bigredj87

So this Sunday me and the lady go for a little off road adventure in my woods. All goes well. Except on the way to dinner that evening I notice I have an empty tank. Earlier that day it had been above 3/4 of a tank and since then i've put about 100 miles on this so called "empty" tank with no change in the gauge. some insight on what I need to do to get it working again would be great. If I don't have to drop the tank that would be great, but if so, well damn. Thanks in advanced.

Jay351

I can't remember the name of the part but you do have to drop the tank.
both our old f-150's where like that

lftd_86_yota

sending unit

Corbit

On your 4runner you can access your sending unit under your rear seats. Toyota's are notorious for the sending unit crapping out.

bigredj87

Thanks guys I hope Corbit is right, I'll look into that Tomorrow afternoon after class. Does anybody think that I could have knocked something loose while bouncing around off road?

leebee

fold up the rear passenger seat and peel back the plasitc floor cover. you will see a plate with 4 bolts, remove those bolts and plate. beneath, you will see the fuel pump assy, disconnect any connectors, open your gas cap (relieve system pressure), remove fuel lines, remove bolts holding fuel pump assy, remove fuel pump and inspect.

reinstall is reverse, oh, btw, disconnect the battery before you start. dont need sparks working that close to fuel vapours.

lee

dgomes

I have the same problems on my 87 4runner, I go about 90 km without the guage moving and then over the next 20 km or so the guage drops rapidly to empty. I have an 89 for parts, do you think that the sending unit for the 89 is the same as in the 87?

Thanks

punkotheclown

Haha, same exact thing happens in my 87! I just set the tripometer everytime i fill up...or wait til the low fuel light comes on. But i guess having a working fuel gauge would be nice...(particularly when off-roading for a while...)

bigredj87

My gauge has always been a little stupid. It gets about 1/4 of the way down (3/4 of a tank) and then it will start to drop a lot faster than it took to burn that first quarter tank. Will this fix that?

maxpower_hd

Mine works fine from full to half then doesn't work at all. I found that out after I rebuit the motor. I test drove it for a couple of days and then it died on my way to work for the 1st time with it. I was late so I had it towed by a friend back to my house. Later, I couldn't seem to find anything wrong so I just put some gas in it as a "let's get that out of my head" thing and it ran. Now I fill up at 1/2 a tank.

trythis

mine just started this, I have an sr5 cluster I installed, but I am not getting the sr5 sending unit becasue it is $60 more that the basic model. $60 for a light switch?...bah!

4Rocker

I just had a thread in the 84-85 section about this exact same issue. If it is the sending unit, you cannot access it through the rear seat panel (that only gives access to the pump/pickup). It is my understanding that the tank needs to be dropped to access the sending unit.

shiftless89

DING DING DING you are correct sir, under the seat is the fuel pump, you have to lower the tank or cut a hole in the floor!

stock87

Yep, sending unit. They tend to wear out where you spend a lot of time. When my mom had my truck for years, she always filled up at half a tank, and that's where the sending unit wore out and started behaving exactly like you describe.

Dealer is the only option as far as I know. Get ahold of the guys at Bob Bridge Toyota (http://www.1sttoyotaparts.com/) and they'll get you one at or below wholesale.

bigredj87

Ok, so it is defiantly the sending unit. Now i have a parts truck sitting at my house, and I'm sure the sending unit worked in it before it was parked. Now there seems to be some confusion on how to access the sending unit. Has anybody accessed the sending unit from the seat in an 87 4 runner, if i have to drop the tank, I'm not so worried about it because the gas light still works.

marinesniper

I'm faithfully watching this thread to see how the sending unit swap comes out....I'm having the exact same issue with my '88.

DudeBud

on both my 1st gens runners you have to drop the tank to get to the sending unit. you can get to the fuel pump by folding up the seats and unscrewing the plate, but not the sending unit. i had a sending unit go out in my 87 pick up and my 84 4runner, my 88 4runner i had to pull it and straighten the wire that attaches to the float, because the 4runner was hit so hard in the front that the fuel in the tank sloshed around and bent it.. same thing with my 84 but after i straighten it still did not work..my 87 pickup it just quit working for no reason

edit: if my memory serves a new sending unit was 90 bucks at the dealer

Elvota

My gas gauge is acting up lately as well....

Now, when I reach half a tank it says, "Hey buddy, this is a stickup... give me all your money!!!"

I used to laugh it off as a joke, but when I get to the pump the next time... the damn thing is always right.

surfmobile88

This is on my to do list also. The dealer here in Southern Oregon wants $140 dollars for the sending unit. I'd like to find it cheaper without getting one at a junk yard since I don't want to replace it twice.

MudHippy

Mine has done this a few times after off-roading. I have so far been able to fix it on the spot each occasion. What's my secret? Take a large blunt striking object (big ol' stick) and whack the bottom of the gas tank a time or two. Works like a charm.