Car died today

ChrisSlicks

For a while anyway. Running again now, but here's the story.

Dropped my stepson off for an appointment this morning, and on the way back you turn from a minor road onto the highway/freeway. Anyway, my foot was itchy so I gave it the boot around the corner. The ramp curves to the right and was slightly uphill. As I approached the top of 3rd gear and the end of the ramp the car loses power. At first I thought I had just run into the rev limiter, and then I thought it was a temporary fuel cut from starvation, but I had no power at all. I pulled over on the shoulder and tried to start it again but no fire at all. I let it sit a couple of minutes and tried again, got a couple of fires but no success. As I do this I watch my gas gauge drop from 1/4 tank to 1 dot, to zero. Apparently from the 15 seconds of acceleration and the slight incline the fuel pump got starved and whatever fuel was in the tank couldn't make it to the pump. The bad part was I had just lent my phone to my stepson when I dropped him off because he broke his, I couldn't even call AAA!

So I sat there for about 10-15 minutes trying to decide my next move, and then I saw a white truck pulling over. It was a MassHighway Assistance Vehicle, I'd been saved! A guy jumped out wearing a Corvette sweater, name was ****, very friendly. He gave me 1 gallon of gas to throw in my tank and told me he used to be a Datsun mechanic back in the 70's, lead tech for the 240Z. Once the gas was in the car fired right up. A yellow warning light was on but cleared itself on the next start after I pulled into the gas station. The gas indicator also moved to 1 tick past 1/4 tank.

So now the question is, is my gas tank sender unit broken, or did I really have 1/4 tank of gas and managed to starve it with a brief stint of acceleration? I don't think the sender is broken because the car only took 14 gallons to fill it up. So a warning for you ramp junkies, keep at least 1/3 of a tank of gas in the car! This was the first time I've run out of gas in 20 years! The last time it happened I was driving a Datsun and I pushed it over the crest of a hill and rolled into the gas station.

theDreamer

Sounds similar to others who have been on the track, they take a hard turn with 1/4 tank of gas and the car loses power.
Not sure they completely lost power or had to stop for awhile but will wait for them to chime in on the issue.

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kenchan

note to self: gas up when past 1/2 tank...

Mike

yep, fuel starvation. Did you ever completely shut the car off before the guy gave you some gas? Happened to me on the track and I got towed off, but I think had I ever completely shut it off, and then retried, it would have reset itself.

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6MT

I also don't think your sending unit is broken. Bad luck and lesson learned.

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ChrisSlicks

It happened to me at Auto-X one time at around 1/4 tank, much harder driving and the cut was only a couple of seconds. This time the cut was permanent.

Yes, I tried shutting the car completely down and starting again but it made no difference. It would try to start but fail. I think perhaps if I was level ground it would have helped but pointing uphill is apparently a problem.

I only considered the sender because I broke mine in my old G35. Bent the rod that the float attaches to from excessive g-forces. The gauge got stuck at half tank, when the car started to splutter and noticed I had gone nearly 500 miles on a tank of gas I knew there was a problem.

kannibul

I could see this as being a reason for a recall. People getting stranded as "out of gas" when they have a 1/4 tank left is a bit assinine.

I would highly recommend calling in to Nissan and reporting this as a problem.

semtex

I think it's funny that the name of the guy who helped you is dotted out. Let me guess, his name was d-i-c-k ?

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ChrisSlicks

LOL, yes

speedoflife

LMFAO. That's great. I don't really know if this is enough to warrant a recall, but I do feel that it is a problem that Nissan should at least be aware of, especially considering you weren't even on a track!

shadow2k

I started my old Taurus up in the garage, backed it into the driveway, and turned it off one day. The driveway is on an incline, and it was not registering the 1/4 tank it had just a second ago in the garage. I stuck another gallon in, still no dice, wouldn't start.

I had to roll it out into the street on a level surface to start her back up. The Taurus' fuel sensor will cause that issue on inclines due to its placement in the gas tank. If what little gas is left is pooled up in the back, it will think it's empty.

Not sure where the Z's sensor is located, but it could likely be caused by the same thing. Whether it's a hill, or you're taking hard turns and moving all the fuel to an area where the sensor won't see it.

Just a guess...

travisjb

ditto on fuel starvation... it happens to me *every* time I'm at the track and approaching anything less than 3/4 of a tank... always in right hand turns... i've had the engine completely shut down a couple times and have managed to coast off track let the car sit a few minutes then get things started again with no signs of problems thereafter

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JungleB

3/4 or 1/4? I hope you didn't mean 3/4!

ChrisSlicks

I think that is the case, however it's not really the sensor but rather the fuel pickup. If the pickup isn't completely submerged in fuel, the pump can't reach the required pressure on the fuel line and the injectors won't fire.

fuct

what would be a fix for this?