NHTSA Complaint #10462028 — 2005 NISSAN XTERRA

MAY 2012. I WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE TO WORK, THE DAY THE "SERVICE ENGINE SOON "LIGHT INITIALLY CAME ON. 30 MINUTES LATER, YELLOW FUEL INDICATOR LIGHT CAME ON, VEHICLE WAS NOT OUT OF GAS, HAD APPROX. 1/2 TANK. I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE FUEL LIGHT, SO I IMMEDIATELY DROVE TO A NEARBY GAS STATION AND FILLED UP TO A FULL TANK OF GAS. AFTERWARDS, FUEL ENGINE LIGHT REMAINED ON AND GAUGE STILL SHOWED EMPTY. ONLY AFTER DRIVING IT FOR SEVERAL DAYS, FUEL LIGHT FINALLY WENT OFF, SERVICE ENGINE SOON REMAINED ON. SINCE THIS INITIAL INCIDENT EVERY TIME I PUT FUEL IN THE VEHICLE, THE TANK STILL SHOWS EMPTY AND TAKES SEVERAL DAYS OF DRIVING TO SHOW WHERE I FILLED IT UP. I RECENTLY TOOK THE VEHICLE FOR A DIAGNOSTIC TEST AND IT SHOWED PROBLEMS IN THE FUEL SENSOR/FUEL PUMP. I ALSO VISITED MY LOCAL NISSAN DEALER AND THEY SAID, THAT I WAS NOT TURNING THE GAS CAP ENOUGH AFTER FUELING UP. I ALWAYS ENSURE THAT I TURN THE GAS CAP SEVERAL TIMES AT LEAST 4 TURNS, UNTIL SEVERAL CLICKS ARE HEARD WHEN SECURING THE GAS CAP AFTER FUELING. I AM SURE THIS WAS NOT THE PROBLEM. I AM VERY CONCERNED AS I DRIVE A GOOD DISTANCE TO WORK, ON GRAVEYARD SHIFTS. THIS IS THE 1ST MAJOR PROBLEM, I HAVE HAD WITH MY NISSAN XTERRA AND UNFORTUNATELY IT DOES NOT SHOW AS A RECALL. I FEEL UNSAFE DRIVING THE VEHICLE AS I DO NOT KNOW WHEN IT WILL RUN OUT OF FUEL PARTICULARLY ON FREEWAYS AND BUSY INTERSECTIONS. I OFTEN HAVE SMALL CHILDREN AS PASSENGERS AND THIS CONCERNS ME THE MOST. *TR