When I had my '04.5 Z, refueling at E would only get me 15 or so gallons. Never could fill above that. So my reserve was 4-5 gallons.

 

Wow... it only takes me 13.5 gallons to fill up. The gas light comes on early for my car. It seems to read correctly at the top when the tank is more than half way full, but once I get under that, then it acts funny and jumps all around. Especially under 1/4 tank. It might be so low that it looks like I have no gas, but then I drive it for a couple miles and it goes back up to 1/4 tank.
I always do 300 miles between fill-up and my calculator says 21-23 mpg, so the calculation is correct too. I don't pay attention to the gas gage anymore.

 

i have the same problem, inaccurate fuel gauge levels. it bounces between quarter marks each 100 miles (for example, goes all over between 3/4 and full for the first 100miles, then between 1/2 and 3/4 for the second 100 miles, etc). any idea what this is and how much it is to fix it?

 

Sounds right. I filled up with 17.2 gallons today.

 

You got robbed!

 

You better have em check out your engine for internal damage due to gas starvation. A fuel injected car should NEVER run out of gas!!!

 

That's not just a myth, its a silly myth.

My MR2 turbo actually had a safety feature that would shut off fuel delivery (the injectors) if boost pressure exceeded teh factory setting.

bill

 

I zero my odometer and reset the fuel computer each time i fill up. Then when the DTE warning comes up, I check the computer to see what my average usage (MPG) has been.

If I have been averaging 25 MPG, and have driven 400 miles, 400 X 25 = 500. So I know i have about 100 miles left.

And its accurate enough that i can guess within 1/2 gallon how much it will take to fill the tank.

bill

 

Doesn't lack of fuel and/or excessive air lead to detonation and/or pinging?... so ur telling me that my statement is silly because i believe that running a fuel injected car all the way to empty can have seriuos repercussions to a car's engine...and that it's perfectly ok to run your z down to empty without damaging engine internals and fuel delivery...what about the sediments in the bottom of the tank that can potentially plug your injectors? what about overheating your fuel pump due to lack of fuel?

 

Detonation is caused by running too low octane. You're talking about running lean. You can run lean with with the correct octane rating. Even so when you run out of gas the car will die, it won't continue to run. It would be just like shutting the car off.

 

all i'm sayin is that it can't be good for a FI car to run out of gas...

 

i might've stuck a foot or two in my mouth when i brought up detonation...

 

when engine braking the computer ceases fuel flow thru the injectors. No damage occurs.

 

just curious....how does the engine continue to run without a fuel supply?

 

1) A lean mixture can lead to detontion. But when you run out of fuel, that's not a lean mixture, its pure air.

2) no, running out of fuel will NOT damage the engine

3)Where do think the sediement is when the tank is full? Its ALWAYS at the bottom of the tank. That's why its called "sediment".

4) Its the fuel flowing THROUGH the pump that cools it. But when you run out of gas, the engine suts off, and the feul pump sjuts off. So it never runs without pany fuel flwoijng through it.

There are proabably over 1000 WARNINGS...! and CAUTIONS...! in the owners manual (some pages have 3 or 4 on the same page!) about things that can damage your engine. None of them say anything abiut not running out of fuel.

bill

 

It isn't "running", it freewheeling. It would do the same thing if you turned off the ignition switch.

All modern EFI equipped cars have a de-cel fuel shutoff sequence. It not only reduces fuel consumption, it lowers emissions.

Several months ago, another member actually posted the section in the Factory Service Manual that described the de-cel fuel shutoff sequence. I wish I would have bookmarked it. From memory, when you lift, it shuts the injectors off until RPM drop to about 2000, then it turns them back on to prevent stalling..

bill

 

i used half a tank of gas going 60 miles, at 70-80 mph...i cant believe thats right

 

so the engine is freewheeling while engine braking? now you got me all mixed up... I'm just trying to imagine how an internal combustion engine can continue to produce rpm's without a source of fuel.

 

I stand corrected

 

Its pretty simple. You have the inertia of a 3300# vehicle moving at, say, 80 mph. What do you think is going to happen when you shut either fuel or ignition off? The engine isn't producing the RPMs, the forward inertia keeps the drive wheels trurning, which in turn keeps the engine turnng.

Do you think the engine is going to lock up and the vehicle will come skiddding to a stop,? Of course not. The engine just keeps spinning away, but increases the drag that tend to scrub off that forward inertia.

Here is a little info I found on another board:



"Fuel to each cylinder is shut off during deceleration, operation of the engne at excessively high speeds, or operation of the vehicle at excessively high speeds"
http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/s...5&pagenumber=1

113th post down Its from a Nissan Factory manual, posted on a Murano board, but trust me, all Nissans, (and every other manufacturer I know of) use a similar concept)

"Fuel to each cylinder is shut off during deceleration, operation of the engne at excessively high speeds, or operation of the vehicle at excessively high speeds"

http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/s...5&pagenumber=1

13th post down Its from a Murano board, but trust me, all Nissans, (and every other manufacturer I know of) use a similar concept)