Fuel Pump Sending Unit Failure

  
 

by Mike Kegley

  
     
 

The fuel pump sending unit on Frontier and Xterra often has a problem that results in failure.  This failure does not appear related to model year and there are no apparent symptoms prior to the actual failure.

The failure appears to occur because one of the connection plugs on the fuel sending unit's connections cracks at the base. 
When this crack occurs, corrosives picked up from the road and trail come into contact with the copper connectors, the copper connectors corrode to the point of failure, and then your truck is not going anywhere (no fuel!).

Looking at the first picture, you can see the green corrosion and the broken copper connector.  At the time this article was prepared (1/29/03), there was a national backorder on sending units so Nissan obviously knows about this problem.

On the Xterra, the sending unit is rather easily accessed through a door located underneath the rear seat.  Unfortunately, the Frontier requires dropping the entire gas tank to access the fuel pump sending unit.  It is not advisable to take on the Frontier repair yourself since you could be dealing with up to 19 gallons of flammable gasoline and its weight when dropping the gas tank.  If you do decide to take on this replacement on your Frontier or Xterra, keep in mind that you’re working on the fuel system, so be sure to first disconnect your battery to reduce the chance of electrical arcs.  The O-Ring must also be replaced after the unit is removed.

If you have, any questions or comments about this article please feel free to contact me at mike@nissanoffroad.net

 

  
  To the user:

NissonOffroad.Net (NOR) and the authors do not and cannot warrant the applications or documents included on this website for performance or results obtained by using these applications or documents. These applications and documents are provided "as is". To the extent you use or implement these applications or documents in your own setting, you do so at your own risk. In no event will NOR and the authors individually or jointly be liable to you for any damages arising from your use or, your inability to use these applications or documents including any lost profits, lost savings, injury or other incidental or consequential damages, even if NOR and/or the authors have been advised of the possibility of such damages, or for any claim by another party.

The applications and documents on NOR are made available on the Internet as a public service and may not be published or repackaged for commercial sale.