[pMak26]

My 2006 CC is new to me, so I'm learning. However, I thought these trucks have 21 gallon fuel tanks, no? Today I ran the tank all the way until the light came on, the needle was at the bottom and my DTE said I had 14miles left to empty. However, when I filled the truck up it only took 16.5 gallons.

Does anyone else have this issue? Is it an issue at all? How big is this tank really? Why does everything read empty when there is potentially 5 gallons still left in the tank?

 

[teecro]

Ha welcome to the club... The tank is 21 gallons and the light will come on around 5 gallons left in tank. I can't comment on the DTE as my SV does not have. But everything else you mention is spot on. Run several tanks and compare the actual gallons and miles traveled to get an accurate handle on your miles per gallon and get used to it...

 

[LittleBull]

The most I've ever gotten in my "16" SV KC is 16.4. And that's with the warning light on for
quite some time.

Been trying to find room to squeeze in a 5-10 gallon auxiliary tank.

 

[pMak26]

Thanks for the replies!

I have a cap, so I don't mind hauling around a 5gallon "aux tank" in the bed for when I know I'm going on a journey or towing. But yeah, that is really, really stupid to have the light come on when 25% of the tank is still left. I've been getting between 15.1-16.5 mpg, 80%city/20%highway. Weather has been ~35*F and I do warm the truck up in the morning if its below freezing.

 

[teecro]

You will get used to it... Currently I'm getting 17.6 mpg so my light comes on at roughly 280 miles into the tank and while I don't feel the need to push the distance I know that I should safely be able to travel another 50 to 60 miles if I need to...

 

[mokancraig]

I've run until the DTE goes to just lines and it still only took about 17.5 gallons to fill.

 

[Undercover Brother]

Thanks for the replies!

I have a cap, so I don't mind hauling around a 5gallon "aux tank" in the bed for when I know I'm going on a journey or towing. But yeah, that is really, really stupid to have the light come on when 25% of the tank is still left. I've been getting between 15.1-16.5 mpg, 80%city/20%highway. Weather has been ~35*F and I do warm the truck up in the morning if its below freezing.

The low fuel light situation is not unique to Frontiers.

 

[glamisdude]

Lol, the light just tells me "get gas when you can". The DTE estimate is always not even close, just ignore it. For me, once the light comes on I know I can easily go another 30 miles without issue, 50 miles if need be. Usually, after going 30 miles after the light comes on I can put between 18-19 gallons in. The few times I've pushed to 50 miles past the light I was able to put it 20-20.5 gallons. Not suggesting you push that far often, but its good to know exactly how far you can go.

My usual way to track when I need gas is when I hit about 250miles after a full tank fill.

 

[Wet Dog]

It's impossible for a DTE estimate to be guaranteed 100% accurate, so to prevent people from trying to push it too far and being pissed off that they ran out in 3 miles even though the DTE said they have 5 miles they err on the side of caution with slight underestimation followed by an early pleading the 5th "---". The light coming on is similar, which is okay because there are people like me who live far out of town and if I wasn't paying attention to my gauge and the light came on when I only had a gallon left well I'd be SOL because that's not enough to get me to a gas station from my house.

 

[teecro]

It's impossible for a DTE estimate to be guaranteed 100% accurate, so to prevent people from trying to push it too far and being pissed off that they ran out in 3 miles even though the DTE said they have 5 miles they err on the side of caution with slight underestimation followed by an early pleading the 5th "---". The light coming on is similar, which is okay because there are people like me who live far out of town and if I wasn't paying attention to my gauge and the light came on when I only had a gallon left well I'd be SOL because that's not enough to get me to a gas station from my house.

We live quite rural and all of 11 miles to the closest gas station. Found a contractor out of gas and lost the other day a few miles from the house. So I towed him out the road, and went to the house and got him a couple gallons of gas. Told him that he needed to go get gas before coming by into our HOA as he might run out if he tried to go find the house and then get gas on the way out. He was surprised how far off the highway we live and simply thought his GPS was wild goosing him...

 

[Clint]

The other day I was way under empty and on a road with zero gas stations and when I finally sweat enough I came upon one once I changed roads, I fill it and realize I still had 3 gallons left.
We have 21-1/8 gallon tanks.

Clint

 

[drobs]

I keep 15mpg in the back of my head when the light comes on. Knowing I have at least another couple gallons in there.

Traveling out west on a road trip a few years ago I brought a surplus 5 gal jerry can and spout along for the trip. Having a spare 5 gallons on board does make roads like this a little less intimidating:

 

[IAm_Not_Lost]

Yep, When my fuel light comes on I have exactly 4.5 gallons left. It’s like my very own little high tech fuel estimator.

 

[Nissan4Life]

THere is no car on the market that runs the tank to empty when the light comes on. If that was the case you would see out of gas cars all over the roadways.

The most I have fuel up was 18.5 gallons. That is 50+ miles after the fuel light goes on.

Would be very curious how much one could put in the tank after the engine has died from running out of gas.

 

[jebova2301]

I gotta say, this is the one thing I hate about the newer frontiers. With my 2010, if I run it until the low fuel light kicks on, it takes 18-18.5 gallons. On my 2017, if I fill it up at the low fuel light coming on, it takes 15.5-16 gallons. Switching between the two, I am always thrown off when I see below 1/8 of a tank, but still have another 80-100 miles left in the tank if needed. With the old truck, it is pretty spot on when I fill up. If it shows me having 1/4 tank left and I fill up, it takes right around 15 gallons. If I fill up at about 1/8 tank, it takes about 17 gallons.

 

[pMak26]

I've gotten used to it already. A mild annoyance. Also now my tire monitor sensor light is on (blinks every startup) which seems like an absurdly expensive fix to get new monitors put in all the tires. I may opt for the electrical tape fix on that one.

 

[Thelt]

My solution to this was to stop tracking it. It annoys me to fill up at less than 300 miles......

 

[Wintermute]

Surprised I haven't seen it mentioned in this thread already, but elsewhere in this Forum others have pointed out that the reason our gauges are calibrated the way they are is because the fuel pump is inside the tank and cooled by the fuel. As such, the fuel gauge and light are calibrated to keep the fuel pump fully submerged. It annoys me (although a lot less than it used to), but you're risking shortening the life of your fuel pump by ignoring the light.

 

[shift_RUSH]

Surprised I haven't seen it mentioned in this thread already, but elsewhere in this Forum others have pointed out that the reason our gauges are calibrated the way they are is because the fuel pump is inside the tank and cooled by the fuel. As such, the fuel gauge and light are calibrated to keep the fuel pump fully submerged. It annoys me (although a lot less than it used to), but you're risking shortening the life of your fuel pump by ignoring the light.

Last I heard, this concept/myth was debunked.
I 'had' read/believed it, and also repeated it, so am guilty here. lol

 

[Wintermute]

Last I heard, this concept/myth was debunked.
I 'had' read/believed it, and also repeated it, so am guilty here. lol

Hmmm. Well, now I'm back in the "WTF Nissan" camp then. Carrying around 3-4 gallons of fuel that I never use is just pointless.