New LX owner having a bit of an issue already

[solidaxleprincess]

Made the best purchase of my life recently and I’m positive it will outlive me but there are a couple issues like all old cars right? The LX was elderly owned since 2007, and only had one other previous owner since 99. I am now the 3rd owner of this beautiful truck. Been in El Paso Texas all its life so there is zero rust of any kind! Maintenance is all up to date and the AHC was already removed and replaced with an Ironman kit. There are some minor details like the steering wheel tilt and cruise control not working.

Anyways the biggest problem I have experienced so far is the gas gauge. It was working perfectly fine for about the last 3000 miles but yesterday after filling up the tank I got on the highway and 10 minutes later noticed the gauge gradually had dropped almost to empty. I panicked and pulled over thinking there was a major fuel leak but could not source a leak or anything! I started it back up and gauge came back to normal. So I continued to drive it and 30 minutes later I made it home with the gauge reading empty once again. I decided to take it to a shop to diagnose and they could not find anything wrong with it, there are no check engine lights or stored codes or leaks of any kind. I did however notice driving today that the gauge drops more noticeably on highway driving but seems like city driving is perfectly fine. Has anyone else ever experienced this? Hoping it’s an easy fix or at least not something more serious

 

[Trunk Monkey]

You don't say how many miles, but I'd consider the fuel pump and sender possibly.

 

[solidaxleprincess]

You don't say how many miles, but I'd consider the fuel pump and sender possibly.

Just under 170k miles! Probably still has the original parts I don’t believe I saw anything in the maintenance records about the fuel pump being replaced. Could that be the issue?

 

[nissanh]

Welcome to the forum!

It's not the fuel pump. My 2000 LC gas gauge does the same thing. Recently I did a road trip to Houston and only once the gauge showed reserve but I know I had at least half a tank. I did purchased a sending unit but I zero the mileage counter everytime I fill up so I do 225-250 miles highway before a fillup.

Stay with OEM parts, never go with A/M parts as those will fail within a few months. Buy parts from the dealer (good deals are usually posted here) or from partsouq.com located in Dubai UAE. They accept paypal and ships via Fedex. I did my recent order from them yesterday.

 

[185]

Not a fix persay, but something folks say is running a single techron treatment.

 

[solidaxleprincess]

Welcome to the forum!

It's not the fuel pump. My 2000 LC gas gauge does the same thing. Recently I did a road trip to Houston and only once the gauge showed reserve but I know I had at least half a tank. I did purchased a sending unit but I zero the mileage counter everytime I fill up so I do 225-250 miles highway before a fillup.

Stay with OEM parts, never go with A/M parts as those will fail within a few months. Buy parts from the dealer (good deals are usually posted here) or from partsouq.com located in Dubai UAE. They accept paypal and ships via Fedex. I did my recent order from them yesterday.

Did you ever resolve the issue? Also I have heard partsouq a lot but don’t know how to navigate it haha could someone link me the parts I need please? Or any other good source for oem parts? I know to stay away from Amazon

 

[excessive]

its more likely the gauge cluster, not the sending unit

 

[solidaxleprincess]

Checked EVAP system for leaks and tested gas cap as well and couldn’t find anything. Still not sure whether to replace the fuel sending unit or not. I might just order the parts anyways but if anyone has any other suggestions please share! Everything else in my gauge cluster works fine. Is it possible it’s just a loose or corroded wire somewhere?

 

[rexington14]

Checked EVAP system for leaks and tested gas cap as well and couldn’t find anything. Still not sure whether to replace the fuel sending unit or not. I might just order the parts anyways but if anyone has any other suggestions please share! Everything else in my gauge cluster works fine. Is it possible it’s just a loose or corroded wire somewhere?

View attachment 3789987

Gauge cluster issues are somewhat common. It can affect one gauge, or multiple gauges. Affected gauges can act "wonky" - sometimes they work, sometimes they don't move at all, sometimes they move but they are completely inaccurate.

There's a (long) thread on this issue:

2004 Land Cruiser Gauge Cluster FIXED! How-To

I had an issue that a number of others are experiencing with their 100 series. Four out of six of my gauges worked only about 10% of the time. The rest of the time they were just dead. Research led me to believe that my stepper motors needed replacing. These are little "tomb-shaped" (black in...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[solidaxleprincess]

Have a fuel sending unit coming in Friday if that doesn’t end up solving the issue I guess time to look into fixing or replacing my gauge cluster!

On an another note, looks like I lost one of the rear emblems. Any recommendations on removing the residue without damaging the paint?

 

[delz05]

3M Eraser wheel on a power drill works best

 

[excessive]

there are companies that can repair gauge clusters. I have no affiliation with this compnay, but here's one:

Tanin Auto Electronix | Auto Repairs, Sales and DIY Parts

At Tanin Auto Electronix, we offer quality automotive electronic parts for replacements & DIY projects. Contact us today for repair services & more.

taninautoelectronix.com

 

[solidaxleprincess]

Quick update! I replaced the fuel sending unit last week and got a new OEM gas cap along with it. Not sure what did it but the fuel gauge is back to reading accurately as far as I could tell. Just did a 1500 mile road trip from Texas to Illinois with no issues! Averaged around 280 miles between each fill up Happy Toyotathon yall!

 

[SeventhDurandal]