Hit something on the road - Quite a bit of Damage

That tank is repairable. It looks better than mine did.

I 'modified' it slightly about a year ago:



And here's what the sending unit looked like (very bent):





Drop the tank to get a look at it, really not to hard of a job. From there you can pull the sending unit and determine what needs to be done to it. I bent it back so the pump was for sure at the bottom, and then it took a little work to get the gas gauge float to function properly. There is a plastic baffle that the sending unit sits in, and my float was hitting this. Tied a string to it, bent it, and checked to make sure it wasn't hitting the baffle before reassembling. I was also able to pop a quite a bit of the dent out of the tank while it was off.

Been problem free since then.

 

I found some guy selling an entire gas tank assembly on craigslist for $180, do you think its worth getting? I haven't had a chance to look at mine now and probably wont until this weekend.

 

Damn! the Tacoma is one tough truck. You hit a FUCKING lawnmower haha
Sorry about all the damage. GL with everything!

 

just make sure you look inside to be sure it isn't rusty in there.

I think the odds of that are low but better safe then sorry so bring tools and know how to pull the fuel pump to look inside.

as to the value, I will leave that to others if the price is fair but as a rule, whatever they ask on craigs list I offer a lot less.

so assuming others say this is a good price, my approach would be to offer $100 and hope to settle on $125 or $150 tops, I never pay full asking price and people selling never expect to get full asking prices.

all that said you may not even need a tank so I wouldn't run out and buy it just yet, get under there and take several more pictures from different angles so the mechanics here can give you a better opinion on what to do.

 

Easy fix.
Pull the tank shield and inspect the tank. IF excessive tank damage is noticed ( which it doesn't look like it from the pictures) replace or repair tank.
Replace tank shield.
The transfer case plug......just leave it and make a note to replace it when you do the next TC fluid change.
Everything else.....spray some paint and call it good.
I am so glad I work on my own vehicles.

 

Hey guys!
So i'm finally getting around to fixing this issue or at least attempting to straighten the sending unit and pull the dent out of the tank. I was curious if anyone knows the proper procedure for dropping the tank and pulling the sending unit out? Will I need a replacement gasket or anything? I'll take pictures as well in case anyone has this issue in the future!

Thanks for the help --

 

If I ran over my lawn mower, he'd cuss at me for months.


I've never heard the 'run it over no matter what' method of collision avoidance

 

I pulled the tank, straightened the sending unit and knocked the tank out far enough that the sending unit can fit in there again being straight. I swear the dent was maybe 4in up in the bottom of the tank. The top of the sending unit was sitting about 4in out of the tank. No wonder I lost almost a gallon of volume from the tank.

Does anyone know of any way to check the unit to make sure its working before i put it back in? Just in case It is just totally broken rather than just bent. then I can replace it now while the tank is off. Thing is a bitch to drop.

Also -- my gas tank does not like to be filled up at the station. I need to hold the nozzle up so air can breath out. Anyone know what hose to check and see if I just have a clogged breather hose? Ill look around but just figured id ask while its all apart and easy to access

 

^This. Your gas tank looks just fine. I would suspect that the wiring from your sending unit got broken. Also, same as others said, the rest of your truck looks fine too. If it were me, I'd make sure the t-case drain bolt is still torqued, clean it and see if it continues to drip. If it does, be sure that you don't have a crack in the case housing. You may just need to a new plug.

As for gas tanks... check out this thread. These guys ran bashed tanks waaay worse than yours for long periods of time.

 

for everyone telling me about keeping a distance:
I had a good distance to the guy infront of me. They were in Turbo Diesel and had a lot of height over me so i couldnt see the road ahead.. The guy swerved last minute and came inches from clipping it. He swerved so hard that he went two lanes over before he came back into control of the truck.
We were doing 80 on the freeway (I live in LA –– its common to drive that fast everywhere and not get tickets) and I don't have sway bars. So for sure, I had time/space to react and dodge it, but if I reacted, chances are I would have been upside down. Which is why I said I just attempted to drive over it. Better than having a totaled taco.


that guys tank doesn't look too much worse thatn mine. I just couldn't get a good image of mine to show how bad it actually is.
I bent the unit back, fixed the tank, and put it all back together but still no fuel reading

 

what kind of lawnmower was it?

 

I would like to know what Idiot told you to not steer around items in the travel lane.

So next time one of those Gay Bikers for Jesus dumps his bike you aim for the middle and hold on.

 

I think they teach it in either nascar or old tom cruise movies. About nascar.

 

its true, my cousin dodged a tree in the road, yes I said tree, it was about 5 ft tall with a big root ball that fell off the back of a landscaping truck.

he was on the interstate doing 70 mph when missed the "first" tree by going to the right into emergency lane then scrapped the guard rail and as soon as he got back on the road there was the second tree which went through his front grille and battery on the passenger side as he just didn't quite have time to fully swerve to the left to get out of the way of that one.

none of it was covered by his insurance because he left his lane of travel so anything resulting after that is not covered since it was said by leaving his lane he failed to maintain control of the vehicle.

stupid, yes, illogical, yes, but that's the way the insurance company will deny coverage. his insurance guy even told him he should have just run into the first tree and then everything would have been covered for repairs.

I think my cousin dropped about $2k in repairs doing all of the work including repainting it himself since it was a battery, front grill,both passenger side headlights, radiator, radiator core support, fiberglass front nose cone, lower valance, air dam, plus some other junk like horns and bent front end parts, so the hood and fender he fixed but everything else had to come new in a box.

 

Yes I know you are correct on the insurance aspect.

Then if I did not steer around rocks and trees in the road I would be filing a claim a few times a week

 

I've heard the don't swerve hit it logic when talking about deer or small animals but not just as a general rule of thumb lol.

 

Hello from the Valley.

In theory, the level sending unit is just another variable resistor, not unlike the throttle position sensor to the volume dial on the radio. Ive havent looked at one of these before but i am assuming there is a two wire plug for it, one with a sensor voltage (5V or less), and another for variable ground that is read by the DME or PCU (though some Asian makes supply the B+ voltage from the PCM and have a constant ground). So using a voltmeter you should be able to see some reading between 1V or less and the maximum voltage whatever it may be as you manually move the float. Only issue is, im not sure what your reference should be to what the correct voltages are.

EDIT: I just re-read your last post. I wish i still had access to AllData for the wiring diagram from this car, you could easily find the corresponding wires on the chassis harness to trace the issue, though testing the leads on the plug for the sending unit will be your best bet.

 

You swerve because you judged you can maintain control of your vehicle. He didn't swerve because he judged he couldn't maintain control without a sway bar. Search for "Hilux fails moose test" on Youtube to see the truck get on two wheels. That test was done at just 40 mph.

 

So..we need a group buy on aftermarket swaybars.

 

Not for a comprehensive claim it shouldn't name your rates go up at all