state police behind me and got towed, yay love fuel starve!

Red__Zed

cossie1600

Thank you

This is where the turn was, yellow is where I picked up the gas and blue is where it ran out


Shot at 2012-05-05

mantella87

It's an interesting issue to say the least. Haven't experienced it myself, it's rare when I allow the Z to get too low on fuel, and I'm sad to say it, but it's rare when I drive the Z like a sports car. As Red pointed out, the 370 is not the only car that is prone to this. Aside from the S2K, what other cars are known to have this problem?

Red__Zed

Quite a few cars have it.

The big issue, as cossie stated, is the results of the fuel starve. My s2000 never did anything but a mild stutter starve, whereas the results of similar treatment caused to the to die.

The other issue is of course the fact that there is no readily available solution, but that's what happens when people pretend an issue doesn't exist.

cossie1600

Exactly. Here is the thing. This is a street car, no one is expecting it to be able to get down to 2 gallons. Yet, is it really that much to ask for a car that can go down to 3/8? (I have to fill up at the 12-13 gallons mark at the track). I actually wasn't mad that I had the fuel pick up issue at 1/4 tank on the street. I am more mad at the fact that I was stranded because the design was so poor that it takes HOURS for fuel to leak back to the other side. It's one thing for a quick stutter or two, it's another to be sitting on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck.

Here are cars that have similar problems, but no where as severe as the 370z. I will exclude the ones that get it at 1/4 tank.

STI/EVO/S2000/Elise

C6 and 350z can get down to 1/4 tank

Augustus

Rightfully so. I'd be pissed too.

I don't understand the design of the fuel tank. I get it that it goes over the transmission, so there are two sides to the tank.

So how does fuel get from one side of the "saddle" to the other, anyway? I understand that cornering forces would drive fuel to one side or the other, potentially away from the fuel pickups. Does the fuel have some way of leveling back out, other than a hard turn the other way? Are there two fuel pickups; one on each side? Otherwise you could be driving around with fuel in one half and the other half empty, leading to wacko gauge readings and fuel starvation.

cossie1600

Not exactly. It's not a problem with the pump, it's a problem with the bracket holding the pump (reserve cup being too small) and a bad gas tank that allows gas to slosh to the California side.

It's my first time hitting it off the track too, but this is my first time not being able to restart my car unlike a hick up like I had at the track. It's definitely not water, no sign combustion at the exhaust and you can just hear there is no gas.

100% agree.

I don't think it shut down the fuel system because there were a few times where the car "attempted" to fire. My best restart had me idling at 400RPM for about five secs. Problem went away as soon as I loaded it with gas. If I recall correctly, the fuel pump is fed by a combination of a vacuum tube sucking gas back in from the other side (no start=no vacuum). Correct me if i am wrong on this.

I hit the fuel starve at the track at 3/4 of a tank at 60mph. When I hit it last Friday, I never got past 70mph....

See my response for Mike, it's a vacuum that sucks gas back to the right side, where the fuel pump is. The fuel sending unit is on the left side, hence the weird readings you get after hard turns sometimes. I also believe there is a fuel sending unit on the right side (correct me if i am wrong), but i am not 100% sure on that. The gas tank has basically 3 holes, one for the fuel hose nozzle, one for the fuel pump assembley and one for the fuel sending unit. If you want to do any physical work inside, you have to go through one of the three hole. This is why it is so difficult to get a fixed for us and so easy to do it at Nissan since they can simply retool the inners of the gas tank to prevent fuel from sloshing or redesigning the fuel pump bracket/reserve cup to make it bigger.

There is a guy that is supposed to be working on it, but it's been a while and I am not even sure if I want to spend $1000 on whatever fix either. If he doesn't come up with a fix, the shop that designed my trailer hitch will probably start getting into the car to see if there is any fix for it. I have to be honest, it's not going to be an easy or cheap fix, we probably have to wait for Nissan to send a revision to the tank or the pump or maybe a recall.....

red6spd

Cool? What are you trying to prove? I'm not arguing the design of the tank but the fact that some people have the issue some dont. Why do some Z's have Oil consumption issues and some dont? Thats denial as well Huh Red?

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Red__Zed

It's not a "some cars" issue, it is a "some drivers" issue.

Anyone who looks at the tank can see the issue. It is a fundamental design flaw that created issues for anyone who drives hard. It is not at all similar to issues like oil consumption, which is going to be hit or miss

mantella87

I don't really agree with hostility being aimed at this car either for the few (often very inconvenient) problems it may have, but comparing fuel starve to oil consumption is "apples to oranges."