2004 Toyota Rav4 Repair Question
Fluctuating fuel gauge readings
Asked by slehman81Answer
When you have a full tank what happens?Does it ever read empty then pop up to 1/8 of a tank or higher?
When I fill up, the gauge will read full. I've never let it get too low.
It can bounce around a little the gauge i mean.But if it bounces around too much then i would be worried.
So its normal for it jump around, not drastically, but max like a 1/4 tank?
It shouldnt move a 1/4 of a tank fluction thats not normal.
Would the fuel sender be the culprit?
Most likely the fuel destroys them plus they wear out over time.But without testing it cant tell you for sure.But i have replaced more fuel sending units then anything for gas gauges issues.
This should be more of a gauge than a sending unit issue. The needle is supposed to stay where it is when ignition is turned off but in this case it seems to have moved towards the empty direction.
The gauge moving back to where it is and operating normally when ignition is turned on or while engine is running indicates so.
He said it slowly moves from a 1/4 to 1/2 while driving that sounds more like a sending unit then a gauge.But like i said before you would have to do some testing.The sending unit fails way more then any gauges i have seen fail.
For this gauge, the needle needs time to move up. If you top up the tank and turn the ignition switch on, it would take 10 seconds or more for it to reach the max position.