Have your fuel pressure at the rail checked. See if your in good pressure range. I would say 300 to 400k would be a good time to swap it out if concerned about failure. I never had one go bad in 30 years here but I mostly pull the tanks and clean them up etc from the rust as the filling tube can rot out.
I have pulled 3 3rd gen 4runner tanks. The early years are easier then the later ones. I done both. However, they arent horrible. In the rust belt, if you dont keep that tank clean and rust inhibited it will rust through.
I have pulled 3 3rd gen 4runner tanks. The early years are easier then the later ones. I done both. However, they arent horrible. In the rust belt, if you dont keep that tank clean and rust inhibited it will rust through.
As so do the filler tube.
I mostly just run them out of gas. If the pumps gone, you mostly can use a pump inline on the fuel line to suck the fuel out of the tank. Granted, like I said I haven't had one fail yet. Once the tank is out of fuel they are pretty easy to manage.
If the gas tank is full of fuel and you have to drop it out. You better use a hydraulic table or some jacks to get it safely to the ground so you can pop the fuel tank sending unit / pump/ fuel gauge out and drop or pump the gas out.
I just put the runner up on Jack stands. Disconnect the fuel lines and filling tubes. Take off the fuel tank skid plate. Disconnect the wiring under the rear seat. Then try to let the tank down a bit to pull those breather lines off. Once all the lines are off with the wires the tanks come right out and when on the ground empty you can do what we need to do.
When I have tanks down. I replace all the screws bolts and gaskets. So that if I never need to get back in there I can. Granted in non rust belt areas. Replacing screws may not be required.
I have pictures of my 5 speed gas tank before and after photos somewhere. They probably aren't in my build page as I done that before I had a build page.
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I havent seen crappy fuel sender. I have heard the later years ones can have issues.
Initially I had a less than 1 yr old front cat break into 3 pieces and fell out onto the highway. The plug got a little messed up so I just threw in an an old cat temporarily til I could get a new rig side of plug soldered on, along with a new cat covered by warranty. I just let the plug hang free, it didn't look like it would cause a problem. I went a too long without repairing the plug (7 day work weeks, long hours grind). Was just getting a code for not plugging in the front cat, was running ok. But then it started popping EFI fuses. I ended up finding the front cat plastic plug end fell off later and it had a bare end lead end that was tapping metal and shorting out. So I repaired the harness and has been good ever since. It was my fault anyway, just prolonged a repair I should have taken care of right away.
