @ 85K mi - intermittent at first and then constant. While in for the 90K service I asked them to check it out and gave them a copy of this post. They ended up fixing it for free. I own the 03 M45 and wife has a 04 FX35. I have a good relationship with the service department and use them for service as much as possible (I live ~85 miles from dealership). If you are a loyal Infiniti customer and have used their service department in the past then they will work with you. Infiniti is loyal to loyal customers. Don't go in demanding to get it fixed - work with them. Dont expect the same "out of warranty" treatment if you never patronage their service department - you get what you pay for.

[mikeds35]

the only problem you will have is if you run out of gas. fill your tank up and go by miles driven. on my car usually around 190 miles im at alittle under a half a tank

[gbpdx]

Found out about problem soon after buying car. 03 M4582000Private repair, as 3rd owner

Check enging light came on, but nothing about low fuel. Even the trip display said I had miles to go.

Ran out of gas! New cluster.

[kamezzle13]

my 03 m45 has this problem. i bought the car from a smaller dealership and immidietly noticed the car had this problem and brought it back to them for repair. They had a couple of other m's on the lot, so i think they switched out the dash from another? It worked for the next upcoming months, but stopped working again. When i brought it back to them, of course they said they couldnt help. NO biggie, i bought a warantee.... I also just recently had my CEL come on, low voltage or what ever. I reset the code about 100 miles ago, hasnt come back on since. I"ve had the gas gauge problem for about a year, the CEL just started.