Faulty Fuel Guage

[Byrnsie Member Find all posts View Profile Close Byrnsie]

I have a 2003 V6 with a dodgey fuel guage. The needle is not moving off empty, however the green light still comes on for the second tank and the orange warning light comes on when almost empty.

Checked my manual and figured that the problem could be one of 4 things:

1. Fuse
2. Fuel guage tank sender unit on main tank
3. Fuel guage tank sender unit on secondary tank
4. The actual guage itself may be faulty

The easy check was the fuse which I have done and all is OK.

The next three are going to be a bit more difficult so I thought I would post here first to get any advice or ideas.

Has any one else had a similar problem.

Wasn't sure if I should post this under electrical, engine, or body, so I chose general.

Cheers - Byrnsie

[debker Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close debker]

we had same problem with our 03 prado when bought it earlier this year turned out to be fuel gauge sender unit on main tank auto sparky can check which tank has problem within 10 mins or so but fix is much bigger tank has to be taken out, luck

[Octane94 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Octane94]

HI,
had a bit of a scare tonight, driving up a hill on the way home and she started choking with still 1/4 of a tank left.
and possibly konked out in the worst neighbourhood in Sydney.
primed the filter for about 30 secs then started her up and she ran for a bout 2 secs then konked out,
when i was lookin for a problem i opened up the fuel filler cap, and there was huge amounts of pressure, so i put it towards fuel starvation, got a mate to tow me to a flat spot, the put about 15 litres of diesel in it and primed the Sh!t out of it, made it home in 1 piece.

dont know how the guage can read 1/4 of a tank
and be bone dry..?

Cheers Octane

[Benny78 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Benny78]

HI,
had a bit of a scare tonight, driving up a hill on the way home and she started choking with still 1/4 of a tank left.
and possibly konked out in the worst neighbourhood in Sydney.
primed the filter for about 30 secs then started her up and she ran for a bout 2 secs then konked out,
when i was lookin for a problem i opened up the fuel filler cap, and there was huge amounts of pressure, so i put it towards fuel starvation, got a mate to tow me to a flat spot, the put about 15 litres of diesel in it and primed the Sh!t out of it, made it home in 1 piece.

dont know how the guage can read 1/4 of a tank
and be bone dry..?

Cheers Octane

This exact same thing happened to me and I did the same. Put in 10 liters. Drove to fuel station and filled up. No problems since. Now I just keep it above 1/4 as Toyota said this has happened a few times but never very confident of fixing it as you can spend 1200 bucks on a new pump and still have issues. I think I have a crack in the pipes at that fuel level so it runs dry when it gets to 1/4. I will fix it now I am home from the trip but was not going to spend money while we were away with no income.
Let me know how you go

[Octane94 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Octane94]

Fixed the problem, MAF sensor in airbox was faulty, it didnt detect enought vacuum so the engine shut off.

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

HI,
had a bit of a scare tonight, driving up a hill on the way home and she started choking with still 1/4 of a tank left.
and possibly konked out in the worst neighbourhood in Sydney.
Cheers Octane

What, you mean there's actually a good part of Sydney?

[Octane94 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Octane94]

What, you mean there's actually a good part of Sydney?

oh no, definatly not, but i like to stage it in order of bad neighbourhoods, like Mt druitt, bankstown, etc..

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

Many years ago I had a girlfriend down at Galston Gorge - so not all that bad I suppose.

[buster0z Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close buster0z]

Many years ago I had a girlfriend down at Galston Gorge - so not all that bad I suppose.

thats not to far away from me 20 mins or so.

[Octane94 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Octane94]

This exact same thing happened to me and I did the same. Put in 10 liters. Drove to fuel station and filled up. No problems since. Now I just keep it above 1/4 as Toyota said this has happened a few times but never very confident of fixing it as you can spend 1200 bucks on a new pump and still have issues. I think I have a crack in the pipes at that fuel level so it runs dry when it gets to 1/4. I will fix it now I am home from the trip but was not going to spend money while we were away with no income.
Let me know how you go

Keeps running dry dropped the main tank today at work, replaced the sender, guage working as normal sofar. time will tell