Fuel gauge says 1/4 but tank is empty

[Shinare]

After breaking down on the highway and towed to mechanic... Mechanic called to tell me my fuel tank is empty even though the fuel gauge says 1/4 tank.

charged me $180 to tell me that (not fix the gauge). Wanted to replace sender and fuel pump but was not sure how much that would be. I told him I would just remember how often to fill up.

Anything I can look for/check on as an easy fix that would not require replacing sender? Something a novice tinkerer could check for?

I have reciently been putting the dash apart a couple times to replace radio. Could this have caused anything? Also wired in backup camera to reverse light.

[WeeYari]

I think over the years it has been reported a couple times this same issue. I believe every instance was a hiccup and sender resumed working properly. Best carry on with life, just keep an eye on the distance you are travelling on a tank. If you end up driving further than you think you should be before blinking light, then probably do have an issue.

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[Shinare]

just got back from picking up my car from the mechanic and stopped to fill up at gas station. Now gas gauge says full. Guess it started working again?

Expensive hiccup. :bonk:

[dogsridewith]

What does reading full with a full tank have to do with reading 1/4 when empty?

[nemelek]

A few years ago my guage started to act up. There was a suggestion on another thread to put fuel cleaner in the next couple tanks of gas. It worked.

[WeeYari]

What does reading full with a full tank have to do with reading 1/4 when empty?It at least proves that the sender is still functioning somewhat. Not just stuck at 1/4.

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[ex-x-fire]

I wonder if a baffle is floating around cause the arm to get stuck.

[Shinare]

It's interesting that you say that. I noticed today that I hear very audible sloshing of gas that I know I never heard before. I wonder if that is the case. Is it ok to live with sloshing sound or is it a must fix / replace gas tank thing?

[bairjo]

just got back from picking up my car from the mechanic and stopped to fill up at gas station. Now gas gauge says full. Guess it started working again?

Expensive hiccup. :bonk:

So.... what did the mechanic do to your car? Are you really sure your tank was empty? If he was wrong or feeding you a line of BS in an effort to drum up some work, that could explain why the gas gauge all of a sudden is working showing full.....when you actually know it is full.

[miiser]

In my experience, if you fill up the tank, the sensor shows more accurate percent of the fuel. It’s like it gets calibrated.


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[zoidberg444]

Given what it would cost to drop the tank, open it up and replace the fuel sender unit i'd wait until you really do need to have it done when your fuel pump dies (which probably won't be while you own the car). Just keep an eye on the odometer or set the trip when you fill the tank. I generally do about 380 miles between refills on my Yaris.

[ex-x-fire]

I think the yaris has a fuel pump access hole.

[vivalaflam]

Hi, I have the same issue. If you take the back seats off, there's a hole from which you can access the fuel level part. Since it costs much here, I decided to just keep an eye on the distance I do in every fill I make. I know that if I have 4 (exactly when the 4th line lights up) I have around 230-240km until the gauge would flash normally. What mine does is that it shows levels above 2 lines. It wont go below that. Take the fuel level sender off the tank (under the back seats) leave it plugged in, and play with it, check with the ignition on what levels it can show. Best of luck :)

[xdarkxfirex]

The gas gauge on these cars isnt all that accurate even with a proper working sending unit. IMO the shop overcharged you. Even if you did need to replace the sending unit, it isnt that expensive from toyota online.

[Shinare]

All the shop did was try to start the car with some kind of spray stuff and it ran using that. So they checked the tank and it was empty. They then called me and said "we put 5 gallons of gas in it and the gauge didn't change so something is wrong. Do you want us to try and figure it out?" I said no, I will just fill it up now and then. They then said "OK, that will be $130 for 'diagnostic services' and the gas."

I'm never towing my car to another Firestone, no matter how much AAA says they are "approved". $130 to tell me my gas tank is empty is a load of crap.

[yaris2010RS]

im pretty sure there was a thread either on here or microimage about "cleaning" the sending unit. cant find it now but ive been out of it for a while now

[ABSPLASTIC]

After breaking down on the highway and towed to mechanic... Mechanic called to tell me my fuel tank is empty even though the fuel gauge says 1/4 tank.

charged me $180 to tell me that (not fix the gauge). Wanted to replace sender and fuel pump but was not sure how much that would be. I told him I would just remember how often to fill up.

Anything I can look for/check on as an easy fix that would not require replacing sender? Something a novice tinkerer could check for?

I have reciently been putting the dash apart a couple times to replace radio. Could this have caused anything? Also wired in backup camera to reverse light.

Crazy. When I drove my Yaris off the lot back in October 2007, the same issue came up with mine within a few days. Brought it into Toyota and it was fixed within a few hours. After that.. the OE headunit kept eating my CDs.

Well that's my story of all the problems I've ever had with this car. lol.

[dogsridewith]

New Posts search list just now says there are 17 replies ahead of this one by me. With the prior being:
"Today 12:01 PM
by unie01 Go to last post"
(same thing happened once before w/ same member...is it a ghost bot? or, is anyone else seeing such a post?)

[dogsridewith]

Now I'm seeing that the thread has two pages. Clicking "2" only brings up posts on page "1."

edit: this post became the first and only on "page 2 of 2"--#19

[ThrowingChicken]

My sender gauge was giving me bad readings too, reading two bars when it was empty. I took it out and tested it by lifting the arm and lowering it down. It read incorrectly 3 out of 5 tries, so I took some q-tips and scrubbed the pads until the q-tips came up clean. Before installing I did the lift and lower test 15 times and it came up correct each time.