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Old 06-22-2011, 08:29 AM   #1
shangapol
 
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Exclamation Fuel Gauge Problem

Hello Enthusiast

These last few days my fuel gauge went crazy. suddenly, indicating that I have half a tank and in a blink indicates that I have no gas and suddenly begins to rise the fuel level and back down again.

WTF?? Please Help me with this.
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Old 06-22-2011, 10:26 AM   #2
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The fuel sender uses a resistive strip for determining the fuel level. The picture below shows one remove from the tank. Contaminants in the fuel can cause the issues you are seeing. Sometimes the issue will fix itself (after 20 or so cycles of the gas tank). You can pull the sender assembly and try cleaning the resistive strip with electronic contact cleaner.

Sender - Gauge.jpg
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Old 06-22-2011, 11:13 PM   #3
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Ok, Very good idea but, How I go There??
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Old 06-22-2011, 11:21 PM   #4
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Take a look at the "Fuel" section of the repair manual. The access panel for the top of the tank is under the rear seat.

http://www.etimago.com/yaris/repairmanual/
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Old 06-23-2011, 12:15 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CTScott View Post
Take a look at the "Fuel" section of the repair manual. The access panel for the top of the tank is under the rear seat.

http://www.etimago.com/yaris/repairmanual/

Where would one get that tool to remove the retaining ring? I'd like to give this a whirl since my gauge is also malfuntioning. Like most of the others it now shows two bars when it's actually empty...I've gotten pretty close to forgetting to fill up a few times already.
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Old 06-23-2011, 06:51 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by mazilla View Post
Where would one get that tool to remove the retaining ring? I'd like to give this a whirl since my gauge is also malfuntioning. Like most of the others it now shows two bars when it's actually empty...I've gotten pretty close to forgetting to fill up a few times already.
The SST is a Toyota tool, so you could probably order it from the dealer for a handful of cash. I used a dead-blow hammer and a piece of oak to spin mine off, when I removed Crashy's.
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Old 01-16-2013, 07:28 PM   #7
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clean resistive strip?

Quote:
Originally Posted by CTScott View Post
The fuel sender uses a resistive strip for determining the fuel level. The picture below shows one remove from the tank. Contaminants in the fuel can cause the issues you are seeing. Sometimes the issue will fix itself (after 20 or so cycles of the gas tank). You can pull the sender assembly and try cleaning the resistive strip with electronic contact cleaner.

Attachment 42518
CTScott,

1) On cleaning the resistive strip.
Whats you opinion on using fuel cleaner, Redline in the gas tank to possibly clean the strip.
2) I replied to another thread where the person reset the ECU. Would that re-learn the gas sender to gas bars?

Thank you for your knowledge.
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Old 01-16-2013, 07:38 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by othater View Post
CTScott,

1) On cleaning the resistive strip.
Whats you opinion on using fuel cleaner, Redline in the gas tank to possibly clean the strip.
2) I replied to another thread where the person reset the ECU. Would that re-learn the gas sender to gas bars?

Thank you for your knowledge.


I am not sure about if fuel system cleaner will help or not. I have a gut feeling that it will considering that I had a Subaru that had a fuel gauge issue, which eventually healed itself.

Resetting the ECM will not help, since the ECM doesn't see the fuel sender, just the cluster ECU does. You can try disconnecting the battery to reset it, but it actually reinitializes the fuel level every time you shut the car off.
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Old 01-16-2013, 07:54 PM   #9
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Thank you for the quick reply CTScott.
What about running high octane.
I think I'll try that with the cleaner.
I will try fuel cleaner on the next couple of fill ups and report back.
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Old 01-16-2013, 08:19 PM   #10
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Thank you for the quick reply CTScott.
What about running high octane.
I think I'll try that with the cleaner.
I will try fuel cleaner on the next couple of fill ups and report back.
From the other thread, I take it you are having the issue where you run out with a couple of bars still showing on the gauge?
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Old 01-17-2013, 12:23 PM   #11
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Not sure it related or if I'm just posting useless babble, but once in a blue moon my fuel gauge will take almost 10 minutes to go from empty to full after a fillup. Even if I turn the car off, it'll be at the last spot it left off when I turn it back on. I have the '05 HB with tach and digital fuel gauge.
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Old 01-17-2013, 12:34 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by Bluevitz-rs View Post
Not sure it related or if I'm just posting useless babble, but once in a blue moon my fuel gauge will take almost 10 minutes to go from empty to full after a fillup. Even if I turn the car off, it'll be at the last spot it left off when I turn it back on. I have the '05 HB with tach and digital fuel gauge.
How the cluster ECU deals with the raw data from the sender is a bit of a mystery.

I have done much experimentation and I can watch the raw input value (0-255) from the Cluster ECU on my YarGauge and see it go from 13 with the tank full (it actually hits that value at 11.2 gallons and then stays at that value until gas overflows the filler) to 211 at empty (there again, it hits that value with 2.41 gallons left in the tank, and remains at that value until the engine sputters).

Watching the value while driving is interesting, particularly with the tank at 1/3 full or less, as with the lack of baffling, the value swings +/- 2 to 3 gallons. So, the cluster ECU has to do some serious filtering to figure out what to display while in motion.
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Old 01-17-2013, 12:41 PM   #13
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I guess it just takes the average value over a set time.

I'm starting to think if a weak battery might have caused it to do this. I've certainly never run out of gas with a 1/4 tank still showing. On my cluster the last bar flashes as the fuel warning. There's no extra light that turns on. And when it does flash, I'll usually put in between 44-43L the tank is 45L according to the manual.
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Old 01-17-2013, 10:21 PM   #14
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2 bars

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Originally Posted by CTScott View Post
From the other thread, I take it you are having the issue where you run out with a couple of bars still showing on the gauge?
Yes, It's happen twice.
I've read a few different threads on this problem and looking for a
possible solution before actually having to replace the fuel pump.
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Old 01-17-2013, 10:35 PM   #15
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Yes, It's happen twice.
I've read a few different threads on this problem and looking for a
possible solution before actually having to replace the fuel pump.
Do you have access to a multimeter? With one you can check out the fuel sender from the connector on the instrument cluster.
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Old 01-18-2013, 07:29 PM   #16
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Yes I do have a digital multi-meter.
If you direct me to which connecter and what I should be reading.
Pull the instrument cluster out and measure across the connector. volts, ohms?
battery connected or disconnected.
full tank or when it get close to the two bars or both.
Sorry for all the questions.
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Old 01-18-2013, 10:57 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by othater View Post
Yes I do have a digital multi-meter.
If you direct me to which connecter and what I should be reading.
Pull the instrument cluster out and measure across the connector. volts, ohms?
battery connected or disconnected.
full tank or when it get close to the two bars or both.
Sorry for all the questions.
Ohms, battery connected is fine, but ignition off.

Pull the right side connector from the cluster and measure the resistance of the violet wire on pin 3 of the right side connector of the cluster (black wire in pin 1, blue in pin 2, and then the violet is pin 3). Put one lead on the violet wire and the other on ground (you can either touch the metal frame under the dash for ground or can use the brown wire on the opposite end of the connector from the violet one).

The resistance goes from 13.5 ohms with a full tank to 414 ohms with and empty tank. If the tank is half full you can have someone else rock the car side to side while you are taking the measurement to see a wide part of the range. Typically a fuel sender that needs cleaning will have a stretch that reads as open (as if the two leads are not touching anything).
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Old 08-30-2013, 02:41 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by mazilla View Post
Where would one get that tool to remove the retaining ring? I'd like to give this a whirl since my gauge is also malfuntioning. Like most of the others it now shows two bars when it's actually empty...I've gotten pretty close to forgetting to fill up a few times already.

I am also having exactly a similar problem like yours these days ..
can you tell me how you solved it ?
Thanks
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