inaccurate range display (1 Viewer)

[chris777]

the range displayed on the screen between the tach and the speedometer in my 2018 Land Cruiser said I had 4 miles of range left before running out of gas. I pulled in to a gas station and could only get 20.5 gallons in to a tank that the specs say holds 24.6

1. is this common?

2. Can I adjust this? or can the dealership adjust it?

3. do I have to just do the math each time, and realize when range is, say 10 miles, I just need to add about 60 miles to it? (assuming I get 15 mpg).

I would rather just adjust it. But this is the first vehicle that "cries wolf" that I have owned. But it is the first that has been off by this much, 4 whole gallons.

 

[04UZJ100]

Normal.

Typical for a very conservative fuel light on Cruisers.

 

[turbo8]

All my Toyotas have been this way. Every fill up, I reset my trip odometer to determine my range.

 

[radman]

You still have 4.5-5 gallons left in the tank when the light goes off.

 

[TimCFJ40]

That should be considered range until the light comes on, not range to empty. As stated above, you've got 4-4.5 gal left from Range = 0.

 

[rusty87]

The Tundras are even worse...light comes on at 20 out of 26 gallon tank, or 31 out of 38 gallon tank.

 

[chris777]

thanks everybody. that is what I figured.

 

[Markuson]

the range displayed on the screen between the tach and the speedometer in my 2018 Land Cruiser said I had 4 miles of range left before running out of gas. I pulled in to a gas station and could only get 20.5 gallons in to a tank that the specs say holds 24.6

1. is this common?

2. Can I adjust this? or can the dealership adjust it?

3. do I have to just do the math each time, and realize when range is, say 10 miles, I just need to add about 60 miles to it? (assuming I get 15 mpg).

I would rather just adjust it. But this is the first vehicle that "cries wolf" that I have owned. But it is the first that has been off by this much, 4 whole gallons.

Just know that it considers “zero” the point at which you have about 4 gallons remaining to empty.

In other words....”zero” means...FUEL UP SOON.

This has come up so many times I can’t count...but no way to keep it noted without being buried in the FAQ.

 

[CharlieS]

Just today: Empty message, fuel light, 4 miles range indicated, 19.5 gal squeezed in. Like the man above said.

 

[chris777]

Just know that it considers “zero” the point at which you have about 4 gallons remaining to empty.

In other words....”zero” means...FUEL UP SOON.

This has come up so many times I can’t count...but no way to keep it noted without being buried in the FAQ.

i would just like ro say for the record that i did try to search this on Mud before i asked.

 

[Markuson]

i would just like ro say for the record that i did try to search this on Mud before i asked.

Good job. Frankly, the search tools here are not great. & a little confusing at first.I only mention it because it does come up often.

 

[NMNORSSE]

FWIW, my theory on this is that the fuel pump is cooled by fuel in the tank. Running your tank to the last drop overheats the pump and shortens its lifespan. So, I think Mr. T has the range at 0 when the fuel pump still has adequate cooling.

 

[bloc]

FWIW, my theory on this is that the fuel pump is cooled by fuel in the tank. Running your tank to the last drop overheats the pump and shortens its lifespan. So, I think Mr. T has the range at 0 when the fuel pump still has adequate cooling.

The fuel pump sits in its own little bucket of fuel that has a siphon filling it before then sending fuel on to the rail. This keeps it submerged even when the tank is running extremely low, and only runs the bucket out of fuel after the pickup at the bottom of it is no longer submerged, and you’ve burned the fuel in the bucket.
I posted a picture of this setup in a different thread on the same issue (I think). I can go back and dig it up if it would help visualize it.

My theory is the miles to empty strategy is 1) just more very conservative planning on the part of toyota and 2) intended to make SURE there’s adequate fuel in the tank if you need to get on very steep terrain, as the cruiser is designed to do in many other ways.

 

[TeCKis300]

Nothing wrong with the range display. It just tells a different story than what we're use to from cars of yore.

Toyota's continued conservative engineering at play? Or they felt the need for more out of fuel mitigation based on user data studies?

Perhaps unintended consequences is that it makes the useful range of the vehicle feel more constrained than necessary. Makes the fuel tank feel smaller than it is. And makes the car feel even thirstier than it is.

 

[NMNORSSE]

The fuel pump sits in its own little bucket of fuel that has a siphon filling it before then sending fuel on to the rail. This keeps it submerged even when the tank is running extremely low, and only runs the bucket out of fuel after the pickup at the bottom of it is no longer submerged, and you’ve burned the fuel in the bucket.
I posted a picture of this setup in a different thread on the same issue (I think). I can go back and dig it up if it would help visualize it.

My theory is the miles to empty strategy is 1) just more very conservative planning on the part of Toyota and 2) intended to make SURE there’s adequate fuel in the tank if you need to get on very steep terrain, as the cruiser is designed to do in many other ways.

I wasn't aware of the bucket around the fuel pump to keep it submerged until the tank is truly empty. That was a clever idea by Mr. T and just another reason I love Land Cruisers!

I like your theory on keeping enough gas in the tank for steep terrain.

 

[TeCKis300]

I wasn't aware of the bucket around the fuel pump to keep it submerged until the tank is truly empty. That was a clever idea by Mr. T and just another reason I love Land Cruisers!

I like your theory on keeping enough gas in the tank for steep terrain.

All gas cars have some sort of sump arrangement. Fuel starvation is to be prevented at all costs against cornering, braking, acceleration loads. For the LC, also tilt angles.

 

[NMNORSSE]

All gas cars have some sort of sump arrangement. Fuel starvation is to be prevented at all costs against cornering, braking, acceleration loads. For the LC, also tilt angles.

Must be a "newer" thing, relatively speaking. I just put fuel pumps in my '98 Tacoma and '89 Pickup, and neither had a sump/bucket but they are both 20+ years old. In both cases the pump was just in the tank with nothing around it. There might have been a slight depression in the tank, less than an inch, where the pump sat.

 

[bloc]

Must be a "newer" thing, relatively speaking. I just put fuel pumps in my '98 Tacoma and '89 Pickup, and neither had a sump/bucket but they are both 20+ years old. In both cases the pump was just in the tank with nothing around it. There might have been a slight depression in the tank, less than an inch, where the pump sat.

GM has been doing it for a long time, I do believe 5th gen 4runners use the bucket system. Not sure about 100-series cruisers

Also part of why a fuel pump assembly for a 200 is so expensive.. plus the fuel level sender is built in.

Oh, and I was getting my pumps confused on the siphon detail. That's the setup on some volkswagens I used to work on. For these the truck sends excess fuel from the fuel pressure regulator back into the bucket. So it will be warmed, potentially quite a bit if fuel level is really low and it's a high-underhood-temp-environment like summer desert at low speeds. But still, the ability to take heat away from the pump is greatly increased over it being surrounded by just air and fuel vapor.

 

[gaijin]

For these the truck sends excess fuel from the fuel pressure regulator back into the bucket. So it will be warmed, potentially quite a bit if fuel level is really low and it's a high-underhood-temp-environment like summer desert at low speeds. But still, the ability to take heat away from the pump is greatly increased over it being surrounded by just air and fuel vapor.

Could this "feature" of warming the fuel possibly be the root cause of some folks experiencing "boiling" gas tanks? Particularly at altitude?

Food for thought @Markuson ?

HTH

 

[bloc]

Could this "feature" of warming the fuel possibly be the root cause of some folks experiencing "boiling" gas tanks? Particularly at altitude?

Food for thought @Markuson ?

HTH

Possibly, but vehicles have been doing it for a very long time. I do seem to remember reading gen IV vortecs from GM went to a "returnless" system specifically to address evaporative emissions via reducing fuel temp in-tank, but I guess toyota hadn't gone down that road by the time they developed the 3UR. Another potential concern of returnless is that at low engine speeds the fuel within the rail and about to get injected does get very warm since it isn't constantly being flushed by cooler fuel from the tank.

My 80 would boil fuel in the mountains too. Thing is, the charcoal canister wasn't nearly as sensitive, and it didn't have the fuel cap integrity test system that needs the little pump, so the consequences were less severe.

The thread about rotopax expanding and the anecdotes about higher octane fuel significantly reducing that behavior has me wondering whether filling up with premium when boiling would typically be an issue is a good experiment.