# Inaccurate Fuel level indicator



## lsknissan (Nov 11, 2009)

I have been tracking fill-ups and have noticed that once I get down to ZERO bars, a fill-up to full only requires 42-45 litres, which means there are still 10-13 litres in the tank (55 litre tank correct?). This seems a tad on the conservative side since 13 litres is almost a quarter tank! I'd rather not be filling up so often if I didn't have to (given there is still so much fuel in the tank). 

Is everyone else also noticing 10-13 litres remaining once they hit ZERO bars?


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## Faja (Aug 31, 2009)

Tank is actually 50 litres. You still have some reserve in the tank once the bars disappear but I'm not sure exactly how much but I would say around 3 litres so it's not that far off. You can force a couple more litres in by not pushing the nozzle way down into the filler pipe but it's not recommended to really fill up to the extreme maximum anyway.


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## lsknissan (Nov 11, 2009)

Are you sure its 50L? Just about every spec sheet I can find lists the tank at 14.5 US GAL or 55 litres. I believe the pre 2007 Sentra had a 13.2 GAL tank which is equivalent to 50 litres.


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## Faja (Aug 31, 2009)

lsknissan said:


> Are you sure its 50L? Just about every spec sheet I can find lists the tank at 14.5 US GAL or 55 litres. I believe the pre 2007 Sentra had a 13.2 GAL tank which is equivalent to 50 litres.


Yeah, you're right. I could have sworn it said 50 in my owner's manual but I just checked the specs online and they do say 14.5 gallons which is indeed 55 litres. I guess either the reserve is huge or specs are off


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## GoldenBoyRB (Jul 26, 2012)

nope, it is indeed 14.5 gallons. i have never trusted those bars in ANY car. all i know is, if the light is on, then it's time for a fill up


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## wogie (May 28, 2012)

My 1994 Sentra has a 13.2 gallon (US) tank according to specs. I've had it for 15 years and 311,000 miles. Having recorded the amount filled each time for 15 years, the most I ever filled it up was 12.19 gallons. In over 625 fillups there were only 6 times when the tank took more than 12 gallons. That car did not have an electronic fuel gage. Soon I will part with this old reliable car. I never ran it completely dry to see the capacity but when getting to 12.1 to 12.2 that's 92% of rated capacity. The needle on that gage would go below the line next to the "E" and there was still gas left. Drove the wife crazy but I knew the car well enough to know when to get gas.

In the 2011 (used) I bought a week ago, at the first fillup it took 13.31 gallons compared to the specs of 14.5 US gallons. Since I have only a short history with this car I didn't want to run it any closer. When I was two miles from the filling station the DTE gage read 20 miles but that's when it went to the flashing dots. Extrapolating the MPG I got with the 20 DTE tells me I had 0.6 gallons left which means I might have gotten to 13.9 gallons or 96% of capacity (of the 14.5 gallons). I did not take it to zero bars (don't think I will try either) but at least with your post if I get to that 20 mark if I pay close attention I know I have a little more than 20 miles of fuel left nut that would be based on the driving conditions.

One huge thing I noticed is that the DTE miles would go up and down a lot in the last 35 miles according to speed and terrain.


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