Howdy,

I had to replace my battery recently and since then my fuel gauge has been acting funny.

I filled up on Monday and driven 57 miles since then. My fuel gauge went down a quarter and then it went back up to full. Additionally, the ‘miles to empty’ status on the screen fluctuates...it would go from 312 to 309 then back up to 311, then down to 287.

the miles to empty always fluctuates up and down, but not the fuel gauge... That 'could be' your fuel pump. I hope it resolves itself for you.

Very strange problem indeed! As of now, it’s still full and I’ve driven 77 miles so far.

im curious to know too , why this is happening to your car.... I sometimes see this as well .. .

This is a known problem with many Nissan vehicles. The fuel gauge is getting the reading from two sender units submerged in the gas tank. Both senders utilize a float that is mounted to a variable resistor. Based on the float's level, the resistor sends a corresponding electrical current to your dashboard gauge. Basically, the resistor is contaminated or worn out. Many people (including myself) were successful taking the floats out of the gas tank and cleaning the resistors instead of replacing the whole assembly. Search the internet, there are many instructions. Basically, you take the rear seat cushion out, open the access to the floaters, take them out, clean and replace. Sounds complicated but it could be done in 30 minutes. Good luck.

sounds dangerous !!!

know any good links

or good search words

Only to a smoker...........common sense used there and never an issue. I actually cut holes to get to pumps without yanking the tanks.

If they use ethanol in your local fuel then likely the problem. I clean up the fuel sender units every time I yank a fuel pump module. Never any trouble ever.

I pulled up the back seat...do we have two fuel pumps? I saw two black covers.

One is the fuel pump, the other is only a fuel level sensor. Pretty sure driver side will be the pump.

I just replaced the pump and it is behind the pass side chair.

Good to know. . .

How was the job?

did it fix the problem?

tooth knockn wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 05, 2018 7:46 pm

Good to know. . .

How was the job?

did it fix the problem?

The install was pretty straight forward. I've replaced the pump on the wife's Odyssey and it's almost the same. I took note of how many miles I've driven since I filled up and it was 166 miles. After the install, I drove around the neighborhood precisely 3.5 miles. The fuel gauge dropped right at 1/4 and the "Distance to empty" read 112 miles. I am unsure if it fixed the problem but tomorrow morning, I will fill up and see what that garners me.

good job! I hope it worked for you!!

I put in 10 gallons of fuel this morning so I should be sitting at full tank. However, fuel gauge reads a little over half tank of fuel and “distance to empty” reads 225 miles. I replaced the pump...could it be the fuel sending unit? Which is apparently behind the drivers side seat. What exactly does that fuel sending unit do?

Change 1! It’s called a fuel level sensor not fuel sending.

Todd, try to clean both float sensors (driver and passenger). Both sensors are used to send the info to the gauge. This is done in order to get the correct reading in case if the car is parked on an incline.

I am just having terrible luck! Tried to fill up the car and fuel started leaking from the bottom of the car! Looks to be from the passenger side, right underneath where the fuel pump would sit.

The hobby shop on the Air Force base where I work does not authorize folks working on anything related to the fuel tank, otherwise, I'd take it there and drop the tank to see what's going on. I have an appointment with the stealership for them to diagnose my problem & if it's something I can do myself...I'll do it because I know it will $39 million dollars.