Gas Guage 2000 Runner

[LAZMAN]

My gas light comes on 233 miles in city driving. I drive to about 279 miles then I fill up. I fill about 15 gallons and the tank is full. Which works out to be 18.6 MPG in the city. Is this correct? When the tank is full I get about 27 miles on the first quarter tank. Then it slows down a little. I find I use my trip meter as a guide and not my gas guage. Can it be calibrated? Any thoughts?

 

[ish]

actually mine is weird like that as well.

i always just fill up when the light comes on and its always at like 13 gallons (230-240 miles)

 

[boston_kevin]

light comes on at the recommended point

This is because the fuel pump resides in the gas tank and the pump uses the gas as a lubricant for the pump. If you run this to the point where you have less than a gallon in the tank on a regular basis, you will damage the fuel pump. This creates a huge repair bill.

Most vehicles made after 98'-99' have the fuel pump in the tank to balance the weight and reduce the stress on the engine. My '04 Runner is the same, so is the wife's '00 Yukon.

My recommendation is not to drive more than 30-40 miles (at the most) after the light comes on to avoid damaging your fuel pump.

 

[Northof49]

Lots of 4Runner's of that vintage do that.

Culprit is the sending unit in the fuel tank. No campaign or anything on it, but 90% of the time that's the fix.

 

[4RNR-LOVN]

Guys, there is a TSB from Toyota that fixes the problem. I had it done to my 2000 when I had mine. I can't remember the # but I beleive it replaced the fuel sending unit. It really doesn't have a mechanical performance impact but you end up having about 5-6 gallons of gas left in your tank when the light comes on rather than the 2 you thought you had. Your service rep should be able to look up the TSB and provide it to you.

Karl

 

[4RNR4BB]

Do you have to pay to get a TSB fixed? I just bought my 4runner and after my first fill up when the light came on, I put in 13 gallons and got 15 MPG. Will fixing the sender effect MPG or anything?

Matt

 

[4RNR-LOVN]

If you are over the factory warranty, which you most likely are, yes. However, it doesn't hurt to ask your service writer to see if they can get Toyota to cover it. It will have no effect on your mpg.

 

[peter78]

Yes, it is a common problem on 2000 models and earlier. There is a TSB and yes you will most likely have to pay for it. On my 2001 the tank is about 16 gallons empty when the low gas light is on, unlike 4RNR4BB which wasa 13 gallons empty. Our 3rd gen. has a 18.5 gallon tank, by the way.

 

[AustinHunter]

My gas light comes on and when I fill up the pump stops at 13.5 gallons like clock work. I’m getting 175-220 miles. It’s never really concerned me honestly. I can check TIS and try to find TSB

 

[aontkos]

Is it Easter again already?

This thread really came back to life.

 

[AustinHunter]

guys, there is a tsb from toyota that fixes the problem. I had it done to my 2000 when i had mine. I can't remember the # but i beleive it replaced the fuel sending unit. It really doesn't have a mechanical performance impact but you end up having about 5-6 gallons of gas left in your tank when the light comes on rather than the 2 you thought you had. Your service rep should be able to look up the tsb and provide it to you.

Karl

tsb - el010-00

 

[Bad Luck]

tsb - el010-00

He said that in 2004. You're a little late to that party bud.

 

[AustinHunter]

He said that in 2004. You're a little late to that party bud.

Bad luck I guess