My brother bought a 1965 Lincoln from me. He comes back and tells me the low fuel level light came on and he ran out of gas in 2 miles. I told him it was not a low fuel level warning light. It was a "you just ran out of gas moron" light .
Most new gauges do not "instantly drop" but they do drop off quickly which is an incentive to avoid situations like my brother had. Lots of cars will go 100 miles after the light comes on. The question is how prepared are you to run out of gas?

 

Yes I know most gauges doesn’t instantly drop but can you explain why it did for me?

See picture for before and after refuel. Im pretty sure our Highlander takes more than 13 gallons for a full tank of gas. Also, see Trip A on how I only drove 260 some miles and showing that I need to refuel.

Just a mystery and will be stopping by dealership to check it out.

 

I've noticed that the fuel gauge is way too optimistic on the V6 gas version, making you think there's more gas than there really is. If the needle drops to 1/2 full, it will easily take over 10 gallons to fill it back up, and that's more than half of the 18-gallon tank by my math, especially if there's supposed to be safety margin factored in somewhere. I can put 13 gallons of gas in it when the gauge is nowhere near empty.

I'm not surprised that there's an area on the gauge where the needle seems to move awful quickly. That has to make up for the fact that the gauge is reading too high elsewhere in the range.

How many miles do you have on the car? If this doesn't sort itself out after a few trips to the gas station, I'm afraid you would need to have the dealer look at it. It shouldn't go from empty to full with just 13 gallons. Did the pump naturally shut itself off at that point?

 

Thanks for the input.

Im stopping by my dealer on Monday to check it out, but it seems the sensor on the fuel gauge failed (which I believe, and hoping to duplicate since it’s unpredictable to video it lol) which caused the level the drop instantly from 1/4 tank to empty (literally 0 miles left). My car only has 14K miles and it was assembled on Feb 2020. Also, the pump stopped automatically (like always) when my tank was full again.

 

For mine I didn't let the dealer fill it with gas when I bought mine off the lot with 8 miles on odometer. I wanted to be the first person to fill it up.

We drove 20 miles at low speed on highway and I stopped to put gas in it. It said I had 30 miles to empty. I was able to add 14.8 gallons of gas. When I started it up the fuel gauge was on F but distance to empty still displayed 30 miles. In another second or so the distance to empty then updated to show 260 plus miles can't remember the exact amount.

So I would agree it is a good idea to get the dealership to check it.

 

When my '86 Corolla started doing that, I changed the sending unit in the gas tank and never had the problem again. The oem price for it was $142, so I got a used one at salvage for $11.

 

Fuel gauge weirdness seems like a common theme with Toyotas these days. RAV4 Hybrid and Venza have issues with filling all the way to the stated tank capacity.

 

Hello,

Has anyone experienced regarding their fuel gauge dropping from 1/4 tank to Empty instantly without no warning?

This is my second time experiencing it and just wondering if anyone else had experience with it.

I know certain my car has atleast 2 - 3 gallons of tank before the light should come on.

Thanks!

This is working as intended. My 2020 Platinum does the same thing, when I asked Toyota Canada about it they said its working as intended.

 

Maybe a bad level bobber in the fuel tank, may be sticking and not going down once it gets to the 1/4 tank level then sticks there until you hit a bump or something and then it drops. Just guessing.

one of these SENDER


lol, translation, We do not know how to fix it.

By the way, what is the year make and model of your car?

 

Working as intended, indeed… Intended to conceal the fact that these tanks with internal bladders cannot be reliably filled to the capacity they advertised.

They had the issue in 2019 with the RAV4 and had to buy back some vehicles so they likely attempted a software fix before launching the 2020 Highlander. Probably why the needle sticks at full for an extended period then drops significantly at 1/4 of a tank.

Well, it didn’t work. The 2020+ Highlander is now part of the class action lawsuit in the US.

 

I guess these people complaining were never taught how to figure it out more accurately using simply mathematics at the pump.

This is almost as bad as people never checking their mirrors and blind spots by turning their heads and expecting the cars electronics to do it all for them.

 

What I've experienced is it takes a long time for the gas gauge needle to stay at or near full. I would understand if it tanks 1/4 or below so I'll just fill it up at that point so I won't experience it.
In my previous SUV the needle moves fast even at full and very slow to move in the middle and fast again as it gets closer to 1/4.
I would just have to learn how it works and live with it since I don't think it's that big of an issue. I usually calculate my mpg after I gas up so if it's consistently off the advertised mpg with same driving habits, proper tire inflation, gas station, etc. then it might be worth bringing it up.

 

Not sure about your "simple mathematics at the pump", but mine work out to a missing 2 gallons. Even taking into account the "unusable" 2.6gal Toyota saves for after empty/0 DTE.

The only way to come close to the 17.1 gallons they promised is to continue pumping past the venturi shut off and risk spilling fuel everywhere. I've personally pumped 7 (!!!!) liters into the tank after the pump shut off, with no spill over. That's insane. Hence the lawsuit.

 

YES and Toyota is stumped! Did you get it figured out!!!! This is my post made today.
I purchased my 2020 Highlander in 3/2021 with less than 10,000 miles. Two times in the first month while idling in my driveway the gas gauge dropped from 1/4 or 1/2 tank of gas to empty and the screen stated I needed to "refuel now". My driveway is steep so I backed out, it did not fix itself so I got gas but of course only a little over a 1/2 tank. Since then I have parked it overnight at 1/2 to 1/4 tank and gotten in the next morning to the guage being on empty and telling me to refuel at least twice a month. I went in for a new recall in August but that did not fix it. In September it happened twice in one week. Those mornings I drove my kids 25 minutes to school, parked it in a level lot, turned it off to walk them in and upon restarting the car it still read empty. I was able to fill up again with just a little over a 1/2 tank, again showing the gas was in there. I took it back in to Toyota, the tank was dropped and nothing found. It appeared to be doing fine until 11/05/2021. I parked in my in-laws level driveway, walked my son in and when I restarted the car it read empty and told me to refuel. I drove 25 minutes to the town next door, while on the interstate the gas icon came on, then 2 minutes later as I was getting off the interstate it went back up to 1/2 tank. I did what I needed to, driving maybe 10 miles, then drove back home about 25 minutes and while parked and idleing it dropped back to empty and saying refuel. I drove to the local gas station and it remained the same. I filled it up with 12.5 gallons, so there is gas in it! This is the first time it has occurred on a level surface and that it has occurred twice in one day, which leaves me to think it is getting worse. I have another appointment this week with Toyota but they are still boggled by this issue.

So I ask again has anyone else experienced this? If so have they found the cause? How did they address it? I also wonder does anyone have any thoughts on what this may be????

Thank you in advance!!!!!

 

I have just experienced this issue yesterday - but with my VW Sharan. I dropped my daughter off...a bit of a steep hill, and while I parked up was saying goodbye to her the low fuel warning beeped and the light came on. As I turned to look at the dashboard I saw the needle dropping fast. It had gone from a quarter of a tank to just inside the low fuel warning range! I see a lot of people here responding with "yeah, fuel gauges do drop quickly from the half tank mark" which is missing the point. This, as per the title of your post, is quite different...the needle swings fast. I'd guess it travels around 2cm in less than a second in my case. Strange thing is that my digital range readout says "130 km" and the low fuel light is supposed to come on when remaining range is around 40km. So the question is does the digital readout get it's information independently of the actual fuel gauge? This doesn't make sense...the fuel sending unit which does this job should be providing the same data to both the digital range calculation and the needle on the dashboard.

So far all my mechanic has said is "fill it up again and see what happens". I'd be interested to know how you get on with yours.

 

Well I to have suffered from the 1/4 to dead empty in the blink of an eye. This happened on my 2022 XLE gas engine at least 3-4 times. I live on hill so I thought that was the issue but unfortunately not. Drove it to work and parked on level ground and when leaving parking lot was over 1/4 tank, by the time I made it to the highway it was dead empty with low fuel light. Funny thing is all occurrences took place at less than 2500 miles, seems after that it stopped doing it.

 

They are still stumped by mine. They have it currently. I have been driving a 2021 xle loaner and it has occurred twice so it is definitely a highlander issue. But not only does mine drop to empty in 4 seconds, it will not tell me how many miles I have to empty that only says low fuel/refuel now.

 

My 2020 Highlander Le goes much fast from half to empty. The distance till empty I noticed is bang on but when I get to half a tank it shows way less than half of the distance till empty. I feel like when I am at 1/2 it's really 1/4

 

Just brought our 2020 Limited in to have the fuel gauge recalculated. Going on a trip next week of 2400+ - miles and will see how it works. It would stay on full until it was almost out of gas, then start going down, but never past half way, before I needed to stop and gas up. I wasn't sure nor comfortable with the "Miles to empty" after it started acting up so glad (I think) that it has been reset

 

I thought the software update for the fuel gage should have fixed this issue? If you check you Toyota app there is a service bulletin on it, which tells you its a valintary update.

 

The update for the fuel light was a Special Service Campaign, or a recall. It wasn't a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB).

That SSC (ID number 21TC05) affected Highlanders produced before February 2021, at which point the program for the instrument cluster was changed in manufacturing. According to Toyota's documentation, all it does is change how soon the low fuel light comes on (to come on sooner). It doesn't claim to have affected the accuracy of the fuel gauge itself.

 

The gauge is incredibly inaccurate. I went to the dealer and they gave me this story about "usable" capacity - there's only 12.5 gallons usable in a 17 gallon tank. So when the gauge is at E and Distance To Empty says 0, there's actually between 2-3 gallons left. And when it says F, it's not really full, either. That's a total of 4.5 gallons of unusable capacity, which is ridiculous. Most cars have about a gallon or so. I googled and found a class-action lawsuit on this particular issue. A guy in a RAV4 drove his over 100 miles with the DTE on 0.

 

I truly can't believe this is worthy of a class action!

Years ago I had a Chevy S10, when the gauge read empty, the engine died! Ask me how I know this. Is this a better way to do it?

 

I think every vehicle that I have owned has a similar experience regarding the fuel gauge dropping faster for the last 1/4 tank. Honestly, in my opinion, I don't think this particular complaint is unique to the Highlander.

 

Prior to my 2021 purchase. I had the same model in 2011 that I traded in, and it was dead on balls accurate. So I have to disagree

 

This may help explain why fuel gauges work the way they do in a non-linear fashion.

The Sending Unit - How Fuel Gauges Work | HowStuffWorks

 

There is no inaccessible portion of the gas tank. If you drive it to empty (meaning when the engine stalls because its actually out of gas) and then fill up, you'll be able to actually put 17.9 gallons of gas in the tank or 17.1 gallons in the hyrbrid...ask me how I know....

As some have already mentioned, there is a 2-3 gallon "reserve" after the miles to empty reaches zero. When I tested this, I drove about 75 miles after reaching 0 miles to empty so I can confirm that there is about 3 gallons in reserve.

I will say that the calculated MPG is pretty close to real world experience. I've tracked miles driven and gallons of gas over my last 3 tanks and each time the computer was within 0.1-0.2 MPG of my actual calculations.

 

There is no inaccessible portion of the gas tank. If you drive it to empty (meaning when the engine stalls because its actually out of gas) and then fill up, you'll be able to actually put 17.9 gallons of gas in the tank or 17.1 gallons in the hyrbrid...ask me how I know.... As some have already mentioned, there is a 2-3 gallon "reserve" after the miles to empty reaches zero. When I tested this, I drove about 75 miles after reaching 0 miles to empty so I can confirm that there is about 3 gallons in reserve. I will say that the calculated MPG is pretty close to real world experience. I've tracked miles driven and gallons of gas over my last 3 tanks and each time the computer was within 0.1-0.2 MPG of my actual calculations.

So even after warning light for the gas is on, gauge is pointing to empty and miles to empty is 0 you still have several gallons of fuel left? Enough to drive in your car 75 whole miles while “0 miles to empty?” Why the class action lawsuit?

 

Hello,

Has anyone experienced regarding their fuel gauge dropping from 1/4 tank to Empty instantly without no warning?

This is my second time experiencing it and just wondering if anyone else had experience with it.

I know certain my car has atleast 2 - 3 gallons of tank before the light should come on.

Thanks!
View attachment 337172

I have had this exact same thing happen to me twice now and I'm looking to see if Toyota has a fix for it. I literally started my car and it said 110 miles to empty and before i put the car in drive the gas light came on and said time to refuel. I went straight to the gas station and it only took 11.6 gallons so something is wrong.

Well I to have suffered from the 1/4 to dead empty in the blink of an eye. This happened on my 2022 XLE gas engine at least 3-4 times. I live on hill so I thought that was the issue but unfortunately not. Drove it to work and parked on level ground and when leaving parking lot was over 1/4 tank, by the time I made it to the highway it was dead empty with low fuel light. Funny thing is all occurrences took place at less than 2500 miles, seems after that it stopped doing it.

My 2021 Limited has done this twice now and I can't trust the gas gage because of this. have you found any resolution?

 

Hello,

Has anyone experienced regarding their fuel gauge dropping from 1/4 tank to Empty instantly without no warning?

This is my second time experiencing it and just wondering if anyone else had experience with it.

I know certain my car has atleast 2 - 3 gallons of tank before the light should come on.

Thanks!
View attachment 337172

My brother bought a 1965 Lincoln from me. He comes back and tells me the low fuel level light came on and he ran out of gas in 2 miles. I told him it was not a low fuel level warning light. It was a "you just ran out of gas moron" light .
Most new gauges do not "instantly drop" but they do drop off quickly which is an incentive to avoid situations like my brother had. Lots of cars will go 100 miles after the light comes on. The question is how prepared are you to run out of gas?

Gets that low you need gas anyway.

 

Yea I don't even like letting the light come on at all from what I understand it's not good for the in tank fuel pump.

 

When any of my vehicles get down to a quarter tank I fill up. You never know when you might get stuck, delayed, whatever and I don't want to chance running out. Makes no sense to me why some people delay filling up until they're 'running on fumes'.

 

That's a good habit, something I practice too, but the threshold is now 1/2 tank with the HL. However, that's not even relevant to this post about the inaccuracy of the gauge.

 

Let your tank go below a quarter here and you get stuck on the HRBT coming from Va Beach and it takes 16 hours to go 16 miles before they get the tunnel opened or go both lanes on one side. Can you idle for 16 hours on a quarter tank?

 

Hello,

Has anyone experienced regarding their fuel gauge dropping from 1/4 tank to Empty instantly without no warning?

This is my second time experiencing it and just wondering if anyone else had experience with it.

I know certain my car has atleast 2 - 3 gallons of tank before the light should come on.

Thanks!
View attachment 337172

YES!!! My 2020 Highlander does this consistently. It has been in and out of Toyota Services too many times to count so now they want to label it as normal, which to me is unacceptable. Mine will drop to empty from 1/2 tank. When I go to fill it up it only take about 12.5 gallons because of the gas still in the tank. If anyone has found a fix I would love to know!!!

I think every vehicle that I have owned has a similar experience regarding the fuel gauge dropping faster for the last 1/4 tank. Honestly, in my opinion, I don't think this particular complaint is unique to the Highlander.

It's not that it drops faster. The problem is that I will have 80 miles to empty or of the 18-gallon tank I have only burned about 12.5 gallons. It drops from between 1/4 and 1/2 tank to empty instantly. It will then not reset itself until I fill it up again. If I know how far I was from empty, I can sometimes drive 2 or days and it will never fix itself. Until I fill up. It's mostly a problem when it drops, and I am not sure how far I was from empty but have somewhere to be.

 

I just picked up a new '23 HiHy Limited AWD. When I picked the car up, I went with the salesman to fill it up. I noticed the distance to empty (DTE) was around 420 miles and that struck me as odd because I am supposed to get around 35 MPG in this thing. So, DTE should be near 600 miles. I figured it was reading low because this was a new car and it needed to be "broken-in". Now, I am reading these posts and am wondering if I might have a problem. But, what is that problem? Is it that the DTE is miscalculating or is it that the fuel tank is precluding me from actually filling the take? I don't want to overfill my tank. This action causes issues with the overflow charcoal canister designed to handle fumes, not fuel. What should I do? I am still on my first tank of gas, so I will verify how much I am able to pump when my fuel gauge light comes on and my DTE is near 20-30 miles.

Update I fueled the HiHy today. I put 333 miles on the vehicle and pumped 9.70 gal. My DTE was reading 177, so I would get 510 mile range and my calculated MPG was 34.33. Im happy with the MPG... NO! I AM BLOWN AWAY BY THE MPG!!! But, there appears to be something wrong. My DTE after filling up was 436 miles. This doesn't make any sense. I have read elsewhere that the reserve (after achieving 0 on the DTE) is 2.5 gal. If this is the case, I should only get a range of 521 miles, if I include the reserve in my calculation. My range should be Where's the missing 80+ miles?

This all reminds me of the riddle where
3 men go into a hotel. The man behind the desk says a room is $30 so each man pays $10 and goes to the room.

A while later the man behind the desk realized the room was only $25 so he sent the bellboy to the 3 guys' room with $5. On the way the bellboy couldn't figure out how to split $5 evenly between 3 men, so he gave each man a $1 and kept the other $2 for himself.

This meant that the 3 men each paid $9 for the room, which is a total of $27 add the $2 that the bellboy kept = $29. Where is the other dollar?

Toyota has some 'splainin' to do.