Gas Guage flaky today

RickC

RickC

New member
I have an interesting new problem. I filled up the tank today and have driven it about 45 miles since. I stopped and cut the 4runner off, then a few hours later, started it up to go to dinner. We were down the road and I noticed my fuel light on. The gauge was showing empty. When we got to the restaurant, I turned off the ignition, then back on and the gauge moved off the bottom to the empty line and the low fuel light was on. We went inside, had dinner, and when I started it back up, the gauge went to full again.

Anyone ever seen or heard of this issue? If not, I guess I have a flaky sending unit.
 
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RickC said:
I have an interesting new problem. I filled up the tank today and have driven it about 45 miles since. I stopped and cut the 4runner off, then a few hours later, started it up to go to dinner. We were down the road and I noticed my fuel light on. The guage was showing empty. When we got to the restaurant, I turned off the ignition, then back on and the guage moved off the bottom to the empty line and the low fuel light was on. We went inside, had dinner, and when I started it back up, the guage went to full again.

Anyone ever seen or heard of this issue? If not, I guess I have a flaky sending unit.
Click to expand...

After I had my instrument pannel out I did not seat it properly upon reinstall and had those symptoms. Reinstalled it and all was good again.
 
My gauge shows I'm near empty, then when I fill up it only takes only about 16 gallons. I just found TSB EG033-05 "Fuel Gauge Inaccuracy". It states high alcohol content (Ethanol) can make the gauge read wrong. It's a warranty repair for 60 months or 60,000 miles. It says it's only for '05 V8, but maybe the same thing?

Has anyone had this TSB done?

There is also a similar TSB (eg028-06) related to the fuel system for 4runners ('03-'05) not starting when too cold. Has anyone had this done?
 
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gas meter and calculator trouble

my gas meter is broken i filled it up and then later on the day i cranked my truck to go somewhere and it said i was completely on empty with my light on, i check for leaks....none, then i pushed mode until it was on how far i could go on the tank of gas and it said 0. wow great.... so yesterday the meter is back at the right spot but the calc. is still broken. any words on this...thanks
 
Do a search for 'fuel gauge'. I know there have been some threads regarding these kinds of issues. Could be the sending unit from the fuel tank has gone bad.
 
Bump for this. My guage, for the last 2 fill ups, has been showing 3/4 full on the pump click off. Today, I crammed an extra 1/2 gallon in after the click off and it first read full, then before I left the parking lot, it dropped to 7/8 tank.

I use Kroger fuel, which is Marathon gas, and it does have ethanol, but I've used it for 4 years with no gauge inaccuracies prior to this. Temps are cold in Ohio. It's not been over 20 degrees F in a week. Something to do with the float?

Or, do I have a bad sending unit? Currently 86,000 miles on an '03. Any thoughts?

My next fill up will be at a different station to trouble shoot.
 
Bump for this thread. I've also got an '03 that is starting to get quirky with fuel reading. Today at the gas station after a fill up, it was at 7/8, then at home 30 minutes later it went down to 3/4. Rocking the truck a bit, then it was back to 7/8.

Do I have a bad sending unit? Only 7 years old with 86k miles. Ideas?
 
hey 4runner8, the same exact thing happened to me yesterday.. my gauge is back to normal now, but the calculator still says 0 mi till empty
 
dannyg said:
hey 4runner8, the same exact thing happened to me yesterday.. my gauge is back to normal now, but the calculator still says 0 mi till empty
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Hey dannyg- did you gauge go wacky too? What is your truck year and temp outside? We've been really cold in Ohio. Single digits and teens lately.
 
Merged "Gas Meter and Calculator problems" w/ "Gas Gauge Flaky Today". Virtually identical posts...
 
@ davefisher - yeah i filled my tank all the way the other night. then yesterday i went to pick up some food, parked for about 10 - 15 min. got back in my 4runner and the warning light was on and the gauge said empty! i have an 03 limited. and i live in fl, so it hasn't been that cold, but its been down to the upper 20's for a few nights...
 
dannyg said:
@ davefisher - yeah i filled my tank all the way the other night. then yesterday i went to pick up some food, parked for about 10 - 15 min. got back in my 4runner and the warning light was on and the gauge said empty! i have an 03 limited. and i live in fl, so it hasn't been that cold, but its been down to the upper 20's for a few nights...
Click to expand...

Interesting- and funny I also have the same year and model. I'm curious to see if this is the cold weather. Keep me posted here if it keeps happening and I'll do the same.
 
I don't know if this will help, but I'll share some experiences with my 2003 4Runner.

1.) Myself and at least one other '03 owner that I know of noticed that if you fill up, then start it and stop the engine without driving it, or fill up and drive a very short distance that the gauge seems to want give inaccurate readings.(examples: A.) Dave F's post were he gets gas at the station in front of the Kroger grocery store, and then maybe drives that short distance to the store to pick something up inside, B.) Turn on the key to get your odometer reading, then turning off key) I don't know why, but it's almost like it takes some time to reset or something. The other '03 owner I know with this problem had this happen every time he went to get gas first, then drive those few hundred feet to the store second, so he finally figured out to get gas last(duh!). I had a Honda Accord that did the same thing if you didn't drive it a couple miles after fill up before turning of the engine, it would be off by 1/4 tank.

2.) Although sulfur was significantly reduced in gas over the years, sulfur can form deposits on the gauge sensor in the tank and give inaccurate readings. What Chevron Techron Concentrate Plus fuel additive claims is to help clean the sensor of sulfur deposits. I don't know exactly how the Toyota sensor works, but I know that every time I run a bottle of Techron Concentrate Plus through, the gauge seems to function more accurately through the whole Full to Empty range. It also helped a Nissan with the same problem. I have to think that sulfur could impact different sensors from different manufacturers differently, but that's been my positive experience with Techron getting the gauge to read more accurately.
 
today my gauge is normal again, but the miles to empty calc still says 0. I think it is going to be that way until i fill up again which will probably be sometime next week.. ill let you know.
 
Try a few treatments of Fuel injector Cleaner. Sometimes the Pump and Sending Units get gummed up. I had a chevy with the same problem and a few treatments resolved the issue.I
 
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