Hi guys,

Q1: Does anyone know how much fuel is left in the tank after the low fuel light comes up on the dash?

Q2: When I pull the oil dipstick to check the level, I can't see the borderline at all. The oil is all over the place, maybe up to +1" above the "max" mark hole and the dipstick does not look soaked in the oil. Some areas will be covered, others won't... :-/ Do you have the same issue?

Thanks!

For Q1 I have wondered the same thing.

My 04 V8 Limited has the info center and when the low fuel light comes on I usually show 23 miles left for range. Over time I have come to realize that if I were to fill up the truck at that time I would typically only take 20 gallons. As the tank has a 23 gallon capacity, that implies a lot of fuel left.

Even when I run the truck down to where the range indicator is at zero, I still only fill up with a bit over 21 gallons.

I have never pushed it far beyond the zero indicator on the info center. The most I have pumped in at fill up is about 21.6 gallons. The piece I am unsure of is whether all 23 gallons of gas are truly available when running the truck or whether the truck will have trouble running when down below 1 gallon in the tank.

Frankly, I don't want to find out by running out of gas so I stick with the 23 miles after the light comes on.

(1) What Midwest said. 3 and 2 gallons are easy to remember and very close to right on, but in each case it's a little less. I have better data on the first number because I don't like to let it get to the second one. If I had to pick a number, I'd say 3.5 for the low light (assuming 23 gallon tank). As Midwest said, the range is always around 23. That would seem to imply that the 2 gallon number is closer to dead on.

(2) Either take multiple readings or take a reading in the morning after the truck has sat all night.

I have run it empty and it ran ~40 miles after reading "0" on the miles remaining. I have no worries running 20 miles after it reads "0". I have put over 24 gallons in on fill up but always find it difficult to fill the last 2 gallons; have to fill those 2 very slowly.

I ran it out as I always run my cars out (once) at some point when I get them. I want to know exactly where the needle will read when it's really "empty".

Thanks guys for all the replies. I still have issues reading the oil level though... And I don't understand why the oil is spread on the dipstick so uneven...

Max

When you pull the dipstick out it's curved. On the convex side the oil is often smeared in a way that makes it look too full, but the concave side usually shows a good, clean mark. Are you trying to read only one side?

I have an ultragauge set at 23 gallons. When I drive, I take it down to 1 gallon remaining, about 60 miles after my truck's range says 0 miles til empty.

I did run out last night though... Whoops

I believe that tank capacity is 23 gallons, but it stops filling at around 21 or 22, to compensate for thermal expansion of the fuel in heat.

and you wonder why your truck hates you....

mine barely ever fills with 21, even on 0...most the time i fill with 19.5-20.5 with the range around 10-30

I don't have an answer for Q2, just thought I'd let you know you're not the only one!... I did my first oil change a while back after buying my used 4Runner last October and I had the same issue trying to get an accurate reading. I'm from Edmonton, too, btw.

To answer your first question, its roughly 19~20-ish gallons when the "E" or "0 Miles" indicator comes on. I regularly drive about 20~40miles past "empty" and fill up around 21~22gallons, the fuel capacity is 23, this is probably because Toyota recommends you do not run your tank lower than about 1/4, so they built in at least a couple gallons at "Empty" to preserve the life of the in-tank fuel pump and filter and also prevent running the truck dry by accident.

The second question is a little easier. When you check the oil of a vehicle (this is general rule of thumb, some cars are in fact different) Run the vehicle for a couple seconds, turn it off. Pull the dipstick out, wipe it down, wait about 10~20seconds (to let oil splash settle a little,) then put the dipstick all the way in and pull it out. What you are looking for is the longest continious band of oil sheen on the dipstick. i.e. no spotty coverage, but completely covered. This will give you the general location of the oil level. You want it somewhere between middle and Max.

Thank you guys again for your input!

I never had the low fuel light come up on the dash so far. The lowest I went was 50 km left to go and the needle was above the "E". Now that you told me that the light comes on at 0 km / mi, it makes total sense to me now.

My other car would throw the low fuel light and the computer would still show 95 km to go. The needle would still be above the "E" mark.

So, to sum it up:
1) the low fuel will light up when the computer shows 0 km /mi
2) there is an avg. of 2 gallons left in the tank when the light comes up

Correct?

Thanks for the tip, I will try this method too. Looking at the pictures taken today (posted below), it looks like the rule works =) However, I remember that I had spotty areas even below the "max" mark. But I don't remember if the engine was warm.

Quick question - the way always I understood it, after running the engine, there is still some amount of oil left on different engine components and walls. I will refer to it as a "missing" amount. And therefore the amount of the oil in the pan is not "complete".
1) I was wondering how significant is that "missing" amount? Will it be noticeable on the dipstick scale?
2) Is the "missing" amount different when the engine is started for 10-30 seconds vs after a long drive?
3) How much time is required to get the oil drip into the pan?

I am very glad to hear that! I mean that you're from Edmonton too! We'll need to keep in touch if we wanted to order parts online. We could save on shipping costs. =))
Regarding the oil reading - check my pictures below!

JB - thanks a lot for the tip! Here are some pictures of today's oil check!

Dipstick - side A:


Dipstick - side B:


Your tip worked like a charm!
Also, I can see what BlackWorksInc meant by "longest continuous oil band". In the first pic it stops right at max mark!

Thank you guys!

That's not what I've seen in my truck but, in any event, there's enough gas left when the light comes on to make experimenting easy.

Just run it down until the light comes on (start paying attention at about 30 miles to go), and then fill up and see how much it takes.

I'm guessing the light will come on in the mid 20s and if you stop and fill up, the truck will take about 19-1/2 gallons. Let us know what you find.

The oil left clinging to the insides of the engine would probably amount to something like 2-3 tablespoons if you theoretically could collect it, so its negligible. You don't have to warm up the engine completely, the reason I said to run the engine for a few seconds is to actually fill up all the oil galleys and such as the oil level is more accurate that way (at least this is how I was taught and my mother's father was taught and most any other mechanic I know...) I don't know how much different the oil is when all the galleys are filled up vs. not primed, so I can't really answer that. Also just waiting something like 10-20 seconds is enough to get most of the splash to drip down and not cause so much spottiness on the dipstick.

You're spot on, in Picture A you can see where the oil has splashed/scraped a bit on the dipstick making it inaccurate/spotty, but flip it to side B and you can see it matches up pretty well with the Max line.