Fuel gauge recall

[manikm303]

thanks @kevinb @Reverend RobP - i will contact the importer and find out what they do\did - so one last question then, the new dash i've fitted which is reading 175,548 km - do you think that is just someone elses car's mileage (i.e from the car the dash was taken from)? and that figure can't be coming from anywhere else, like the ECU or anything, and its just a co-incidence that it happens to be almost the same as mine ?

i.e if i put that dash in a 30,000km car, it would still show 175,548km ?

 

[kevinb]

The odometer reading is stored in a chip on the circuit board contained in the speedo cluster. So it has nothing to do with the ECU or anything else on the vehicle. So if you put it in a 30,000km car it would show 175,548km.

Don't ask me how I know.

 

[manikm303]

nice one, thanks for clearing that up! gee-whiz! what a kerfuffle.
so they must have manually done something to make it show the number of corresponding miles then on import. crazy.

 

[kevinb]

Yes they have re written the eprom chip commonly know as clocking in the trade. Or fitted a different cluster.

 

[manikm303]

yes, its quite scary - that with this model, based on how easy it is to take out, and buy another cluster - you could easily (without re-writing eeprom knowledge) get a car to report different mileage - lesser so for selling on

im glad i actually have the Km/h from VX report, when it was exported, as i know its within ballpark based on 2/3 years usage since - before i bought.

 

[manikm303]

right, fitted new gubbins to original dash - very simple, unplug the fuel relay connector, then its 8 clips to take back cover off, and fit to original - took 60 seconds.

interestingly - fuel now reports 249km to empty instead of 257km, but plenty more than 198km before fitting the module.

 

[manikm303]

@Sonic_Attack i've added the recall part, i'll see what happens in 450-odd km (is that bad milage for a tank?).
Two questions: when the engine is off, should the needle settle back to empty (mine doesn't). Also how is the low petrol warning screen normally cleared (mine comes on every time even though the tank is full)

@Sonic_Attack yes it goes to zero on the dial.

 

[Sonic_Attack]

@Sonic_Attack i've added the recall part, i'll see what happens in 450-odd km (is that bad milage for a tank?).
Two questions: when the engine is off, should the needle settle back to empty (mine doesn't). Also how is the low petrol warning screen normally cleared (mine comes on every time even though the tank is full)

Heyya, 450k around Auckland is probably ok. I wouldn’t expect more than that.

I feel getting a completely accurate reading at top and bottom is getting the ohm reading of the sender correct in relation to the level of fuel in your tank.

I haven’t bothered filling mine up yet, I actually used my bike to commute, I started driving it Monday 6th to work and back 6km per day. I’ve been on orange light the entire time including having fuel warning on screen. I’m just waiting for red warning and thus far I haven’t run out of gas and the needle is well below the bottom mark. When I started using it may 6th the needle was practically on the bottom mark.

I feel that red warning has to come soon because that’s 54KM on the fuel warning which is probably loosely where it should be, but must be damn close to the red warning. I’ll keep going till that happens.

My needle gauge has been very consistent though. Previously it was showing from 1/4 through 1/2 tank when I’d run out of gas.

Once I establish the bottom is where it should be, I’ll worry about what it shows with a full tank. Although me personally the real worry is where the bottom of the tank is showing.

 

[Sonic_Attack]

@Sonic_Attack i've added the recall part, i'll see what happens in 450-odd km (is that bad milage for a tank?).
Two questions: when the engine is off, should the needle settle back to empty (mine doesn't). Also how is the low petrol warning screen normally cleared (mine comes on every time even though the tank is full)

I recall you having to replace the actual needle on the cluster. That’s not something I’m familiar with and probably introduces a few other issues in relation to an accurate gauge.

When I tested both clusters on my car, both displayed the same information. The actual needle gauges registered identical, by eye at least. And both showed the same fuel remain on screen which was 36km from memory.

 

[murray]

cheers. i think ive put my needle on incorrectly, as it reads half full when i turn it off. it hasnt budged from full yet, but i think when i get to half a tank it'll start moving. I'll wait and see. btw: pickapart takanini have a 2005 black e51 in if you needed anything off it.

 

[Sonic_Attack]

cheers. i think ive put my needle on incorrectly, as it reads half full when i turn it off. it hasnt budged from full yet, but i think when i get to half a tank it'll start moving. I'll wait and see. btw: pickapart takanini have a 2005 black e51 in if you needed anything off it.

Or once your yellow warning on screen comes up shift needle to line up with bottom mark.

For what it’s worth my gas needle sits at same position as the temp gauge needle when vehicle ignition is turned off. Around 5mm below the bottom line.

Be interested to hear how many K’s others get from yellow to red warning.

 

[IanJ]

Wow what a saga. My car ran out of petrol when the gauge was reading about a quarter. Needle drops to the stop with ignition off. I filled up and range is showing 390-400 km. Is that about right? If so, I'll make sure I fill up again when it reads 300 say. My recall search doesn't list the fuel gauge recall. I've emailed Nissan Japan for confirmation though it seems I might not get a straight answer.

 

[manikm303]

Wow what a saga. My car ran out of petrol when the gauge was reading about a quarter. Needle drops to the stop with ignition off. I filled up and range is showing 390-400 km. Is that about right? If so, I'll make sure I fill up again when it reads 300 say. My recall search doesn't list the fuel gauge recall. I've emailed Nissan Japan for confirmation though it seems I might not get a straight answer.

Take the dash out and check
Simple check

 

[Beccy99]

thanks @kevinb @Reverend RobP - i will contact the importer and find out what they do\did - so one last question then, the new dash i've fitted which is reading 175,548 km - do you think that is just someone elses car's mileage (i.e from the car the dash was taken from)? and that figure can't be coming from anywhere else, like the ECU or anything, and its just a co-incidence that it happens to be almost the same as mine ?

i.e if i put that dash in a 30,000km car, it would still show 175,548km

Righto, so I found this. I believe it to be the fix for e51 fuel gauge affixed to a cluster.
Can anyone confirm This is actually ALL I need? Like there isn’t any additional bits of loom or sorsery required.

AND, can I just whip that loom and plastic box off the back of that cluster, and slap it on my own cluster and have a working fuel gauge again?

*edit. For what it’s worth, my faulty fuel gauge is in my 2004 series 2, ME51 Elgrand.
I’m just not sure if there is any distinction between the different series. This cluster appears to be from regular 2WD while mine is the 4WD, so again, plug and play?

https://imgur.com/a/Qt4giju

Hi All,

I had a stressful breakdown, recovery & fault finding experience & the brilliant Sugoi Campers, Fareham, suggested checking out whether the fuel gauge was part of the Nissan product recall - which brought me here to find out how.

Thanks for all the info on this thread, it gave me the confidence to contact Nissan Japan direct & found out that the recall hadn’t been done. The email did say they don’t support exported vehicles, (same as a previous post in the thread somewhere). The previous google translate tip worked wonders on the documents too.

I decided to pursue the change anyway and after a couple of head banging conservations with Nissan UK and my local Nissan dealership, I got them to speak to each other (to get my import on their system so the garage could do the work) & the recall job was done FOR FREE! Thanks Nissan Portsmouth!

I’m not saying it was easy, but might be worth others giving the emails & phone calls a go to at least find out if they’ll be charged for the work, before going to the time & effort of finding workarounds.

Cheers,

Beccy

 

[LeStempy]

Well done for persevering. Proves the parts are still available even if Nissan Japan don't want to share them.

 

[IanJ]

Having started this thread, I'd like to finish it by saying that after contacting Nissan Japan, I was directed to Nissan UK who put me in touch with my local Nissan main dealer. After a few weeks, they told me they had received the mod kit and today they installed the kit at no cost to myself.! It was all quite painless after all.

 

[parcel]

The pointer doesnt light up an seems to be sticking.
Contacted Nissan Japan, they said the recall was done before imported.
Cant find anyone to fit a new cluster unit.

 

[gball]

Hello! I've seen a few different explanations earlier on this thread - so wondered if someone could confirm if there's only ONE symptom if the recall has not been done, or if there could be a few.

I wasn't driving the E51 Elgrand - it was my wife - but the car ran out of fuel and stalled (with the gauge showing 1/2 full) She said that the gauge had been lower before, so she was suspicious - but had no reason not to trust it. The particulars:

1) The gauge had been at the 1/4 mark immediately before that trip, but when she started the car it went up to the half way mark.
2) After getting it refuelled, it did go back to full when it was refuelled - and now appears to work normally, at least down to the 1/8th (bit where you really ought to refuel)
3) However the (amber) low fuel light has not come on since... hard to tell as we're a bit nervous about relying on it working.

When I did a database check on the VIN, it showed as no modifications outstanding - I know removing the dash would help, but I'd rather avoid that if there's a clear explanation of what "this" fault is. If it's a jamming fuel tank sensor, that's a different thing...

In particular I'm after what people have seen when the fault occurs, to try to figure out where to start looking.

Thanks! Gordon

 

[gball]

... thinking more, I guess it's these questions for anyone who has had it happen to them:
- Does the gauge stick at a particular point, but work normally above that point (ie a full tank always reports full) Or is it more like a jammed needle?
- Is it random - does it stop working one day but work fine the next. (I wondered if it's a purely analogue sensor, or part of the ECMS - if it is reading faulty, does it reset when you turn off/on the ignition)
- If it results in a miscalibration, is it always the same value - i.e. if we have the fault, can we just rely on, say, 1/3rd fuel meaning it is actually empty.

I'm not keen to take the dash unit out just to check for a sticker, but if the fault is cabling then I could try taking it out and cleaning with contact spray - I'll have a look on youtube to see if anyone has got fix-it videos for Elgrands or other similar Nissans.

 

[LeStempy]

Only four screws to pull out the cluster, easy and definitive.