JAANND

I often check the DTE in the fuel economy info. I notice when it get down to about 25 mi. that the next time I check it there is an asterisk instead of a number when I know I haven't driven 25 miles yet. I thought the asterisk only shows up when it's less than 1 mile and there is like a 1 gallon reserve? Is there a setting that says anything less than 25 to show as an asterisk. I test drove a different Maxima that was low on gas and I could've swork that I had seen the DTE at like 8 mi. but my car never shows that low. So, I'm thinking this is a setting that can be changed. Anyone know about this? Thanks.

CanadianMoFo

Nah. Mine does the same thing. Once it gets down to about the last 10% of the tank it shows an asterisk, and the low fuel light comes on on the dashboard. There's still plenty of gas left in the tank. Its just a very early warning. I guess its better than a very late warning.

This way you've always got plenty of time to look for a gas station that has good 94 premium to fill up with.

Edify11

Mine does the same thing also it also appears that there are about 4 gallons remaining in the tank when the asterisk shows up. If my assumptions are correct, that means your actual DTE is about 60+ miles more than what is indicated in the display.

Monotaur

Yeah, I think the DTE only takes into account the 16 gallons in the "tank" (not considering the 4 gallon reserve).

lightonthehill

From long experience, Nissan knows the tank floats are not accurate enough to put real meaning to very low DTE numbers. Additionally, the car is usually not on exactly level ground, so the DTE reading will depend on where in the tank the sensor is.

When the tank is very low, the difference in readings between two '04 Maximas sitting side-by-side could be a half-gallon or so, even if both cars had exactly the same amount of gas in their tanks.

To make the inaccuracy of the float/guage system rather meaningless, they set things up so that there could be three, four or five gallons still in the tank when the warnings begin.

The fuel guage is very useful, but it will never be mistaken for a quantitative analysis instrument.

JAANND

Cool..thanks for the info. Lighonthehill...you go to Maxima college or something? Very thorough! Thanks for your help.

lightonthehill

JAANND - thanks for the nice words. Maxima College? Not really. My academic field was geophysics, and I worked 35 years in info tech.

What I am now going to say here will not be like Houdini revealing his greatest secrets, but my post above applies exactly the same to Maximas of twenty years ago as it does today.

In fact, if you go back to my post, delete references to the DTE warnings, and substitute 'Studebaker' each place you see the word 'Nissan', and post this back around 1949 . . . well, you get my drift.

PETZUK

94 Octane? No way in my Max, especially at 2.50 + a gallon.

NICKSE

When I was finished with my first test drive of the 04 max about a month ago, the display screen said 3 DTE. And I asked the sales guy is that for real and he said ya lucky we are just around the corner from the dealership. But my 04 max displays the same * when fuel gets low. Not sure what to make of this.

GrayArea51

iTrader: (1)

As with many other parts of this car, this is computer controlled as well. Quite a few factors are involved in giving this "DTE" reading. The most important of which, ironically enough, is not the actual amount of fuel left in the tank. The ECU (brain of the car) continuously monitors fuel consumption, which in and of itself is calculated based on many factors, and delivers what it *estimates* to be the distance the vehicle may be driven, based on the current level of fuel consumption.

During spirited driving the low fuel indicator will light very early, and the DTE will read an " * " early on as well. A change in your fuel consumption (ie. slower acceleration and more gradual braking) will change this reading. I've seen my DTE reading change from an " * " to 25+ miles based on my driving style. The opposite has occured as well under hard driving.

Hope that helps. Obviously you can expect this DTE reading to go down quickly if you have a heavy foot. It's just an estimate. The next time you fill your tank after seeing the display show an " * ", note the amount of fuel is required to fill the tank. The difference between the amount you pumped and the capacity of the tank is the vehicles "reserve" based on your recent averaged fuel consumption.

lightonthehill

JAANND - I think we have found our Maxima College grad. He schooled at Area 51 in the Nevada desert, which is sort of a 'gray area'.

Very strong post, GrayArea51. Explains the 'UFO type' readings we are getting on our DTE.

GrayArea51

iTrader: (1)

Thanks lightonthehill. Finally someone who understand the nature of my handle.