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Fuel and gas tank question?

5K views 47 replies 18 participants last post by  Mickey 
#1 ·
So I just realized that our tundras have a 26 gallon tank but when I am on E it only takes me 20 gallons to fill up which is usualy perfect because I use the Winn Dixi fuel perks and paid 75 cents a gallon for my last fill up but that is beside the point.

So I guess my question is, has anyone had the gutts to see how far they can really go on E? because if I did the math correctly, I should have another 90 miles on empty and thats just crazy!

Thanks guys!
 
#3 ·
No, I don't have the guts to try it myself. But there was a guy on another forum who did try this and this is what he found out.


After the empty gas light comes on, the truck can go (Tested by 2008 Crewmax, 5.7) 73.7 mi (at 13.4 mpg). According to his calculation, the reserve is 5.5 gal (Gas tank itself: 26.4 gal).

When you have roughly a half gallon left in the tank, the truck chimes. 8 mi after
the chime the truck dies.




Some owners of newer model trucks claimed that the chime never comes on like this 2008 model.
 
#4 ·
I have gone all the way n its about 26-26.4 gal with reserve but I haven't heard the chime. I ran out of gas n had to thro a little in to get gas n when I filled up it was 25.6gal.

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#7 ·
:seeya:

I HATE that my gas will not mix with the old gas when I put it in!!! :p

Keeps your F/P submerged, keeps you away from the bottom of the tank, keeps you off the side of the road.

I haul 6 gallons (42 lbs) of my fat a** around, but that's just because I like to eat. Without it though, I would not be as comfortable in my chair. :eek:
 
#10 ·
while probably correct, there are "others" among us that were not dealt a full deck. You know, not the bright bulb on the strand? Toyota has to engineer with ALL IQ levels in mind. :lol5:
 
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#12 ·
Ya I think that's about right, I don't no 1 person that has never done anything stupid or made a mistake. The question in the first place was how many gal does our tank actually hold, not tell us wat u think is stupid or not. U can use it instead of carrying extra weight if u want but weight doesn't matter when it comes to gas n if it did nobody would fill up, we would put $10 at a time. Guarantee everybody has ran out of gas atleast once in their life, its not stupidity or neglect, sometimes s**t happens. I have a jaguar vanden plas n it has a cool feature, when u r really low on gas it will stop like ur out of gas then go for a cpl blocks the stop ect..... It will do that for about 2-3 miles so the driver gets the hint big time.

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#14 ·
Here is a suggestion, Why dont we all just fill up a 5 gallon can of gas and leave it in the back of our trucks and run it until it runs out, fill it up and you know you have 5 gallons to find a gas station lol :lol5::p
 
#15 ·
Haha. While at it, we could make sure that the can doesn't slide around in the bed or get in the way. Let's tie the can underneath the truck near the gas tank. While at it, let's connect them together. Hey, why not integrate it as one tank since some people will forget to flip the auxiliary tank switch (which I did once when I was younger). :D :lol5:
 
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#21 ·
I don't think I can buy that, why is this the only vehicle made that requires 6 gallons of gas to keep the fuel pump cool? I have regularily run other vehicles down to 1-2 gallons of gas and never had, or even heard of, a fuel pump failure. What it really amounts to is a lousy fuel gauge design that doesn't give a accurate reading of the amount of fuel in the tank. I am amazed that Toyota hasn't fixed this in 7 years.
 
#22 ·
So is this really a true reserve tank? separate from the main fuel tank?

My thinking is it is all the same tank.. the sensor and light just indicate around the 5-6 gallon mark, making it look like you will run out sooner than it actually will. Like someone else said - trying to keep us from our own stupidity.

IF that is the case, this whole "I have 6 gallons of fuel that will never mix with new and will always be old junk in there" blah blah blah.. is pointless - because its all the same tank anyway.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Yes, 26.4 gallon fuel tank and empty light comes on 1/2 way between E and 1/4 tank or a tad less and always put in about 20 gallons so safely have 6 gallons left. Simple match, if you get 15 mpg x 6.4 = about 80-90 miles left before you walk. I have been known to if the gas is cheap enough with 1/4 tank of gas be able to pump in 20 gallons but that is feathering the gas nozzle until the fuel is almost all the way up the gas line tube where you can almost see the gas in the tube of the vehicle which I heard is not good to do.
 
#34 ·
I have too as well for years at least rounded up to the nearest whole dollar if not 2 bucks more in gas if known the price will be jumping the next day. ONLY a few times I have filled it to the MAX but heard that is just as bad as always letting the empty fuel light come on as well causing damage if done all the time. Well, I have done both for years with NO problems so guessing it is a fluke if the sensors or whatever go bad if you ask me. I wonder if the dealership if vehicle under 3/36K warranty will honor the warranty if whatever sensor goes wrong?
 
#39 ·
SO.. guy I work with just bought a Tundra and asked me "is your gas gauge messed up like mine is?" So I explained what we've been discussing here in this thread and he did not seem very happy about it. He has probably 5k miles on it and is talking about trading it for this reason alone (not a big deal to me but.. to each his own).

Do you guys think there is a way to adjust the gas gauge calibration with TechStream or something? Maybe the dealer can do it?
 
#43 ·
^ I am somewhere in the middle. It doesn't bother me enough to trade it or hate my truck for that reason.. but at the same time it is an inaccurate tool - and we engineers hate that.

Hopefully the dealership can recalibrate the gauge.. I'd hate to see someone disappointed with their Tundra over something minor like that.
 
#44 · (Edited)
When towing @ 9mpg, i am very glad for the extra 5 gal! with the hills I have around here, I have gotten down to 4 mpg while climbing. rather have a fuel gauge warn me early than running out in the middle fo nowhere. I honestly beleive it is designed into the gauge as my wife's avalon does it, my brother's last taco and current Rav4 do it. However the mother in law's last Malibu, when it hit empty, you had MAYBE 3 miles to find a gas station. ( had to bring her gas once and my Brother in law when he borrowed it and ran out)


as for accuracy, Mine pretty much consistantly has the feed me light come on at about 5.5-6 gal remaining in tank, usually always a 20 gal fillup.
 
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#47 ·
I've never tried it, but supposedly the truck's fuel system is setup to leave a 6 gallon reserve when the gauge hits empty. The reasoning is the fuel level keeps the fuel pump from overheating by sucking in air and burning up the pump. You can drive till the truck shuts off from lack of fuel but its never good on the fuel system to do so. Its a lot easier to just keep the fuel tank filled up every chance you get. The closer to empty you get the more expensive its going to be to fill up. Yeah you dump in a few bucks here and there it don't seem so bad but when gas it climbing back to $4 a gallon once again do the math and at $80 and possibly more that's a lot of $$$ shock all at once.

I try to keep at least a half a tank in my truck all winter at least, in summer I let it get lower, but I never run down past 1/4 of a tank in any of my vehicles.

My old truck that had dual tanks I would run the first tank to about 1/8 of a tank then switch over and start thinking about stopping for gas. Personally I'd rather have the tanks close to full rather than run out of gas.
 
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