On my RAv I can fill up, it never reads full and I can go about 100 miles and its already reading half full tank. I always reset the trip odo when I fill up and know I can go approx 300 miles before I'm on empty. I remember reading somewhere this is known problem with the RAV. Has anyone performed a DIY fix for it? Care to share the details and cost involved. Thanks
Gas Gauge Problem
michaelp95
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On my RAv I can fill up, it never reads full and I can go about 100 miles and its already reading half full tank. I always reset the trip odo when I fill up and know I can go approx 300 miles before I'm on empty. I remember reading somewhere this is known problem with the RAV. Has anyone performed a DIY fix for it? Care to share the details and cost involved. Thanks
There is no fix for it really. You'll just have to live with it. It is annoying as it happens to a lot of RAV4.1s but not to mine. When the tank is full the gauge reads full. Then the gauge drops dramatically when you've hardly done any distance but stays around the middle mark for ages and then gradually starts to drop towards empty.
G
Guest
·Not true. You may need to replace your gas tank float..I've never done on my wife's Ravie but I've replaced one from my Grand Caravan.
That might/might not work as the fault is in the design of the tank and the fuel pick up. No one over the years i've come to know on RAV4 forums has been able to fix this problem. I've just learnt to live with it and have memorised my RAV's weird fuel consumption habits :wink:
Joined
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985 Posts
Mohit's correct, it is a common problem for all model years of Ravs, and people have tried to fix it with no success. There are really no words to explain what mine does, however I'll say it varies a lot. It doesn't really bother me at all because I have been driving it long enough that I can interpret the gauge fluctuations fairly accurately.
It has to do partly with the fact that the Rav's gas tank is shaped like an inverted U in order to fit over the driveshaft while not raising the height of the rear floor. There are two sending units, one on each side of the tank, and the gauge somewhat averages the readings of the two senders. There are also baffles in the tank to keep gas from sloshing around, which can also affect the readings of the sender floats.
It has to do partly with the fact that the Rav's gas tank is shaped like an inverted U in order to fit over the driveshaft while not raising the height of the rear floor. There are two sending units, one on each side of the tank, and the gauge somewhat averages the readings of the two senders. There are also baffles in the tank to keep gas from sloshing around, which can also affect the readings of the sender floats.
G
Guest
·Like I said I've never done this on a Rav4..But my friend at my work had a similar problem and the dealer replaced the float.... now she's happy. 
G
Guest
·Yeah, it's not a fault, it's a "feature"...
Just cherish that warm and fuzzy full tank feeling as you leave the gas pump...it won't last long...
But really, the mileage we get in the RAV isn't *too* bad, although the last trip to NJ only netted us 23mpg and change...
Bogatyr
Just cherish that warm and fuzzy full tank feeling as you leave the gas pump...it won't last long...
But really, the mileage we get in the RAV isn't *too* bad, although the last trip to NJ only netted us 23mpg and change...
Bogatyr
I've only filled mine up four times since I bought it but one of the first things I noticed was that the gauge moves off 'F' fairly quickly, within 30-60 km. After that it seems to move at varying speeds, sometimes I can literally watch the needle drop and at other times it doesn't seem to be moving at all.
This seems to average out because the reading seems accurate enough: if the needle is just below 1/2, it takes just over 1/2 a tank to fill up.
This seems to average out because the reading seems accurate enough: if the needle is just below 1/2, it takes just over 1/2 a tank to fill up.
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879 Posts
If you look at the funky shape of the gas tank it's no wonder the gauge is not linear, it's like the wing tanks on an airplane and the gauge is only reading from one wing. That is a different problem than the gauge not reading full when the tank is full. Mine shows about 1/8 of a tank short of full when it is full, when the low fuel light comes on I have no idea how far I can go but it's far, because I tried to run it out of gas once and I got tired of waiting after 65km. Even without 5th gear I get 25MPG so I don't have too much to complain about, coming off a vehicle that got almost half that it seems like a hybrid
G
Guest
·thats why most Japanese cars are 10000000000000 times more reliable than US cars.
G
Guest
·I don't think michael is talking about the non linear drop on the guage he's saying he can't get it to read full.
I had this problem when I changed my 3door instrument cluster (faulty) with one from a five door.
What I did was go fill up to the top with fuel. Pulled off the pointer (at home) and waited a minute for it to settle (it's damped) and then lightly pressed it back on a little bit and left it settle about 1mm above the full line (repeat until it's right) Then let settle again and when you are finally finished gently push it back on (don't press to hard or you can break it or if you press too far jam the mechanism)
I had this problem when I changed my 3door instrument cluster (faulty) with one from a five door.
What I did was go fill up to the top with fuel. Pulled off the pointer (at home) and waited a minute for it to settle (it's damped) and then lightly pressed it back on a little bit and left it settle about 1mm above the full line (repeat until it's right) Then let settle again and when you are finally finished gently push it back on (don't press to hard or you can break it or if you press too far jam the mechanism)
G
Guest
·I had the same problem with my 98 RAV until I found that I could add 3.5 more gallons of gas once the pump had clicked off. The guage doesn't move from full until around 60 miles. Only drawback is that it's a slow process to add that 3. 5 more gallons because the pump keeps clicking off. But it does extend my range between fill ups.
My guage does the same thing. At fill up - it only registers 3/4, and then the guage goes all the way down to far past E before the low gas light comes on. I live with the problem - and simply remember to go for a fill-up when the gauge hits E, and I still have a 1/4 tank at that time. The light seems fairly accurate - turning on at 1/8 tank. My wife or others in the car - are somewhat uncomfortable running around with the gas gauge below E. Sigh.
G
Guest
·I have the same issue of tank gauge not reading full, and can drive forever with the low fuel light on and the gauge needle below E.
I learn to live with it as well, but it would be nice if it functioned as intended. If I fixed it now, I would prob run out of gas, as I have been driving it this way since it was purchased used.
I learn to live with it as well, but it would be nice if it functioned as intended. If I fixed it now, I would prob run out of gas, as I have been driving it this way since it was purchased used.
G
Guest
·I filled to the top and pulled off the pointer and put it back on a very tiny bit more than the full mark and now it all works perfectly - I can tell how much fuel is in to about 1/2 a gallon and each marker represents 2.5gallons like it should (3 US?) and the light comes on at about 2gallons.
I wonder if there was something wrong with the calibration of the pointers? and while I've not looked at a wiring diagram I would suspect the light is triggered when the guage gets to a certain level and not some independant sensor in the tank???
I wonder if there was something wrong with the calibration of the pointers? and while I've not looked at a wiring diagram I would suspect the light is triggered when the guage gets to a certain level and not some independant sensor in the tank???
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