Bad Fuel Level Sending Unit??!?

Soneill

Soneill

Member
Just for reference here, I've got a 2011 SR5. So this is the second time its happened. I ran out of gas!!! This first time it happened was about a year ago (right after I bought the truck), the gauge said a quarter of a tank. The "lie-o-meter" said 33 miles left. Yes, I know one time is bad enough but twice is shame on me. Since the 1st time, I don't normally get anywhere near 1/4 tank but this time I wasn't paying attention. So, 2 days ago I ran out of gas again. The gauge was at 1/8 and "lie-o-meter" said 27 miles left. I've come to the conclusion the fuel level sensor is bad(?) The level sensor is about $65 my cost and I'd have to drop the tank. Has anyone else had this problem? Parts guy at Toyota said he sells these a lot. Thanks in advance for any help.
 
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2012 TE here... this has happened to me twice now.

I have had mine run out of fuel with no low fuel light on and showing 29 and 59 miles for the range. Needle was just below 1/4 tank and right on 1/4 tank

For years I would run the tank very low before filling up... Now I fill up when trip meter hits 300 miles.
 
fishman said:
2012 TE here... this has happened to me twice now.

I have had mine run out of fuel with no low fuel light on and showing 29 and 59 miles for the range. Needle was just below 1/4 tank and right on 1/4 tank

For years I would run the tank very low before filling up... Now I fill up when trip meter hits 300 miles.
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There's your answer , get to know your truck.
Don't count on the gauges for absolute accuracy, they're there as a reference .
You have to use your brain as well.
 
If the range display is below 40 miles, you're probably SOL.

It's an estimate, nothing wrong with your gauges or the display.
 
I always have wondered about this issue (driving range on tank) due to driving a rental vehicle and pushing a tank of gas to the limit. That car was at least forgiving to me, as once the tank range dropped below 30 miles the warning switched to something like "fill tank now" and no longer displayed a range.

I have personally pushed my 4Runner only once and got lucky. I was somewhere around a range of 30 miles on the tank, late one cold night on a trip. I exited the interstate at an exit that indicated 24 hour gas and found the nearest station was 3 miles from the interstate. I made it to the station OK, but since then I will not push the vehicle quite so far when low on gas.
 
LandCruiser said:
If the range display is below 40 miles, you're probably SOL.

It's an estimate, nothing wrong with your gauges or the display.
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I don’t know, I’ve run mine down so low a couple times I was seriously sweating it. The distance to empty thing was at 0 and gauge all the way down. Sounds like a problem to me.
 
Jhalko said:
I don’t know, I’ve run mine down so low a couple times I was seriously sweating it. The distance to empty thing was at 0 and gauge all the way down. Sounds like a problem to me.
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Do you "have a problem"? Well, perception is reality. IMO, you simply have a calibration issue, not a failure issue. I'd simply pay attention and fill at 1/4 of a tank before I'd go to all the trouble of changing stuff out.

Suppose you change it all out - there are 3 possible outcomes: Gets better, gets worse, stays the same. That's only a 33% chance of improvement.

Just watch the gauge, like we've all done for decades. Hell, I had a VW once with no gas gauge (not broken, didn't exist). Drove it until it coughed, flip the reserve lever, get gas soon.
 
Jhalko said:
I don’t know, I’ve run mine down so low a couple times I was seriously sweating it. The distance to empty thing was at 0 and gauge all the way down. Sounds like a problem to me.
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This is my thinking as well. Up untill a month ago I sold cars for 5 years. I have driven plenty of them pegged on E and the miles sayong zero, way further than i thought would make it to the gas station. 3rd and 4th gen 4 runners as well. Just doesnt make sense that Toyota would make inconsistent fuel gauges.
 
Hell , I drove mine to work the other day with the gauge on E and the miles to empty thingy on 0. That's a half hour drive.

I was like "F it- guess I'll be late to work" - but I made it no problem, lol

It would drive me nuts if mine was off like yours and I would replace the sending unit- just my .02
 
It has to be your gauge. I run mine to 0 miles and the low fuel light on and usually get another 20-30 miles and have never run out. I don't do this on purpose but in the Colorado Mountains, gas stations are sometimes a few miles away. I do keep a full 2-gallon RotoPax onboard as a safety measure so I usually do not get too stressed when the low fuel light comes on. In addition, the fuel tank, as stated by Toyota holds 23 gallons and I believe that the gauge is supposed to be at 0 at 21 gallons giving you a two-gallon reserve. This is antidotal, but I don't think that I have ever put more than 21 gallons +/- into the tank when filling up.
 
Antman said:
Hell , I drove mine to work the other day with the gauge on E and the miles to empty thingy on 0. That's a half hour drive.

I was like "F it- guess I'll be late to work" - but I made it no problem, lol

It would drive me nuts if mine was off like yours and I would replace the sending unit- just my .02
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I think thats exactly what ill do. I dont like the guessing game.
 
Antman said:
Hell , I drove mine to work the other day with the gauge on E and the miles to empty thingy on 0. That's a half hour drive.

I was like "F it- guess I'll be late to work" - but I made it no problem, lol

It would drive me nuts if mine was off like yours and I would replace the sending unit- just my .02
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I figure you are the person to ask. But have you ever droped your fuel tank or know someone who has? All Data says to remove the passenger side rear seat and almost althe rear passenger trim. Then you move the carpet to access the top of the fuel pump to disconnet the lines. After that you drop the take as normal and replace the sending unit on the pump. Thank you for any help.
 
Soneill said:
I figure you are the person to ask. But have you ever droped your fuel tank or know someone who has? All Data says to remove the passenger side rear seat and almost althe rear passenger trim. Then you move the carpet to access the top of the fuel pump to disconnet the lines. After that you drop the take as normal and replace the sending unit on the pump. Thank you for any help.
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He doesn't know shit.

But I know who does... [MENTION=66389]BlackWorksInc[/MENTION] do
 
WAIT... I know I'm out of school but... try this:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/attachments/3rd-gen-t4rs/272533d1508943069-diy-video-stop-calibrate-listen-how-fix-your-spastic-3rd-gen-fuel-gauge-t-el010-99-4-.pdf

I know its for a 3rd gen, but I had the same issue on my 2008 4th gen and this fixed it. It would be interesting to see if this still works on the 5th gens too. For some reason my truck wouldn't re-calibrate until I disconnected and reconnected the battery. Then the procedure worked. It might be a long shot... but it's free.
 
Mine is strange too, but in the opposite direction. The second the light comes on, the range will say 1 mi even though there's another ~2 gallons left (confirmed by not running out of gas). Wasn't always like this, it used to count down - a little annoying for a 2 year old vehicle but not the end of the world either.
 
fourwd1 said:
There's your answer , get to know your truck.
Don't count on the gauges for absolute accuracy, they're there as a reference .
You have to use your brain as well.
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I hope I know my truck.... have owned six years now, I’m aware the guages are a guesstimate.

OP asked if it has happened to anyone else so I responded.

I use my brain as much as possible... but when I do that I feel I might break something in there.
 
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