LX 570 Fuel Sending Unit Replacement (1 Viewer)

[ARKginger]

So, just a little background, I've lurked on this site for a while now and loved the 4Runners I've owned but always dreamed of owning a land cruiser. Two weeks ago I bought my wife a 2009 LX 570 with 120k miles on it. Awesome vehicle.

Now to the problem. Vehicle wouldn't start a couple days ago so I proceed to replace the battery since it was the original battery (store tested it and said it needed to be replaced as well) and it still wouldn't start. So then we put some gas in it (3-4 gal) and it fired right up. The fuel gauge was reading above 1/4 tank and my cruising range was reading 70ish miles till empty before we put some gas in it. I then proceeded to drive it to the gas station and put 21.5 more gallons in it, so it was obviously empty when the gauges were saying otherwise.

Researching here and a few other sites has me narrowing this down to a bad sending unit. I would like to do the work myself but I'm having a hard time finding a pdf factory service manual to use other than some .rar files that I'm unsure of how to convert to something usable. Has anyone replaced the sending unit themselves? Would you recommend dropping the tank or using the access point under the middle passenger seat?

Thanks for the help in advance

 

[TonyP]

The FSM calls for removing the tank but I would try and access it from the top service hatch. Remove the 2nd row seats and pull back the carpet and it should be under there on the passenger side (I think).

The FSM also calls for an SST for moving the retainer. I've heard of people using a hammer and a screw driver but I'd hop on Amazon and get a cheapo retainer remover like this.

https://www.amazon.com/OEMTOOLS-25156-Module-Spanner-Wrench/dp/B004FDL3BS

Also make sure the new sender unit comes with a fresh gasket.

See below for some FSM docs.

 

[ARKginger]

@TonyP Thank you that will help out a lot. Do you think I'll be safe just replacing the sending unit or should I go ahead and replace pump as well?

 

[TonyP]

The safe bet is the entire unit but that's around $450.

If you have a second vehicle to drive I'd pull the unit and inspect the sender per the fsm to see what's faulty. Each component of the pump/sender assembly can be purchased separately. It would be a waste to buy a whole new assembly (which includes a new pump) just to fix a sensor.

So more work and save a few bucks. Or save time and just order and replace the entire thing. Your call.

 

[mudtracker]

Tony P could you tell me how your source for these FSMs?
I'm always looking for service docs for this vehicle but seems hard to find.

I just experienced the infamous 1/4 tank fuel sender issue. I have a similar pic of my rig on the tow truck since I also ran the tank dry thinking i still had a 1/4 tank left.
Its a bit annoying of Toyota since the tow truck guy said he sees this all the time with Tacomas and Tundras. He knew exactly what it was when he can to help me.

I Just got it back from my local truck shop $900 later. He charged $540 for the full assembly (pump and Sending unit) and $300 (3hrs) worth of labor to drop the fuel tank. I did mention about accessing under the seats but he said not on my vehicle???
Has anyone accessed the fuel pump under the seats? (guess I shoulda checked myself)

I didn't want to take a chance of waiting on the pump to fail although i hear from Toyota an my truck shop its uncommon. It was extra $300 for the full assembly vs just the sending unit but i figured I didn't want to have to deal with dropping the tank on any extended trips to the desert. Especially since I'll be in "Death" Valley in the next couple days not a place I'd wanna get stuck.

 

[i4c4lo]

Having the peace of mind to have everything replaced inside the tank is worth the money IMHO.

Have fun in Death Valley.

 

[ad nave terram]

@ARKginger, did you end up replacing the fuel sending unit? If so, did it fix the problem?

 

[ARKginger]

@ad nave terram, no I've been dealing with more pressing engine issues in my 4Runner. My wife just knows to fill it up every 200ish miles and to reset the trip. I will say for the past couple of months the gauge and distance till empty seems to be running correctly, but I still don't trust it completely. I'm hoping to replace the sending unit sometime soon and I plan to update this thread

 

[mudtracker]

It definitely fixed my issue by replacing the sending unit. Its a very well known problem with this vehicle as well as other toyota trucks like tacomas, and tundras.

When the AAA guy came to help me he mentioned he sees this problem a lot with toyota trucks.

I first thought it was my battery but after trying to start the truck the AAA knew immediately it was the fuel/bad sender.

 

[ExpatInKiev]

@mudtracker, you can actually do this job from within the car without removing the fuel tank. There is a round access port under the carpet and air ducts of the RH rear passenger seat. You need to remove both seats in the second row to lift the carpet enough to then remove the air duct on RH side under the carpet and then you can prise off the round cover that is glued on with sealant. I then bent a bit of flat steel bar into a kind of u shape and cut a slot in each end to use it to undo the plastic retaining ring by pushing the slot at each end of the bar into opposite tabs that stick up all the way round the ring pushing down hard while turning anticlockwise. It is on very tightly! I then pushed the ring to one side along with the two hoses and wires and then made a 10 mm cut with metal snips into the sheet metal of the body where the access hole is in two places opposite each other in the hole and bent the metal on one side up and the other down down so that I could wriggle out the whole sender/pump unit. The diameter of the access hole is a little smaller than the diameter of the 5 mm thick top bit of the pump/sender unit and so you have to do this bit of minor surgery. When you have finished working on the unit you can wriggle it back in and make sure you line up the tab on the unit with the slot in the tank plastic bit and then hold the unit down while refitting the retaining ring and tightening it up with the gadget you made. Using a screwdriver and a hammer to remove is just too difficult hence the need to make a tool to help you. Once that it done just hammer the access hole back into shape and stick the access hatch back on again. I used the same sealer as was there in the first place and that was fine. I have not seen this advice anywhere else on the internet and so I have posted it here which was the first place I landed when searching for info for this vehicle (2009 Lexus LX 570). Good luck!

 

[Tighe]

@mudtracker, you can actually do this job from within the car without removing the fuel tank. There is a round access port under the carpet and air ducts of the RH rear passenger seat. You need to remove both seats in the second row to lift the carpet enough to then remove the air duct on RH side under the carpet and then you can prise off the round cover that is glued on with sealant. I then bent a bit of flat steel bar into a kind of u shape and cut a slot in each end to use it to undo the plastic retaining ring by pushing the slot at each end of the bar into opposite tabs that stick up all the way round the ring pushing down hard while turning anticlockwise. It is on very tightly! I then pushed the ring to one side along with the two hoses and wires and then made a 10 mm cut with metal snips into the sheet metal of the body where the access hole is in two places opposite each other in the hole and bent the metal on one side up and the other down down so that I could wriggle out the whole sender/pump unit. The diameter of the access hole is a little smaller than the diameter of the 5 mm thick top bit of the pump/sender unit and so you have to do this bit of minor surgery. When you have finished working on the unit you can wriggle it back in and make sure you line up the tab on the unit with the slot in the tank plastic bit and then hold the unit down while refitting the retaining ring and tightening it up with the gadget you made. Using a screwdriver and a hammer to remove is just too difficult hence the need to make a tool to help you. Once that it done just hammer the access hole back into shape and stick the access hatch back on again. I used the same sealer as was there in the first place and that was fine. I have not seen this advice anywhere else on the internet and so I have posted it here which was the first place I landed when searching for info for this vehicle (2009 Lexus LX 570). Good luck!

Expat, thanks for this write up. This procedure may be in my future, depending on how much my shop charges to drop the tank and replace the pump.

Do you happen to have any photos of your process? They would go a long way toward understanding and following your writeup.

Thanks!

 

[grinchy]

Expat, thanks for this write up. This procedure may be in my future, depending on how much my shop charges to drop the tank and replace the pump.

Do you happen to have any photos of your process? They would go a long way toward understanding and following your writeup.

Thanks!

Some pics and write up when I did this as part of the sub tank project.

Factory sub tank - sourcing and fitment discussion

Body mount locations - total 9. They all have the same round thin plastic pop off cover. There are two at very front, two at very back, and one under each door. Body mount bolt 17mm. Nut 17 mm. hex end on four of eight 9mm. Beware. There is a 9th in the middle of the 2nd row that bolts into the...

forum.ih8mud.com

and then later

Factory sub tank - sourcing and fitment discussion

Canister Connector extension. I used Ethernet cable. I think it would be better to use stranded cable if you can source it. 7 conductors are required. There are two blue wires. Pin 9 is one, this is connected to a the engine bay fuse box 7.5a efi no. 2 fuse. So the blue wire that traces to that...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Tighe]

Some pics and write up when I did this as part of the sub tank project.

Factory sub tank - sourcing and fitment discussion

Body mount locations - total 9. They all have the same round thin plastic pop off cover. There are two at very front, two at very back, and one under each door. Body mount bolt 17mm. Nut 17 mm. hex end on four of eight 9mm. Beware. There is a 9th in the middle of the 2nd row that bolts into the...

forum.ih8mud.com

and then later

Factory sub tank - sourcing and fitment discussion

Canister Connector extension. I used Ethernet cable. I think it would be better to use stranded cable if you can source it. 7 conductors are required. There are two blue wires. Pin 9 is one, this is connected to a the engine bay fuse box 7.5a efi no. 2 fuse. So the blue wire that traces to that...

forum.ih8mud.com

Thanks @grinchy ! Haha I started reading that thread and stopped after a few pages. Guess I should've kept going!

The LX has died as a result of low fuel several times for me lately, including once while my wife was driving it on the highway. Fuel gauge was never lower than about 1/8th tank, and low fuel light was not on. Probably time to tackle this.

My local shop quoted me $600 to replace the sending unit. Not as bad as I thought, so I’ll probably go that route at this time.

Thanks again!