# Car hesitates with 1/4 tank of gas



## sentra_gxe (Apr 23, 2004)

I have a 91 Sentra GXE. When the gas tank gets to about 1/4 full, for about 10 seconds after coming to a stop, taking a 90 degree turn, or simply slowing down and trying to speed up the car will hesitate, then go, hesitate again, then go... and it does this over and over. Today, for its first time, it did this so bad that it stalled out... Of course, as just about any Nissan-built car would do, it started again. The other times today it got to the 500rpm spot while doing this and surprisingly didn't cut off. I suspect that there is water or something at the bottom of the gas tank... but I was hoping that there is a way to get it out without taking the gas tank off. I've just put a new fuel filter on the car and also a new fuel pump... so I doubt it's those. Any suggestions? It's getting really old that it does this.


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## SpidE-R (Jul 13, 2004)

sentra_gxe said:


> I have a 91 Sentra GXE. When the gas tank gets to about 1/4 full, for about 10 seconds after coming to a stop, taking a 90 degree turn, or simply slowing down and trying to speed up the car will hesitate, then go, hesitate again, then go... and it does this over and over. Today, for its first time, it did this so bad that it stalled out... Of course, as just about any Nissan-built car would do, it started again. The other times today it got to the 500rpm spot while doing this and surprisingly didn't cut off. I suspect that there is water or something at the bottom of the gas tank... but I was hoping that there is a way to get it out without taking the gas tank off. I've just put a new fuel filter on the car and also a new fuel pump... so I doubt it's those. Any suggestions? It's getting really old that it does this.



my friend has same problem and it took him to put gas treatment in gas tank three times and it solved the problem..


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## ryan_pogi (Jul 25, 2004)

yeah, try those (fuel line cleaner) gas treatment.
like those Penzzoil 2 in 1 octane booster and carb cleaner.


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## phreud (Aug 18, 2004)

I had a horrible problem with that, I found out that I only had that problem with fuel from one certain gas station. it had clogged my 2nd cyl injector to the point of missfire. I ended up running many many bottles of injector cleaner. few worked very well. the cheveron injector cleaner cleared it up completely and quickly. that is the one I would recommend


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## BikerFry (Jul 31, 2003)

A lot of people who know this motor really well will warn you against fuel additives...

When was the last time you changed your fuel filter??? How about any other tune up parts? It could just be coincidence that it only happens at a 1/4 tank.


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## STRATTON (Sep 10, 2003)

ohh man if my oldsmobile dont have this problem. if im at a quarter tank every turn every stop basically everything causes this puppy to hesitate. i think its just the kind of gas tank it has, sort of a floating pump and when its slosh around its hard for it to pump just my idea who knows. dont even get me started on trying to get up on ramps.....its like a death wish...thats why i avoid them if im low on gas lol...


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## sentra_gxe (Apr 23, 2004)

Mine does it really bad too on hills and ramps too... most of the time it will stall out unless I take my foot off the gas all the way and kind of let it slowly drift up the hill. And for the fuel filter, as I said in my original post that I had just replaced it and the fuel pump.


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## Bonesmugglar (Jan 14, 2004)

there are no baffles in the tank to keep the gas from staying put, when u turn all the gas moves to one side and none is under the fuel pickup in the tank


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## 1810 (Aug 17, 2003)

sentra_gxe said:


> I have a 91 Sentra GXE. When the gas tank gets to about 1/4 full, for about 10 seconds after coming to a stop, taking a 90 degree turn, or simply slowing down and trying to speed up the car will hesitate, then go, hesitate again, then go... and it does this over and over. Today, for its first time, it did this so bad that it stalled out... Of course, as just about any Nissan-built car would do, it started again. The other times today it got to the 500rpm spot while doing this and surprisingly didn't cut off. I suspect that there is water or something at the bottom of the gas tank... but I was hoping that there is a way to get it out without taking the gas tank off. I've just put a new fuel filter on the car and also a new fuel pump... so I doubt it's those. Any suggestions? It's getting really old that it does this.


Check the fuel pickup inside the gas tank. Mine did that to, the ecu was saying theres no gas but i still had 1/4 full. The hose line or whatever was blocking it or was in the way. check that doesnt hurt. good luck


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## cool_rebel671 (Sep 15, 2004)

sentra_gxe said:


> I have a 91 Sentra GXE. When the gas tank gets to about 1/4 full, for about 10 seconds after coming to a stop, taking a 90 degree turn, or simply slowing down and trying to speed up the car will hesitate, then go, hesitate again, then go... and it does this over and over. Today, for its first time, it did this so bad that it stalled out... Of course, as just about any Nissan-built car would do, it started again. The other times today it got to the 500rpm spot while doing this and surprisingly didn't cut off. I suspect that there is water or something at the bottom of the gas tank... but I was hoping that there is a way to get it out without taking the gas tank off. I've just put a new fuel filter on the car and also a new fuel pump... so I doubt it's those. Any suggestions? It's getting really old that it does this.


i think i had the same problem. sometimes my car war just fine. other times it felt like it was being choked. even though i pressed harder on the throttle, it still felt like it was boggling. i put in gas treatment a couple times and it turned out fine. i also stopped letting my gas fall below 1/4 tank. in my area, water was condesing in my tank when i kept it low for too long.


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## Dan9 (Sep 18, 2004)

*fill er up*

I just keep it over half-full, most the time, and in the WINTER (brr) nearly full all the time so water wont build up via precipitation in the cold.

D




cool_rebel671 said:


> i think i had the same problem. sometimes my car war just fine. other times it felt like it was being choked. even though i pressed harder on the throttle, it still felt like it was boggling. i put in gas treatment a couple times and it turned out fine. i also stopped letting my gas fall below 1/4 tank. in my area, water was condesing in my tank when i kept it low for too long.


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## Catman (May 21, 2004)

You have a new fuel pump, so let us assume it is OK. One thought I had was your sending unit is giving false information. When I bought my car my fuel gauge would only go to 3/4 of a tank. Don't know if it can fail in the other direction, not letting you know how much is in the tank. Just a thought. I avoid fuel injector cleaners on my Sentra. Lost an injector after using some fuel injector cleaner. Nissan has TSB's advising against using them. My car runs better than ever since I stopped using them.


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## oliverb13 (Nov 9, 2015)

I know what your problem is. Several months ago my fuel pump failed at about 175,000 miles. One day, it wouldn't rev over a certain rpm level, and I knew something was wrong. The next morning, when I turned the key to the on position, the pump made a loud vibration. It started and immediately stalled. Then it just refused to start, and the pump no longer made a sound. I knew it was the pump so I bought a new one. When I installed the new one, it clips in to a cradle at the bottom of the tank. It's probably not seated properly, even though it seemed to click in just fine. Now when the tank gets below about 3/8, going around a turn(usually a right turn for some reason) or when I accelerate hard, it sputters and takes a few seconds to get fuel pressure again. Just open the cover under your back seat and make sure it's down as low as it should be in the cradle. I'm sure that's the problem since you mentioned you replaced the pump.


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