So I’m out in the middle of nowhere, as usual, in my below described 4runner, I had a approximate route planned out and as I went through the last “town“(No store no gas no nothing except some shacks and A mining operation) my little dashboard computer said 74 miles cruising range, which was way way more than enough, but I am going up to the top of this mountain where there’s a radio tower and also to another saddle and as I’m going up the super steep switch back trail to get to the radio tower just at the top the onboard computer says 54 miles cruising range, fuel needle Appears around a quarter of a tank. No problem, I know the area well all downhill from here. So I turn around I drive maybe 1000 feet, my low fuel symbol appears, and my fuel needle plummets to below E And the cruising range now says 1 mile. I could not effing believe it, OK maybe it’s just the angle, so about 4 miles of super steep downhill I get to some level ground for a little bit and the fuel needle goes up a teeny bit, the low fuel symbol is still on, and it still says 1 mile cruising range. Well there’s no way I can make my original route to the gas station I had planned to use, it was about 15 miles back to the little mining town, so hoped I could make it back there, which I did, but my cruising range stayed at 1 mile the entire time. The last 5 miles was just normal dirt road driving. But I suspect I had about one or 2 gallons in the tank according to the gauge, and my tons of experience driving this rig. It was about 35 miles in the opposite direction to the closest gas station, I was 85Percent sure I would not make it. I got really lucky, talked to a few people at the mining office and they sold me 5 gallons of gas. I would like to thank the kind folks at Albemarle mining company for helping me out, and I have now given my onboard computer a new name. HAL,,,, because apparently it wants to kill me

Mountains can deceive the fuel float.

Don't go out into the desert without a full tank.

I dunno man ... it’s too bad the computer was inconsistent, and I’m glad it worked out for you, but it seems like you were cutting it pretty close on gas for what you had planned even without the strange sudden drop in range.


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I know a couple of guys who ran their tanks so low in their old heaps that the pump sucked up the bottom-of-tank crud and plugged the fuel filter. Anybody have that experience with a 4R?

I know with mine, once you hit 1mi, it just stays at 1mi.

When it initially hits 1mi, there are about 4 gallons left, so do the math from there.

May differ in the mountains with wherever the float is and what sort of baffles are in the tank.

The computer is likely designed to default toward the low side. Most people would rather have the vehicle guess low on remaining miles. That way you don’t run out of gas. With you going uphill, then downhill, the fuel gauge may have fed two extremes to the computer because it was mostly empty. The computer guessed low because that’s better when the alternative is running out of fuel. That’s my guess.

Pretty sure the car ALWAYS pulls fuel from the bottom of the tank.....

As Red would say "Dumb@$$".


I've been taught never let the tank go below the 1/2 mark.

My understanding is that the computer uses your average MPG calculated over the last 30 gallons. So lets say that number is 15mpg.

You're trying to get up a hill and getting around 5mpg.

Do the math. You're sucking fuel quicker than what your computer calculated.

I usually fill up when the light comes on and my computer says 60 miles. When I fill up, I'm short 5 gallons. So that's what was left in the tank. Average MPG is around 12-15 lately with city driving. So that checks out. I've never seen the gauge say 1 mile before though.

Our 2020 SR5P has many miles of fuel after the light goes on. I would not have an issue believing the infotainment system based on our experience to date.

All cars never pick up from the very bottom so the fuel pump doesn't suck up sediment and water (gas floats on top of water/condensate).

The volume of gas stated in sales literature is the completely empty new volume; that is why you can never fill to that level because there is always some gas left below the pickup, usually a gallon or two.

1/2 isn't really realistic on long trips, I fill up at 1/4 or just above there as long as its convenient to do so.

Also, is the pump cooled by the fuel in the tank like on a Jeep? If so, that's another reason to not let it get very low. Shortened fuel pump life.

I've had my T4R 4 years and 100k. I think I have actually seen the fuel light once. Maybe twice.

Its normal for the the fuel gauge to not give an accurate reading on steep mountain roads. It rises (shows more fuel) on extended uphill drives and drops (shows less fuel) on extended downhill drives.

Yesterday was the first time I've seen the low fuel light in my 4Runner. It came on as I pulled into the gas station. I've never let it drop that low, but I just came from the dealer who completed the fuel pump recall and I wanted to make life easier for them by bringing in a near empty tank.

The 23 gallon tank took 19.07 gallons. Plenty of gas left in the tank when the light came on.

As for the "cruising range" miles remaining, that's a goof ball estimate and shouldn't be relied when driving out to the middle of nowhere.

These kinds of threads always remind me of Cosmo Kramer on a test drive :P

Seinfeld Gas Tank Episode - YouTube

Over 10 years ago, I knew a guy with a Tundra who claimed he could drive 50 miles after the range indicator read 0.

If I fill up right when the light comes on, I can only put in around 20 gallons.

I tend to be like Kramer in that Seinfeld episode, but only if gas stations are close. I sometimes fill my tank all the way up to the filler cap, also, usually on road trips. I have put in more than the 23 gallon capacity many times.