Tacoma limited gas tank

What did the gauge show when the computer told you it was 10 miles to empty?

 

Yes, the warning lite came on when it hit 17 miles left, or less than a quarter tank on the line. it was at 10 mpg when I got to the gas station and the Ted line was nearly gone. At that fill up, it took 14 gallons of gas. So, with an 18.2 gallon tank, that would mean there was at least 4 gallons still in the tank before the fill.

 

I didn't know what you meant. if you had said "what does the line indicator on the gauge show" , I would have known what you were saying. women are from Venus, men are from Mars

 

almost non existent way less than a quarter tank. I don't like driving till it's that low

 

LMAO

 

It's a new truck. The DTE calculations are based on the mpg's your truck got previously. It thinks you're driving in conditions where mpg's will be very low. As you drive it in the same road conditions it will become more accurate. But never 100% accurate.

I NEVER pay any attention to those things anyway. They are useless since they make calculations based on what is behind you while driving. If I've been getting 25 mpg for the last 200 miles, it is going to calculate DTE at 25 mpg for the road ahead of me and might tell me I have 100 miles till I'm empty. But the road conditions ahead of me may be very different and I may only be getting 15 mpg and run out of gas in 60 miles instead of 100.

It isn't wise to ever let the tank get to the point where you have less than 2-3 gallons in the tank. Lots of bad things can happen leaving you stranded. Plus, when you get down to the last 2-3 gallons and start up, or down, a steep incline all of the fuel goes to one end of the tank and the fuel pump may not be able to pick up the gas.

 

Horizontal bar graph below the "78 mi" it shows 5/16 of a tank which means about 5.6 gallons. That should be good for about 100 miles depending on how heavy your foot is. To get your actual mileage, fill the tank and clear a trip meter. Then next time you fill the tank, divide the miles on the trip meter by the number of gallons you added. I usually go for multiple fill-ups before calculating the mileage. I also occasionally check my fuel gauge by filling up when it is exactly at quarter tank. For an 18-gallon tank it should take 13.5 gallons. It will vary a bit due to differences in fuel nozzles at the gas station.
I am rather disappointed at the fuel tank size reduction. I'm used to going 300 miles between fill-ups (at quarter tank).

 

That’s crazy. It should NOT be doing that.

 

My 4Runner has 4 gallons left when the fuel light comes on, and 5 gallons when the DTE number says get gas. My 2nd gen taco had about 3 gallons left when the light came on.

I think the manufacturers have little faith in owners watching the fuel gauge, so they make sure you have plenty of gas to get to a station after the light comes on. We used to have a van that, wait for it, had 10 gal left when the light came on (in a 27 gallon tank).

What I would do is forget the DTE number, since they're useless. And if having 4 gallons minimum in the tank is too much for you (it's really not), then I would push the envelope to a point I felt comfortable (as in, calculate how many gallons are left when you fill up). Then make a mental note of what that looks like on the gas gauge (fuel bar thingy), and fill up before you get to that point moving forward.

What did you do in your last car? This isn't your first car, and this isn't a new problem for people to figure out, so I'm curious where the breakdown is happening.

 

When the light comes on in my 2021, I head to the gas station. I put 18 - 19 gallons in the 21 gallon tank. The light on the 2024 should be a little more aggressive with the puny 18 gallon tank.

 

We would hope so, but the MPG isn't that much better, so you'd still need 3-4 gallons to get similar range.

My hybrid has 2.5 gal remaining at the warning, but that's better than 4 gal in the 4Runner, lol.

 

Two things that may or may not be pertinent here:

1.We got a new Rav4 hybrid last year, and it likes to click off the pump handle before the tank is actually full. Annoying, because I know goosing the pump to get more in can damage the emissions system. If I don't goose it I always end up at about 7/8 tank.

2. When you get a new vehicle with a lot of tech, you tend to spend a lot if time sitting in it figuring out the buttons with everything running. During that time mileage goes to 0, just like sitting in gridlock. If the auto engine stop has been turned off, this gives the mileage computer fits until it has a few hundred/thousand miles on it to average against.

TLDR: fill it up at 1/4 tank on the line, get 1000 miles on it without resetting the trip computer, and report back.

 

my thought exactly. dealer says nothing wrong, normal. service said don't put gas in till light comes on which I will not do

 

shows full (the indicator telling full, half, quarter. show full when I fill it

 

Ok, so you had 4 gallons of fuel left at that fillup, and computer says you're getting 10 mpg. So, the computer thinks you have 40 miles to go until empty, and the light comes on at 17 miles. It's basically giving you a 23 mile buffer until it thinks you're bone dry. I see no issue with that. Maybe focus on improving mpg's.

 

What ever came of this? I’d be interested to know just because I could see this going either way.
Did you ever run it till the low fuel light came on? How much does it take then? I understand you don’t like doing that, but feel like you should try it at least once. For science!

 

Just got a 2024 Sport and wondered about this exact same thing as on my first fill-up, the truck only took about 13 gallons but the gauges said it was empty with 0 range left. I was thinking that was a small sized tank for a truck, then looked up the spec's and saw 18+ gallon tank.

So apparently it is a break-in thing. Never noticed it on other cars I have purchased new, but all in all, it's not that big of a deal now that I know others reacted the same way I did

 

Here is my story between a 2017 TACO and 2023 TACO, I recently bought. Both were bought off lease with 20k miles on them when I purchased. Both are the 3.5L v^ engine. the 2017 would show upon fillup 372 DTE and I would get regularly, in winter and summer about 17-19 MPG. I would always get about 18gallons to fill up if I let it get really low. On the HWy , i would get almost 20-21 on long trips.
The 2023, it showed, at fillup when I left the dealership, 269 DTE. I figured ok, maybe it needs to learn my driving. I am getting 14.5-15 mpg, same driving style and roads. I let it get down to 25 before empty this morning, and it took 16.5 to fill it up. This has a 21.1gallon tank in it, like my 17. I reached out to the dealership and they are having me bring it in Monday as they agree, something is off and want to inspect it. I wonder if there is an issue with the computer or its calculations, or something else? Love the truck,but when going on long trips, I do not want to assume i have enough and really dont. WIll update if find anything at dealer

 

What does this part mean?