I filled up my tank 2 days ago to the brim and all was fine. i haven't driven much in 2 days and now i get in my car to drive 2 miles to prepare to do an oil change, backing out of my driveway i realize the gas gauge is vertical??? WTF?

i tapped on it a few times and all that did was make my tach needle bounce around. tried turning the car off and back to ACC several times to see if it would gain voltage... nothing. very annoying. my car is becoming ghetto. i hate ghetto!!

could filling my tank up full cause it to break? i mean its fine forever and then its not... how the **** ?

i NEED to fix this. its just not acceptable and makes me angry every time i look at it. i'm taking the cluster out now. should be easy as i have done it in my s14 a billion times... but i need to know if it can be fixed quickly!

this is the white SE cluster which pisses me off even more.

 

nobody??? this can't be original...

 

Not sure if its fixable. Mine currently has that problem where if I fill up to 3/4 to F, it will read correct. When the car is off, the needle goes way past F but once its started comes right back down. That must be replaced. Sorry my dude as the SE one you need is hard to find.

 

my problem is different. i took my cluster out and moved my gauge up to the full position with my fingers, reinstalled it, and turned the car on. when it gets power, you see it re-adjust itself back to below empty so its getting power.

its like the "motor" inside this specific gauge "wants" to be on empty for some reason. i tested it another time and pushed the needle up to F with my fingers again, this time turning the car on and off repeatedly. each time the battery was off, the needle would stay in whatever position the car turned off in. when i clicked it on, the needle would continue to fall and if i turned it off again, it stops again at the position it is when i turned it off. ultimately, its trying to read as low as it will go.

so the motor is working inside the needle. could something be ****ed up in my gas tank?? do these cars have a device like a toilet tank with booey on it that get stuck??

 

sounds like the fuel level sensor coulda went bad.

 

You can try looking at the float in the gas tank as he suggested but if its good, the gauge just needs to be replaced.

 

that sensor would cause a CEL if it took a **** too wouldnt it?

 

Negative!

 

ah, figured since its evap related it would throw a code

 

The FSM shows how to check the all the dash gauges and the things that feed them, like the gas gauge sending unit. This info is in the EL (electrical) chapter under Meters And Gauges.

If you don't have a FSM, download one from here:

http://boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/

Here's a photo of the fuel gauge sending unit that is in the gas tank.

 

That's a neat looking thingamajiggy.

 

I thought it was a space station when I first saw it.

 

Lol, it does look like one

 

If you guys want to see more pictures, here's my original thread:

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...ding-unit.html

 

Dennis, that is a great photo-write-up you posted on the fuel tank sending unit.

 

wow. thats a lot more help than i deserved. i currently have a semi-full tank so i'm gonna wait a bit before sticking my hands in the cancer pit and find the **** to fix on it.

 

I had the same thing happen to my Temperature gauge... the problem with that was i accidentally touched a hot wire to the blue ribbon wire grid behind the gauge cluster...it burnt a ground off of that ribbon. i could turn the car on, and the gauge would shoot straight up to the top(Vertical) I soldered a new bridge in there and it works fine now... do you have any loose wires back there? i would suggest yanking the gauge cluster before you go fishing in the gas tank.