Troubleshooting a possibly defunct low gas / low fuel indicator light

owaldowald Member Posts: 2
edited August 2014 in Nissan
Just as the title suggest, I'm in the process of troubleshooting an issue with my 97 Pathfinder SE. A while ago, I had an issue with my spark plugs. This was maybe 3 or 4 months ago - one of the spark plugs was misfiring, so I went ahead and changed all the plugs, the wires, the rotor, ... in a nutshell, I did my own tune up. However being new to D-I-Y auto repair, I wasn't certain what the issue was until I had some friends point me the right way. One thing I did notice while this was going on was that a lot, if not all, of the indicators lights were acting bizarre - it reminded me of all those movies you'd watch where a plane cockpit dashboard lights would go crazy as the plane was crashing. All is fine now with the exception of the low gas / low fuel indicator light.

Since then, I've only seen it illuminate once. Usually it would brighten up when I was near empty, but well before I would run completely dry and could probably squeeze out about another gallon of gas, give or take a quarter-gallon before being totally stranded.

As I've been driving more recently to test and troubleshoot the indicator light, I have to believe that it's not working, because I've come close a few times since then to being bone-dry. The symptoms were pretty much what you could guess - the car driving in a way where you could tell it was going to shut off for lack of gas.

So, my question for anyone who can help me is what route should I take in trying to deduce what the issue is causing this problem? I'm guessing I should check fuses first, then perhaps check the back panel of my instrument display? Yes? No?

While it's not a critical thing since the fuel gauge works just fine and I use the trip odometer to help me figure out when I should refill on gas, I'd still like to know that the light is working.

Any help is appreciated.

Comments

  • geewyzzgeewyzz Member Posts: 1
    Did you ever solve your problem? After having my car worked on by Firestone (replace spark plugs, fuel filter change, spark plug wires replaced, etc.), I now have a similar problem. My low fuel indicator no longer works.
  • audhamaudham Member Posts: 31
    Fuel Gauge Sending Unit Official Recall for '05-'08 Pathfinders

    Just received in the mail this past week. Unfortunately!!! They only extended the N/C repair to 72 months/72,000 miles. I'm not sure where the !#** they came up with that figure.

    The Recall # is WBI/10-026
This discussion has been closed.

Your Privacy

By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our Visitor Agreement.