runnermedic

does anyone knows or successfully tried a method to prevent fuel sloshing around the tank???
i fixed my 4runner fsu and is reading ok but if i go downhill the gauge goes down and if uphill the gauge goes up and with some steering well you know!! its confusing!!!!
the point is that ill never know how much fuel is in the tank until i park in a leveled spot,i know that those gauges arent perfect but talking about the fuel one is very important to me,i already did a big search in the major browser and found some interesting info about some fords and GM cars using a fuel sender unit damper module some sort of electric fuel gauge buffer =,bad luck is not available for imports!!!!

also found some articles about foam blocks in the tanks,but im not sure about them.
any help here will be welcome!!!!

Keith B.

The gauges in these 4Runners are notoriously inaccurate. Yeah, mine reads higher going uphill and lower going down also.

scuba

I know I'm not going to answer your question here, but the gauges aren't very accurate in the first place.
I'd recommend you learn to reset one of your trip meters every time you fill up your tank. That way you can keep track of how many miles you get on a tank. My gas gauge doesn't work at all, so I just make sure to fill up around 200-220 (depending on the type of driving I'm doing). I get 15-18 miles per gallon and I have a tank that holds about 15-16 gallons so you can do the math.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

I have not trusted a fuel gauge in years .

I just fill up between 125 and 150 miles No fuel pump issues either.

It would be a different story if I could unscrew the cap and look in

runnermedic

98 4runner ,can anyone help me with this issue,im sick of it ,replaced the fuel sender unit and stills sloshing around,even tried with a tighter fuel sender unit float arm and stills the same.asked some people who works on toyota service and no one have seen a 3rd gen fuel tank with baffles,so if there are no baffles inside the tank then the anti slosh fix is in the fuel gauge itself,i was thinking to buy the sender used to replace the one in 99 up 4runners to fix the issue but i dont know if the ohms values are the same,this one reads inside the pump basket,so slosh is minimum,if anyone can measure the ohms of this one will be great.


took apart the cluster to inspect the fuel gauge but did nothing because there are 2 resistors that i dont know the value or function,im thinking is a magnetic gauge but thats all i know for now
any help here???????

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

If it bothers you that much take your fuel tank to a good welding shop.

Have them cut it apart making sure to allow the fuel sender full range of movement.

Install as many baffles as you deem needed .

Just measure the resistance of the two different sending units.

nothingbetter

I'm failing to see what the issue is. Thats what all of our fuel gauges do. But maybe your is different.

How quickly does your fuel gauge move? Is it constantly bouncing up and down with every wave of fuel that hits it or does it slowly change like when your driving up a hill?

Hopefully you realize how much fuel is in your tank and don't freak out when you drive down a hill and watch your gauge drop. Its not a problem with the gauge.

If your in doubt about how full your tank is...fill it! That simple. The fuel in the tank helps to cool the fuel pump so running it down to empty every time will make your fuel pumps not last as long as they are not imersed in fuel to keep them cool (or so I've read)

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

There are quite a few of us that have fuel gauges that the sending unit failed and is no longer able to be bought new.

I am not real sure what your problem is about being so paranoid about your fuel capacity down to the last quart.

Care to explain for us please??

Maybe you just put $5.00 in at a time.

In my 4Runner with no fuel gauge I figure on 10mpg I fuel around 125 miles I have never run out of fuel.

Then maybe your odometer does not work??

In fact I use this method on all my vehicles I very seldom look at the fuel gauge.

I am sure with enough money spent on this issue you can solve this issue that your happy. Myself I would take that money and put it in the fuel tank

Have a custom fuel tank made to your specs and go from there.

runnermedic

Those ideas are great for for a short time,yes if i count on the odometer ill never ran out of fuel,why make a new tank?? I think selling the 4runner would be better. Or buy a brand new one.
Well that can wait !!!
The fuel sender is working but it picks up every little movement so bad that in five seconds uphill it can go from 1/4 to 3/4 and downhill from 3/4 or full to 1/4 so in a long trip you have to make a mathematic equation and find a leveled surface to guess how much fuel is left.thats the issue!
I just want to bring the damn fuel sender unit to work correctly

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Something is sure wrong in that case .

It sounds like the float arm is way to loose that every little hill makes it move .

I know I was thinking you were talking about off roading type of hills where you are in a uphill or down hill position for several minutes.

It sounds to me more like a loose electrical connection then a sending unit problem.

Then if you got the wrong sending unit it very well could respond like what you say. Could have been wrong part in the correct box.

Did you go with the Toyota part??

When the tank is full do you still have the wide swings in the gauge reading as with a full tank you should have very little fuel movement.

it would tend to get worse as the fuel level drops.

This is a very small gas tank not a 7000 gallon tanker

Have you had this 4runner since new?? someone swapped in a gauge cluster with a different fuel gauge.

I really lean more towards a electrical problem then a fuel sloshing problem

In any case one of those things almost impossible to trouble shoot from far away.

There has to be more of a back story .

How did this all start??