Ok, this is something I have been wondering for awhile now. I have a bad habit of letting my gas tank get all the way to E before I can fill it up. When the light comes on and it is at E do you have 1 mile left or 50?

On my old cars they were all different. Old van would go 50 miles when it said it was empty but my corolla would only go a few (I know on both of these because I did run them dry once and I don?t really want to repeat it?)

So on a 2000 limited 4runner When does E mean Empty?

 

Dont know how far u can go ,but keeping fuel on empty can b hard on fuel pumps...

 

In my 02 Sport i have about 20 miles when the light come on and the is pushing it

 

Good question....I've never ran my truck dry so the following is simply a best guess from me.

For me, the light activates when the gauge shows about an 1/8 of a tank. Once I hit the "E" on the needle, I have approximately 2.5 gallons of fuel left (based on what the tank holds on a fill-up). So assuming 15 mpg, I'm looking around 37-38 miles before having to push.

However, I think the Toyota gauges are notorious for being wholly inaccurate and simply a rough estimate of the remaining fuel. I know mine won't move for 50 km (30 miles) and then it will drop a quarter tank and sit there for a while.

I'm interested in hearing other's experiences.

James

 

When it bucks slightly and just putters to a stop. Usually on a dark, deserted road in the middle of nowhere with a cell phone that is dead or no service.

 

Me too, that is why i started this. Although i don't like going till empty it does happen to everyone wether you like it or not. And i will be going on a road trip in a few weeks so this is some good info to know.

Keep em coming!

 

ROTFLOL, that is so true! I actually had that happen with the above van.

 

The gauge in my 04 Taco is the EXACT same, it'll be above the full mark for 60 miles and then it drops instantly to 3/4 tank and stays there for a bit, then seems to go normal, although the top half of my gauge seems to dissapear MUCH slower than my bottom half...It can take 200 miles to get to half a tank, and then another 110 to get to Empty and fuel light on.

 

I have had 5 trucks over 20 years(86 4runner, 84 X-tra cab, 97 Taco, '05 Taco, '81 Trekker) and an '05 Camry and they all have sufferred from what the quote above describes....I fill up when they reach a quarter tank just to be safe. Just filled up the '05 @ 1/4 tank a little while ago, took 13.3 gallons, but the week before when I filled up at 1/4 it took 14.5...go figure I love toyota quality but this is one thing they screwed up by the numbers

 

Even when I push it and I think i'm getting close to empty I usually only squeeze in 15.5 and the most ever on one occasion was 16.1 gallons. My light usually comes on and I go another 30-40 more miles before I fill up.

 

Mine does the same thing! its annoying! Never Had that problem on my 92' Prelude or Z28.

 

w/ a ~18.XX gallon tank, when the idiot light comes on i fill up ~16g, leaving ~2g.
i have gone 50miles with it on and then put in 18.2g

 

Geez! My light comes on at 13 gallons, so I've still got over 5 left! Even yesterday, it was WAY below the E line, and it only took 15.8 when I filled it. Means I still had 3 gallons left.

I thought all 4Runners were this way...

 

On my 95 3.0 I can get about 25miles when the light comes on before I start sweating lol

 

There's an easy way to find out. Look up the capacity of your gas tank (owner's manual is a great place for this). then when your warning light comes on, go fill up....and calculate the difference.

for example, the gauge is a bit off on my subaru. but I know it has a 15.9 Gallon tank, and if I fill up with the gauge pointed right in the middle of the 'E', I usually put about 10.7 gallons in it. meaning there's still about 5 gallons left. and at 20-25 mpg, that's 100-125 miles.

 

There was a big problem with the 2000 4Runners that Toyota negected for a long time. They issued TSB after TSB later and most of these fixes did not work. I had one of the first 2000's off the boat ( I know because I ordered it in April of 1999 and got it in September), and it gave me fits!

I would fill it up and within 12 miles it would read 3/4 tank. It drove me crazy....It is supposed to be an 18.5 gallon tank, yet I have run out twice and it only took 15.9 gallons. I finally had the 3rd board replacement twice and it still did not fix it. I gave up....after my warranty was up I found out that Toyota came out with a TSB after I had given up. The fuel filler tube (or shut off tube) is too long and does not allow the vehicle to be filled up to capacity. They recommended replacing this with a smaller tube, replacing the 3rd board (in the dash), and replacing the sending unit.

By the way if I haven't talked about the Toyota TSB before, understand that is SUCKS! If you don't see it before your warranty is up, you do not get it fixed....even though this is a design flaw. The fix is like $400! They refuse to fix mine because I am out of warranty. This should have been a recall! I ran out of gas in my 4runner in 12 degree weather with my wife in the car, who was pregnant with triplets at the time. Thank God my Dad was behind me.... The gauge said I had 1/4 tank left. Another time, I pulled into a gas station to get a coke during a long road trip, and it ran out of gas in the parking lot. The gauge read 1/2 tank...no kidding...my brother was driving....he turned the key off, turned it back on and it said empty! It can be very random.....

You can say what you want about Nissan, but every problem I have had with Nissan I have been informed and it has been repaired with no isssues as to warranty. Does Toyota not understand a RECALL!!!!

 

So to answer your question Ace....E means NOTHING!

 

You should have a 18 gallon tank like i do. When i fill it up right when the light comes on i put about 15 gallons in. That makes me belive that i have 3 gallons left and at an average of 17mpg i don't try and go more than 40 miles more.

Thats how I figure things.

 

I can go a good 60-70 miles in my 98 sr5 before I get scared and fill up.

 

Your getting 310 mi. on one tank? My truck also get about 80 mi to the first 1/4 of my guage and then it just starts dropping... I drive about 70%-30% city-highway and I've only been getting roughly 280 till my light comes on. Does that seam right? Would the deckplate help me?