1st Post and fuel gauge ?

[Rocklizard]

Hello Im a first time T4R owner as I just picked up a 99 SR5 4WD last week. This is my first runner, as my previous 4X4's were a 00 Xterra and 93 Pathfinder. The Pathfinder was awesome, shoulda never sold it and the Xterra was less than impressive to say the least. This lead me to my decision on the runner. Always loved the styling of the 3rd gen on down, but didnt care for the 4th gen so much. Im a USAF member serving in Germany presently and I recently got my dream assignment to Anchorage, AK and leave in May. My plans where to pick up a T4R or Taco when I got there, but I found this one, and couldnt resist pulling the trigger. So far Im diggin it, had one brief session in a sandpit, but she will get a proper workout at my final destination. Enough of my backstory and on to my question:

The last couple days my fuel gauge has been acting eratically. I will park for a short time then get back in and the gauge will reflect upto 1/4 higher than when I turned it off. It eventually creeps back down, but it concerns me because (a) Im new to the vehicle and really have no idea if it is actually showing correct when it drops back down and (b) the gas mileage blows to say the least.

I read the mileage thread and I'm near the low end of the range with combo autobahn/city driving. Im getting around 13mpg est.
The gauge just started doing this the last couple days and we have had abnormal sub-freezing temps the last few days. Im hoping it is something weather related but wanted to see if this has happened to others in the cold, before I start troubleshooting.

Thanks in advance and I promise my future threads will not be so long winded

 

[techno]

Hello and welcome. So did you buy your rig in Germany? Is it badged as a 4Runner or a Surf?
As you have obviously already read, the fuel gauge does suck. The only constant thing about mine is that it reads full when it is full and empty whens its empty, everything else in the middle is pretty random.
13 mpg is bad. What autobahn speeds are you doing? Anything over about 115 kph (70 mph) will start to kill the highway advantage.

 

[johnny c]

There is a technical bulliten regarding fuel gauge accuracy in g3's and it involves replacing (and relocating) sending unit and a circuit board in dash. Sometimes you don't need the board, depending on VIN #. I can repost with more accuracy if needed.

 

[Rocklizard]

Many thanks.. and yes I beleive my MPG does suck! I'll look into the service bulletin.

To answer questions, I drive very conservative on the bahn 70 and under. I had the pleasure of owning a 2000 BMW M5 while here and cruised at 125mph.. not km's, so 70 feels like Im doing 30 Even at those speeds, the big V8 in the bimmer got upper teens.

Im currently rolling on BFG MT's 265/75/16 so Im sure some of my mpg loss is attributed to this. The prev owner also but a k&n CAI on it with throttle body spacer and a flowmaster cat back sys.

Thanks again for all the input, and especially for the clue- in about the service bulletin.

Oh yeah, almost forgot.. its US spec, not the Hilux. I liver in Kaiserslautern, with about 40,000 other US service folk and their families, so plenty of used cars around.


Cheers