gas gauge mis-mesurment?

[morbidsanity]

ok so just got back from moveing to indiana from cali...long storry short indy was a drama/toothless women nightmare...lol so i am back in cali....5,000 miles later! car rode like a champ up and back not one problem with a full load! i was averageing about 240-250 miles per tank! and around town i usually get 160-180! but heres my problem...while on the road i noticed i was at half a tank and about 225 on the odometer....filled it up and put about 13 gallons back in! so that tells me my feul gauge wasnt reading correctly! what could be the problem?

 

[MVP]

I have a similar issue with the 2000 Sport I bought a few months back.. first half talk on fuel gauge goes in 100 miles, then the fuel light comes on about 150 miles later.

When I fill it up it takes maybe 15 gallons, although I researched tank capacity, and found that the 2000 model has an 18.5 gallon tank.

 

[slapdappy]

it is a known issue. Mine's hinky. Google it.

 

[D Farms]

so ive actually put in 20 gallons three seperate times, and also when we were on the trail one time my friend and i both have 3rd gens, and his is a 99, anyways we were on these rocks for a while and all the sudden his gas light turns on, and mine is just reading close to full, later it went back to the same reading as mine. anyways the gas gauge on the 99 and 00 is supposedly the worst. when you go to fill up next time, fill it up, then remove the nozzle, and wait a few seconds, you should hear some gurgling, put the nozzle back in and you should be able to fill up more, repeat until you feel like its just filling the filler tube.

 

[Monkeybutt2000]

I wanna hear more about the toothless woman.

 

[slapdappy]

so ive actually put in 20 gallons three seperate times, and also when we were on the trail one time my friend and i both have 3rd gens, and his is a 99, anyways we were on these rocks for a while and all the sudden his gas light turns on, and mine is just reading close to full, later it went back to the same reading as mine. anyways the gas gauge on the 99 and 00 is supposedly the worst. when you go to fill up next time, fill it up, then remove the nozzle, and wait a few seconds, you should hear some gurgling, put the nozzle back in and you should be able to fill up more, repeat until you feel like its just filling the filler tube.

Supposed to let gas pump do the automatic shut off and let it be. Read topping up can saturate the charcoal vapor canister, which sort of ruins it.

 

[hopdup]

There is a TSB from Toyota for replacement of the Sending Unit, Level Sensor & Fuel Gauge for "Gauge Reading Incorrect". When my 2000 starts to act up, I'll be replacing everything including the pump.

 

[slowpoke99]

I've had issues with mine too. '99 sr5. I have an 18.5 gallon tank. I drive till the fuel light comes on with the gauge showing just above "E". Then go to fill up and it'll only take 13 gallons +/- to top it off. So basically my gauge shows close to empty with the fuel light on when there's still a quarter+ tank of fuel left. Talk about an early warning indicator!

 

[MVP]

I am tempted to try an experiment:

Put a 3 gallon gas can strapped to the rack of the rig, and drive it until it runs out of gas. That way I have a baseline of how many miles I can get out of a tank. Add 3 gallons, start it, drive and fill it up, keep a log book...

What problems could I be creating, outside of running out of gas and potentially causing a traffic hazard?

 

[D Farms]

One reason it doesn't fill up all the way is the tube apparently takes a horizontal path to get to the tank and so it fills up in the tube before it finishes filling the entire tank. So if you pull the nozzle out after it stops, you will hear guzzling, then you should be able to add more gas. Also running your tank out of gas can damage the fuel pump since the gasoline lubricates the pump.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Fixing it is a pain in ass but if your gauge is really off it can be done. There are several threads on it.

 

[jgue467]

Well besides the well known guage inaccuracy that varies throughout its full to empty range, there are other variables. Elevation changes, speed, wind, too much to compare accurately across folks on here, just know what you have left at given point along the range, e.g. 3/4, 1/2 and 1/4 then of course the super all important "fill up lite", I have 65 comfortable A/C mixed miles left (could be more but I don't feel like finding out). :banana:

 

[TheDurk]

Supposed to let gas pump do the automatic shut off and let it be. Read topping up can saturate the charcoal vapor canister, which sort of ruins it.

This is true in general, but for those of us with '99's without the the updated sending unit/vent tube that allows a higher fill, it seems like a safe bet. If fuel stays in the filler tube, you are over-filling. Gas jockeys here in NJ top up routinely unless you tell them not to and my truck has had no ill effects so far.

 

[TheDurk]

I am tempted to try an experiment:

Put a 3 gallon gas can strapped to the rack of the rig, and drive it until it runs out of gas. That way I have a baseline of how many miles I can get out of a tank. Add 3 gallons, start it, drive and fill it up, keep a log book...

What problems could I be creating, outside of running out of gas and potentially causing a traffic hazard?

1- Overheating your fuel pump as it loses the cooling effect of submersion.
2- Causing crud to get stirred up off bottom when you refill dry tank.
3- Setting a P0171 Lean code and getting the ECU all confused.
4- Possibly air-locking fuel supply system and being unable to restart without bleeding. This definitely happens on BMW's.

I thought about doing exactly that and did not for these reasons.