Anyone elses gas gauge horribly inaccurate?

Anyone else notice this when pumping etc? Basically my reserve light went on, the gas gauge was like literally on E. I went to fill up and only got around 18-19 gallons pumped. What the hell? This is a 21 or 22 gallon tank, the gauge is off. Also when pumping, I see the gauge go past Full, but then the gas pump doesn't stop for at least another two gallons past Full so it just how off the gas gauge is. Is this only isolated to my truck or does anyone else experience this?

Thanks

 

Lots of threads on this , there is approx 3-4 gallons in reserve with the light on and needle on E

Truck fills to higher than FULL and stays above FULL for about 30-40 miles before moving

 

the gas tank holds a little over 21 gallons. when the light goes off there is at least 2 gallons remaining. mine behaves almost in the same way...the usual top off to round to the nearest dollar puts it past F. Ive seen this in other cars too. just the way it is i guess

 

That sounds pretty common with the Tacoma actually. I have an 06 DCSB and mine does the same. I think Toyota does that to be on the safe side. Better to warn you early than late and let you get stranded. Mine hangs at full for a long time and then starts dropping rather quick after that. Once you are used to the fuel consumption patterns of your truck it won't bother you anymore. I always reset trip A for a fill up and when I look at the gas gauge I also glance at trip A on the odo and know how many miles I've gone on that tank and approx how many more I can go. Plus the early empty warning is good if anyone else drives your truck because they probably won't run out of gas and have to call you to come help them.

If the accuracy really bothers you that much you can invest in a scangauge or an ultragauge and they'll show you some pretty accurate readings of fuel level as well as DTE (distance to empty) avg mpg, instant mpg etc.

 

Its just annoying you know? Over the weekend I was in a rush to get somewhere and was on E. I got all paranoid that I'm about to run out of gas and had to stop to quickly fill up $5. Later went I went to full fill I was like great I didn't need to even do that knowing how off the gauge was. Better be safe than sorry yeah but when I don't know what to expect I drive like a total grandma coasting as much as possible preserving the fuel lol

 

i like knowing that once the light comes on, i've got ~35 miles to go.

what do you want it to come on, then... put, put, put, stall?

 

also it stays on full for a bit. why you may ask. because their is gas in the filler neck that goes higher than the tank. it uses that fuel and than you see it move. also another reason it may go over the full line, not sure about that.

 

I agree, only because of what happened to me today. I normally fill up once the light goes on and put in about 16-17 gallons. This time I drove it a while after the light went on and pretty much got the needle directly even with the "E". Went to start to truck to go fill up and go to the beach (on level ground) and had my first hard start!! Turned it over once, and it didn't start...turned it over again, and held it, and it finally started. Considering the fact that I have 6,000 miles on my 2012 I have to attribute this to the fact that I was low on fuel. The kicker is, when I fueled up, it only took 17.9 gallons.....WTF? That means I still had PLENTY of gas!!

I agree, the fuel gauge is def off, or my truck is already having problems!

 

i was kinda like that first time i hit E and hat to go 3 miles to get gas. i have gone like 15 on the light. and sill only got like 18 gallons.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123883

 

Coasting in neutral won't save you fuel in these trucks

 

yea just coast no throttle. neutral or in gear is pretty much the same.

in neutral it raises the rpm so the motor doesnt stall right?

 

i've gone about 70 miles on the highway after my gas light has come on, filled up less than 19 gallons

 

I have yet to find a vehicle that has an accurate fuel gauge. The last half always goes down faster than the first half is a good example.

 

True, the RPM's rise when coasting in neutral. But, neutral vs in-gear coasting yield far from the same results. If you coast in gear you are using no fuel at all. Now before everyones heads explode and claims I don't know jack. Read this short article. This is why people with Scan Gauges notice that it reads 9999 on the MPG display. Because you are getting infinite mileage.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/alternative-fuel/news/coasting-in-neutral-fuel-economy

 

Yep ^^

the injectors shut down , no ?

 

Yes sir

 

The gas gauge is not linear, what I mean is that when a car consumes gas the gauge is not going to go down equally with the gas consumed. It exaggerates when it's going on empty so that you have more concern. That is why it stays around full for a large amount of time and then goes down fast as you said.

 

I had trouble starting my truck (3 second delay or so) once a month for the first 12K miles. It sounds like this is a common 2nd gen issue and not a problem with your truck.

 

There are a couple of problem starting TSB's for 2nd gens. One is cold weather related, the other is not. Might be worth taking it in and having it checked out.