# Gas float check



## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

Hi to all(ola a todos)(azorean speaking)

I had an hour to burn so i ve decided to open the fuel tank .
The gas float is probably sending bad voltage to the dash indicator,so i decided to have a deeper look inside?.
First step safety first
Second step beer nearby
Third step take the fuel pump fuse outhttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865d554c36f7/20161229_144632.jpg?
Use the fuse tool on the fuse box cover
https://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865d5a897191/20161229_151546.jpg?
Start the engine,twice(it will stall at the first start)
The engine won t start(no fuel is being pumped)
Unplug the negative cable on the battery
https://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865d5eb5aca3/20161229_141535.jpg?
Lift the back passenger side seat(or take it out),unplug the plastic button holding the fabric coverhttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865d72bdc954/20161229_144136.jpg?
Pull the fabric and push it back somewhere.
Turn the 4 screws clockwise 90 degreeshttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865d849cbc75/20161229_141726.jpg?
https://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865d85e8e213/20161229_141953.jpg?
Philips number 2
Unplug the connector under the platehttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865d90330400/20161229_142022.jpg?
and put it asidehttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865d91e714cf/20161229_142002.jpg?
Notice the triangle on the white cover and do a mark on the black cover.
Use a bar and a mallet(tira teimas) to unscrew ithttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865d9fcc32e1/20161229_142128.jpg?
Once it's done you should pull it out (twisting) easy.
https://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865dabd0b85b/20161229_143606.jpg?
So i used a small utility knife to take a small cover outhttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865db1499bce/20161229_143504.jpg?
And tried to open the channels on the float dialhttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865db6b0e164/20161229_143342.jpg?
Once the mission was impossible i ve decided to put it back on.
Reverse the steps ;cover back on,
into the gas tank(twisting)
arrow towards back of the car
screw the black nut(don t use the same place to tight it up)
plug the wire(did you ear a snap?)
turn the 4 clips counter clockwise.

So i went to the driver's side? and repeat the process.
Fabric coverhttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865de2300bb7/20161229_144136.jpg?
Turn the 4 clips clockwisehttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865de79cee9f/20161229_144255.jpg?
Unplug the connector under the platehttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865dedd104ed/20161229_144945.jpg?
,press firmly the green lock and pull the gas line(it s tight)https://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865df9833030/20161229_145044.jpg?
Have a rag or a paper nearby to wipe some gas(that is why you crank the engine without the fuse,to release the pressure).
Unscrew the back giant nuthttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865e068b09ea/20161229_142128.jpg?
And pull it out twistinghttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865e0a65ff0f/20161229_145347.jpg?that s the filter we see at the bottom
It has a lot of hardware connected there so i was unable to work on it like the first one.
https://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865e1645ae95/20161229_145453.jpg? we see the floater at the bottom.
So bended and twisted on the side of the car i was able to take this picturehttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865e1fb8ca09/20161229_150406.jpg?
I was able to scratch some lines on the floater dial and put it back on.
Twisting and pushing(arrow towards the back of the car)
Screw the giant black nut(tight to the mark beside the arrow)
Plug the gas line(press the green lock) and push firmlyhttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5865e36d4e4ea/20161229_150644.jpg?

Plug the connector
Screw the plate cover
Put the fuse back on
Plug the battery negative cable (tight)
Turn the key on and off twice(build pressure)
Start the engine
My gas tank was almost empty and it was very helpful like this.

I don't know if it s clear and understandable,if there's to many mistakes or misleading words let me know, i ll do the changes.

English is my third language and i try as hard as I can?





envoyé du throne en grimaçant kclmop


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## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

The photos are not showed,tomorrow i ll change them back

envoyé du throne en grimaçant kclmop


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## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

otomodo said:


> Hi to all(ola a todos)(azorean speaking)
> 
> I had an hour to burn so i ve decided to open the fuel tank .
> The gas float is probably sending bad voltage to the dash indicator,so i decided to have a deeper look inside?.
> ...




envoyé du throne en grimaçant kclmop


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Great stuff Otomodo. Bit of course the question is, did mission impossible work? Is the gas gauge now working? 

And on another matter were you able to change your O2 sensors?
Bonne année mon amis!


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## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

quadraria10 said:


> Great stuff Otomodo. Bit of course the question is, did mission impossible work? Is the gas gauge now working?
> 
> And on another matter were you able to change your O2 sensors?
> Bonne année mon amis!


Bonne année à tous
I m not sure 100% if the gauge works well,i went for a short trip and it goes from half tank to a quarter left. At least i m getting different readings from the tank.

O2 were changed
bottom









top








Top o2 was really easy and both had wd 40 sprayed the day before,bottom was a bit stiff but i had the right socket









After the o2 change i let the car running outside for 10 minutes and put it back in the garage with no problem. Today went for a short trip and engine light was on all the time.
Lucky me ,i ve received this week my obd2 bluetooth device and checked the code p0031. I did a reset with the car doctor app on my phone and will check later if it stills on ecu.


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## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

Finally it was just a bad connection. It wasn't that well snapped, now everything is back to normal.

envoyé du throne en grimaçant kclmop


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## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

I went to that pull place to get a an new old sending unit. 
6 xtrails were in the yard and only one had the full system in it. 
Next week I'll find the time to replace it. 

I grabbed a blower resistance and looked on the altimas and maximas for the same part. 
My passenger glove box(upper) blew the pivots under spring pressure and i picked up another one.


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Nice nab. Its kind of great in a way to now have access to wrecked X trails, you can get parts for next to nothing compared to having to go the dealer route for these weird things. I got the opening button for my driver's side glove compartment which I broke in the past. I thought about the fuel sending unit, but it was gone. Do they remove them to drain the gas tanks? 
Mine is still working but last tank had a minor issue. It seems to get confused past that last quarter tank mark, in that in sticks there and then empty light will come on and the indicator is on empty mark. But when I restart it the indicator goes back to that last quarter mark and the light is off. Last tank I decided to check mileage more exactly, and did 467 km out of 54.4 L ( all city driving but with more longer trips, and no going to downtown Ottawa in the rush hour). But do not like that I was down to 5L with no empty light on. I will try another bottle of that fuel treatment that helped earlier in the summer, but I may be ordering one of the units from China so as to replace the fuel pump, and filter at the same time as getting a new measuring unit. In the meantime I will keep resetting the trip meter, and keep an eye on mileage and the fuel level.


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## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

quadraria10 said:


> Do they remove them to drain the gas tanks?


Nope
I think it was gone for the same reason i was there. 
A year and a half ago, i was stressed to find an alternator and last week i could grab 6 of them. 
The difference between Laval and Ste Sophie is the origin of the people living there. There's a lot of immigrants in Laval that repair their own vehicles, Ste Sophie not a lot of immigrants there. 
The entry fee was paid after the third maxima i was in. When backing up the passenger seat to search for the blower resistance, i found a toonie and on the others a few quarters.


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Is the top pic the old float? Just asking because the part numbers have caught my eye. On the complete unit one the part no we can see is 8H301 and that top one has 8H311. My guess is the 311 is an updated version. Or, am I wrong and that is the secondary float?
Also did you take it from an X trail or a Maxima? 
Anyway I hope the unit is good and works well.


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## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

I was suppose to edit the post to identify the photos. 


The first photo is the secondary float(the one that I removed)
The second and third are the same float(primary) and the fourth is my primary assembled, barely out of the tank. I forgot to take a picture of the secondary float before it was installed. 

It was from an xtrail.1out of 6 xtrails in the yard had the pump complete assembly. 

The ones from the altimas and maximas were different. I even checked a few sentras, but only a few had the pump in it.

I saw a slight difference at the gage,since i have only 200km burned on this tank, i can t say for sure it works. It doesn't look that good from the fact that it was the pump assembly missing from the carcasses.


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## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

Well back to square one. After 2 fill ups no change on the display and depending on how its parked, it throws a code p0462. 

When i tried to disassemble the fuel pump from the carcasses, it was hard not to break any fixation around the pump.
So i ll live with this gauge like this. 

After about 10 liters burned, not always but quite often, the p0455 shows up. I get a smell of gas fumes after a trip.

On my driveway there's 3 small holes on the asphalt as if gas was leaking, but never saw anything dropping. 
Winter tires are coming soon and a good visual inspection will be done.


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Hi Otomodo,
That is a drag. Did you replace the large rubber O ring gaskets for the tank openings? Gas line leak? Still keeping an eye on my gas float level, but even though its behavior is not quite as linear as it probably should be for the last quarter tank, my empty light did come on at 367 km. And, based on the fill up the light came on with 10 litres left in the tank, which is what it is supposed to do. So I will keep my fingers crossed and hope it does not go bad too quickly.
In your case, if you have a large evap leak does that mean your fuel pump has to work harder, and can burn out faster? I am curious about what you will discover. Good luck.


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## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

quadraria10 said:


> I am curious about what you will discover. Good luck.


Hi Quad

Since my wife has done a large batch of (yummy) crème brulée, i have the torch in the garage and will use it to pin point the leak.


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## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

quadraria10 said:


> Hi Otomodo,
> That is a drag. Did you replace the large rubber O ring gaskets for the tank openings? Gas line leak? Still keeping an eye on my gas float level, but even though its behavior is not quite as linear as it probably should be for the last quarter tank, my empty light did come on at 367 km. And, based on the fill up the light came on with 10 litres left in the tank, which is what it is supposed to do. So I will keep my fingers crossed and hope it does not go bad too quickly.
> In your case, if you have a large evap leak does that mean your fuel pump has to work harder, and can burn out faster? I am curious about what you will discover. Good luck.





quadraria10 said:


> Hi Otomodo,
> That is a drag. Did you replace the large rubber O ring gaskets for the tank openings? Gas line leak? Still keeping an eye on my gas float level, but even though its behavior is not quite as linear as it probably should be for the last quarter tank, my empty light did come on at 367 km. And, based on the fill up the light came on with 10 litres left in the tank, which is what it is supposed to do. So I will keep my fingers crossed and hope it does not go bad too quickly.
> In your case, if you have a large evap leak does that mean your fuel pump has to work harder, and can burn out faster? I am curious about what you will discover. Good luck.


Are you telling me that you're doing 13l/100km? 
I'm getting 12l/100km and thought it was bad. 
I did not replace any o-ring or gasket. 
Since there s snow on the ground and wet freezing mornings, i had a bit more time to look at the xtrail. Rear brakes were partially seized and had to be sanded/lubricated. 
Next step will be the gas smell(torch on the way)

To my knowledge, an evap leak code is for the anti-pollution system. It s a low pressure vacuum that collects gases and fumes in the engine and fuel tank to eliminate them. https://youtu.be/nEhci3tpcGA

Since i don't have a smoke machine, there s a few green houses growing weed nearby........

The fuel pump job is only to provide pressure to the injectors.


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Looks like lots of material for a smoke test lol. I read a bit about the evap system afterwards. Hopefully its easy to track down. As for my mileage, its not out of the norm. Its all city driving on streets with 60 km or less speed limits. Lots of stops, lots of lights, very slow going over the bridge in the morn, and for some reason Wellington has become a parking lot at times. Just yesterday took 15 minutes to get to the Supreme Court from the Portage bridge. Current tank will be better, because even though all city includes a couple of trips to Kanata on the Queensway. Anyhow, without complete confidence in my fuel float, I am keeping 350 km as the point I need to think about filling up. I let it go a couple of times this summer, waiting for my gas light to come on, and it did around 460 kms, but then took almost 56 litres to fill. Meaning I was down to the last 4 litres in the tank, which I do not like doing.
I also think I may have gotten my first tank of winter formulation gas which reduces mileage a bit.


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