...how does yours work? Mine stays at it's fuel level when you shut the car off, but I have seen that some other 2000's when you shut the car off the gauge drops to empty, turn the key to on and it jumps up to the correct fuel level. The way mine works is a little annoying, if the car is low on fuel and I go to the gas station, shut the car off and fill it up then start the car it takes the gauge like 3-4 minutes to finally reach the full mark.

 

mine drops down and back up when I start it...

 

I wonder if there is a way that I can change it so that mine drops down and then back up...

 

Hmmm.... Mine always stays at the position it was whenever I turn the car off. IMO, it shouldn't matter unless the gauge was reading the level wrong.

 

10char

 

I want to know why some 2K's stay in the same position and some 2K's drop down and back up when started, I would rather mine drop down and back up when started... so that I don't have to wait forever for it to go back up after I fill the car up with fuel, plus I think it looks better like that.

 

mine stays in the same position, but when i fill it up, it will jump up the the full mark in about 10 seconds. who knows.

 

The early production 2k’s have a different cluster then all other 5th gens. The early cars that have the gas gauge that says up when you turn the car off also has an "air bag" light, whereas the later models that have the gauge that goes down have a picture of an air bag going off near someone’s face.
I talked to Dave Burnette about this very same thing ~4 years ago, and that is what we came up with.

 

If that is all it took I wouldn't mind, but it takes my gauge forfreakingever to get to the full position.

 

Have you checked your fuel level sender, maybe it's shot. Maybe you can also swap gauges and see what happens. At least that way you can rule out your cluster being defective.

 

Exactly my thought. The fuel has to drop below a certain level before the float starts to drop, however in some instances, the float can reach the bottom of its travel even if there is still fuel in the tank. This happens typically when the sending unit’s measurement will be empty while in fact there is still gas left in the tank. Making it an obvious mis-read.

 

There is no misread or anything like that, the gauge is accurate. I would just rather have it drop down and then back up, just because it seems to take so long to get back to the full position after I fill up.

 

My guage sits above full for the first 40 miles, then drops to the full mark about 60 miles, and then drops like an anchor after that. But yeah, mine goes down when the car is turned off.

 

Everyone with an 01, 02, or 03 has a gas gauge that goes down.

 

I have an early 2000. It goes down when off.

 

^^^answer to the thread . . . BTW mine goes down. .

 

Mine goes down when I shut off too. Put up a poll.

 

Then its not that early of a 2000

 

Mine stays at the same level.
Mine was manufactured in Nov 1999.

 

So I take it there is no way to change that? Not even with a Consultant II? Or can I swap clusters and have it work?

 

My car was made in 10/99?

 

I have some sort of issue with my 03 maxima as well. I was on a drive out of town, and the suddenly shut off, I tried to start the car again, it started and shut off again, it happened few times, but I could not be able to move the car. I checked the fuel, the fuel gauge was showing there was still 1/4 tank of gas. Though I had to tow the car to mechanic, and found out I was out of gas but the gauge was still showing 1/4 tank full of gas.
I was told something wrong with the fuel sending unit, have to replace the whole, around $700. Though I came across one person selling the complete sending unit. I bought that one, I got it installed, but the problem persists. I got in touch the person I bought the sending unit from he told me that it was working when he sent me that. He told me to take the sending unit out, and try to move the float up and down and see how the cluster and look at the fuel gauge, and I was really amazed when I did that the fuel gauge was working fine. I installed the sending unit back into the tank.
But
I still have the same issue, the gauge move/functions fine, and as soon as it comes near to the 1/4 level, it doesn't come down to show me the accurate amount of gas in the tank, so I have to keep the tank nearly full all the time to avoid break down.
so the question is, has anyone come across this issue, what one has done to correct it. any advice for me, so that I can get it done at reasonable budget!!!

 

i just purchased an 03 gle and have this exact problem.. Anybody out there that can shed some light on this problem. for me it has happened three times so far in one day. first time parked uphill. second time stalled while on flat highway. third time downhill residential. fuel gauge will go from half to empty and dte will flash. after shutting down the car for at least 2 minutes it will go back up and start fine.. Sender Unit?

 

I have the same problem. Nissan service recomended to change the fuel sending unit. Does anyone knows the location of the fuel sending unit. Is it under the back seat?