Gas Gauge and Low Gas indicator Accurate?

[brumey]

Hello:
I am waiting my new 4R6G but believe I read about possible issues with the accuracy of the low fuel alert. Disclaimer, I initially liked at a lot of other vehicles so I could be confusing an issue from a different model. I looked at Grand Highlander, Sequoia, Ford Explorer, GMC Yukon.

From memory, the issue was the low fuel triggering after 13 gallons of usage when 6 gallons still exist in tank.

For anyone who has the 4R6G, when is your low gas gauge common on and at what approximate capacity left in tank?

Thanks.....

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[LLL1990]

If it's like all other Toyotas, it's going to be pessimistic and the light will come on when there's about 5 gallons left in the tank as you said. It's not an accuracy issue, Toyotas has it setup that way to keep people from running out of gas.

 

[Nodak]

typically toyota sets the empty gauge (or mpg to empty on the display) at 10%-20% fuel capacity depending on avg mpg of a vehicle

i know on our 23 tundra is about 5-6 gals on a 32gal tank. its to ensure people dont burn up your fuel pump (from what i remember)

and your fuel gauge is lopsided in reporting, once you get below 1/2 tank you go thru it faster than the top half due to the way fuel tanks are molded.

personally in ND (especially in winter conditions) we dont usually go below 1/2 tank for safety reasons. its to ensure you have enough gas to weather out a storm if you get stuck in a ditch or back road until help comes too keep you warm

i know the wife starts freaking out once she gets to 1/2 tank even in the summertime. i give her crap for it outside of winter months.

 

[brumey]

Great info. I agree on keeping a tank topped up and not going too low.

It is a shame that the gauge and calculation could not be improved with software but I guess they are trying to protect those who would run really low.

Thank you.

 

[Nodak]

the calc's are correct for a full tank, but from what i have seen toyota err's on the low side to ensure people dont run out of gas and builds in a large safety margin.

i mean on my 14 4R, ive run it down to E but i dont every remember going higher than 18 gals on a fill up if i did run it down that low

 

[brumey]

I wonder if the Carista software has any recalibration settings to adjust for the fuel gauge low fuel alert. Maybe change to 2 gallons or a lower percentage. My guess is not but worth asking.

 

[gilhern]

I used Carista for the seat beeps but didn't see anything about the fuel light. It is indeed annoying. I have filled up right at 0 miles remaining and each time it is 15 gallons. So the light kicks on with 6 gallons left. That is way too high. When the non hybrid is only getting 250 gallons before needing to refill it gets super annoying super quick. I wish I could set it to 2 or 3 gallons left cause 6 is rediculous. Thats almost a 3rd of the whole tank.

 

[k9Hiken]

I used Carista for the seat beeps but didn't see anything about the fuel light. It is indeed annoying. I have filled up right at 0 miles remaining and each time it is 15 gallons. So the light kicks on with 6 gallons left. That is way too high. When the non hybrid is only getting 250 gallons before needing to refill it gets super annoying super quick. I wish I could set it to 2 or 3 gallons left cause 6 is rediculous. Thats almost a 3rd of the whole tank.

The gas tank is a 19 gallon tank. So with your calculations and total of fuel when filling up we make it a total of 4 gallons left not 6 gallons. Correct?

 

[MikeD]

Serious question: Where the heck is the "fuel light" indicating you are low? Here is a photo of my dash before a recent fill-up. It clearly shows 28 miles to go with fuel gauge at about 1/10th of a tank.

And here is some real data (last two rows) that can be extrapolated to show that at "empty'" (0 miles to go) you could expect there to be about 2 gallons left in the 19 gallon tank. (The "actual" distance to go is calculated as (19-fuel added) * Tank MPG.

Odometer Reading	Miles	Gallons	Dist. to go -Before fill	"Actual" dist to go?	Dist. to go -After fill	MPG Tank	Gallons (total)	MPG Total
7		(fuel added)				(mileage)
262	255.0	15.719	?	53.2	?	16.2	15.72	16.67
594	332.0	15.699	?	69.8	?	21.1	31.42	18.91
854	260.0	14.1	?	90.4	?	18.4	45.52	18.76
1216	362.0	16.073	28.0	65.9	347.0	22.5	61.59	19.74
1487	271.0	11.767	102.0	146.6	347.0	23.0	73.36	20.27

But seriously, where is the "light"? (I am fully prepared to be embarrassed at my ignorance and say "D'oh")

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