Fuel Quantity Issue

Hello everyone. I have a 2012 TRD Sport and today while coming home from work, the engine just shut off. Coasted to the side of the road, shut everything down and attempted a restart. Looked at all of the gauges and didn't note any issues; the fuel level was reading above E and the low-level light was not illuminated. Turns out, I was out of fuel but the gauge was not reading properly. Filled it up and the gauge now reads full. Is there a test I can do to check the gauge or is this possibly a sending unit or float issue? Any advice aside from not letting the fuel level get too low would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

When you say above the E what does that mean?

There is a lot of area that is above E, quarter of a tank, half a tank, ...

I always try and fill up before I hit a quarter tank. Prevents issues.

You probably have a sticking float resistor.

 

You wouldn’t be the first person I seen with this problem.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fuel-gauge-not-working-no-low-fuel-light.296225/

Not too long ago, some poor fellow on here did all kinds of “diagnostic test” to figure out why he had no fuel to the injectors.

Turns out. He was out of gas with the gauge showing it had gas.
Don’t recall him ever reporting back that he fixed it.

 

If you decide to replace the sending unit, you will need a big strap wrench to get the plastic ring off the tank.

$10 Performance Tool W54059 2-Piece Universal Rubber Strap Wrench Set, 3/8" to 6-1/2"

https://www.amazon.com/Performance-Tool-W54059-2-Piece-Wrench/dp/B003UDS83U
I got mine from Oriellys.
It's not a hard job, just takes time.

 

The fuel level at the time was between 1/4 and E, closer to the E. I am glad I thought of adding fuel before diving into it deeper. Thank you for the reply.

 

Thank you for the reply and the suggestion of the strap wrench. I take it the tank will need to be removed to perform repair? Is there any way of reading out the sending unit before attempting to replace to verify that is the issue?

 

They went hrough the fuel gauge circuit in this thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fuel-gauge-troubleshooting-info.552682/

When I replaced my pump, the tank was 3/4 full, so I lifted the bed instead of dropping the tank.

I can't think of a way to effectively test the sender without removing it.

Be careful with the filler neck, somehow I broke a piece out of the vent tube. The replacement wasn't expensive, I just had to lift the bed again.