fleetwood

Haven't filled the tank up yet. Only 300 miles so far. When you just got to empty on our 02 Alti (that we traded in) you could fill up and it would take only 17 gallons. Is the Max the same way? We discussed this on Alti.net club and all of them had 3 gallons in reserve.

viguera

iTrader: (1)

I got my car almost empty the other day (12 miles on the trip computer, right off the highway so I know there wasn't much left ) and it only took 16 gallons and change to fill up. Not sure what's up with that...

That reminded me of another gripe I have about the car not displaying exactly how much gas is left right there on the display, but that's another story...

Edify11

The Maxima has a 4 or 5 gallon reserve. I forget which.

us024077

The other day mine showed *.* miles to empty and the yellow dash light came on. About 20 miles later I stopped and it took 17 gals, so I still had about 3 in reserve.

fleetwood

Just like the Alti. Probably could find the thread in Alti.net but it would take a wile. The factory did this on purpose. You can go about 75 miles on empty.

NismoMax80

iTrader: (6)

20 gallon tank will show empty and DTE *.* when 4 are left. So 4 gallon reserve. I got my DTE as low as 7 miles. For awhile the *.* showed when less than 20. This has been discussed earlier and lightonthehill educated us about wanting to keep a reserve so "bad stuff" stays floating and out of the motor.

lightonthehill

maxima80 - you remembered my name and spelled it correctly. Does anyone have the phone number of Ripley's "Believe It Or Not'? I post on about twenty boards, and seldom see it spelled correctly on any of them.

A yellow ball lights up below my fuel guage when there are about five gallons left, and when my DTE gets to 'nada', I still have between three and four gallons left. This is good. Better safe than sorry.

Another reason for keeping some gas in the tank:

Should a tornado, hurricane, terrorist act, power company overload, etc, result in a power outage, gas pumps are pretty much worthless. Having a reserve in the tank could get one to an area where power is fine.

fleetwood

Just filled up for the first time and We went past empty. Went 469 miles and used 19.4 about 24.2 mpg. Not bad for the first tank because I pushed it on I-30 a few times at 80-85 mph and punched it, past a few cars. Didn't floor it though. Driving it slower this tank full to see how good of gas mileage I could get.

lightonthehill

fleetwood, fleetwood, fleetwood -

Is Russian roulette your favorite pastime?

You say you took 19.6 gallons on the fillup with a 20 gallon tank? Didn't your mother tell you when you were growing up that a car can never access the entire contents of the gas tank? You were VERY close to conking out on the roadway. In addition to taking away your means of locomotion, that also takes away your power brakes and power steering.

I don't care if you have to walk ten miles in the rain to buy a gas can, then walk ten more to get it filled and twenty back to your car. But your car certainly DOES care. Running a modern car out of gas is a very good way to ruin the catalytic converter. And if you think GAS is expensive, try pricing a new converter.

I have run out of gas in bad places at bad times (Sonora desert at noon in summer, Montana backroad at night in winter, Baltimore Harbor tunnel - this was punished by a stiff fine). But my days of such foolishness ended long ago. I found out the hard way that it serves no good purpose to run out of gas anywhere at anytime.

PLEASE, if for no other reason, just so we can keep you as a poster here, don't EVER let your tank get below two gallons of gas.

CanadianMoFo

I was always led to believe that the fuel pump in the tank was cooled by gas, and that by running your tank near empty it may stress it and reduce its life. Mind you, that would have to be a constant abuse, rather than a one time situation.

NismoMax80

iTrader: (6)

Along with preivous/obvious reasons stated above, "first tank of gas" you are breaking it in. I know it is VERY hard to resist, but punching it before 1200 miles, or at least 600 (dealer said for break in) is not a good idea. You know about keepong under 4k rpm and changing rpm (not same speed/cruise control for too long) during break-in right? Also, if Nissan felt the car needs gas with 4 gallons left, might be good reasons.

Mystery

Thats really good that there is a reserve. My car is sitting on E right now. 40 miles left, but i've seen it drop to 10 in a matter of miles. I've filled up on 0 miles left, but i forgot how much it was. I just haven't had time to find a gas station thats open when i got out of work.