WHORERUNNER

I have a 99 4rnr w/ V6 auto 4x4, I'm starting to be confused either my gas mileage sucks or my fuel gauge is off. 90% of my driving is done highway at 75mph I could only get about 240ish per tank, low fuel light comes on at 250ish. and when i fill up it fills up with 13 gallons. I know i should have at least 5 more gallons. Does anyone else have this problem? I used to see guys get around my same mileage, now it seems that some guys are getting 300+miles(read this on a few threads down) I just installed a new oem fuel filter and amsoil air filter , I hope this helps.

jwbehm

Your getting 18.5 mpg according to what you just said (240 miles /13 gallons) which is really pretty decent gas mileage for a 3rd gen Runner. I average 16.5 mpg

Yoda

There is a TSB (not a recall) that covers this problem.

EL010-00 August 2000

Repace the circuit card (resets odo to zero)
Replace the fuel pickup tube
Replace the fuel sender

99 & 2000 models

OutdoorLiving

What kinda tires do you have?
Is your suspension/body lifted?
Do you have a roof rack?

and

Checked our air filter, plugs, etc lately?

(I usually average about 18.9mpg with my current setup. I've baby'd it to 20mpg, but not often.)

gpcollen1

65 on the highway will get you better mileage - those getting over 300 miles are either lucky or cannot read because it is tough - i recently got 297 but had to drive around with the light on for a bit (I made sure I got it back to the cheapest station - it took 16.5 gallons).

profuse007

240-250 is above average for only 13gal/pump. i alway drive w/ the light on for another ~30miles. doesnt bother me cause i know the tank holds ~18gal.

those ppl w/ 300gal per pump is realyl lucky on highway, cause they prolly dont run into traffic. here in houston, id consider driving on highway 90% of the time but when i think i about it, its only about 50% of the time cause traffic here is a biatch. so i average about 220-240miles per 12-13gal/pump.

Bigvick

I thought my gas guage was wrong until I went 35 miles after the gas light had came on just to see ( had a small can of gas with me). The other day I had went 10-15 miles with the light on, stopped and filled up, took 13.77 gallons then my gas light came back on at 260 miles= 18.88 mpg. It seems like your drinking the gas but in reality your not. The way I figured is when the light first comes on there should be around 5-6 gallons left.

2000t4r

When my gas light comes on I reset one of my trip meters and drive for another 60-80 miles before I hit the gas station. I can get about 14.8-15.8 gallons at that time. I have only once gotten over 16 gallons in my tank. I always get over 300 miles on a tank of gas with an average mileage per gallon on 20-21.

I do a ton of freeway driving

Beartracker

Driving 75 and getting 18.5 GPM is really good . Try driving 65 and you will probably get around 21-22 if you keep your foot out of it and skip fast take offs.
You need to figure your mileage by the gallons used to go a certain distance and not guessing at how many gallons you have used from the tank. That just does not give you a true measurement of your mileage per gallon.

rimpainter.com

This is what I found on mine:
Fuel Sending Unit Problem

WHORERUNNER

18.5mpg on 13gallons is good, BUT my fuel light will come on 250, where is my other 5 gallons?? my 97 stock 4rnr 4x4 V6 auto would get around 280miles when the light would come on. Does anyone know how many gallons are left when the low fuel comes on?
I have stock tires,stock suspension,stock roof rack.
I installed an amsoil air filter last week, and today I cleaned the mass airflow,cleaned throttle body. I should be able to get a 1-2mpg's. Oh yeah I even cleaned out the blower fan, it was damn dusty.

TxDox21

Those people that say they get 300 miles per tank, how much is highwy driving? I just filled up tonight with 16.2 gallons and I got 305 miles on the tank of gas. About 50 of the miles was city driving and the rest highway. 200 of the highway I had a fairly heavy load and was driving into a strong head wind. All things considered, I am fairly happy with my 18.8 mpg. I plan on cleaning my throttle body in the next few days. Hopefully I will see an improvement.

Bigvick

It's an 18 gallon tank. From the guage be dead center of the empty mark it took 13.77 to fill up on mine. My gas light actually comes on when the needle is just above the empty mark.