gas tank sending unit

[da bears]

anybody else have the desire to pull gas tank and bend sending unit arm to get more realistic gas reading?

[mxsjw]

Originally Posted by da bears

anybody else have the desire to pull gas tank and bend sending unit arm to get more realistic gas reading?

If you do it, please write it up and take pictures along the way. I know alot of people round' here would certainly appreciate it.

[da bears]

well i did it! took 2 1/2 hours, when done i put 4 gallons back in it and miles to empty reads 47, much closer than before of 0 miles to empty took 20 gallons to fill, i will run tank down to 0 miles till and then fill up. i will post directions and photos once i get how low it reads and where fuel gauge is when full should be posted by friday night , and it was very easy to do!

[mxsjw]

Originally Posted by da bears

well i did it! took 2 1/2 hours, when done i put 4 gallons back in it and miles to empty reads 47, much closer than before of 0 miles to empty took 20 gallons to fill, i will run tank down to 0 miles till and then fill up. i will post directions and photos once i get how low it reads and where fuel gauge is when full should be posted by friday night , and it was very easy to do!

Nice work!
Yes, please keep us posted on how it works out for ya and update with directions for the others...

[guntech]

Originally Posted by TUNDRA786

im more interested in having a bigger tank...

Same here. These tanks are too small for the MPGs that we get. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the MPG. These are big powerful trucks and I didn't expect to get any better. I'm just a little tired of having to stop for gas all the time.

Keep us posted da bears. I am also interested in making things a little more accurate. Thanx for sharing

[da bears]

ok here goes, filled up with 1 mile to empty, used to take 20 gallons now a little better of 22.4 at same reading when i run this tank out i am going to try something differant to see if i can get more acurate still, here are pics and directions:
1st tools needed are 14 mm socket and small 4" extention, small common screw driver a straight surface ,and a 20" long piece of 2" steel , 1/8" thick for leverage
i did not need to remove gas because i ran it down to 1/2 gallon first, battery disconnected,pull two clamps at front of tank ,1 orange and 1 yellow by lifting colored covers and pinching 2 blue squares and pull, small amount of gas came out a rag will do, then loosen bolts to straps supporting tank about a half inch(use 14mm not 9/16) ,then the opposite side has cotter pin, pull it while supporting tank, i used my beer gut for support, then allow tank to come down to floor ,no need to remove filler line ,the big white cap is sending unit, first pull white elecrtical cap by pinching tab located on left rear wheel side,then if you look at round white cap you will see the top screws on but has little retainer clips to keep it from loosening, i took a small common screwdriver and lighly wedged it on first tab then used the flat piece of steel to grip cap and turn counter clockwise, rotate a little and reposition screwdriver on next tab (there are 3 tabs)once you get past second tab you can stop with the steel bar and just use your hands,now the cap will spring up about 3/4" then you can remove the biggest sending unit i have seen in my life, carefull not to turn it over or you will dump 1 1/2 quarts of gas from in side it,next i set it on a level(straight surface) and measuered 5/8" from bottom of float to to bottom of sending unit, i bent lower arm of float till it touched same hieght of sending unit and reinstalled, here is what i will try after next tank: the stop that keeps arm from falling farther probabley should be trimmed a little to allow more movement on arm as opposed to bending arm, put everything back in reverse order and once i ran it down to 1 mile left i filled it up and before took 20 gallons from here and NEVER said more than 300 miles till empty now took 22.4 gallons and reads 430 miles till empty, so it is better but still not where i feel it shuold be, i will repost after next adjustment.click on my gallery for pics

ps sorry about pics being out of order but follow the `steps' for proper order

[da bears]

Originally Posted by metrictundra

Wow boys, you guys must have a lot of time on your hands to be spending 2.5 hrs. on something that really means nothing. I guess I just have better things to do with my time than tare new things apart that will not help in the performance at all.

first off i do have better things to do with my time but since i have a broken toe i have been told to stay off it, what else should i have done but atempt to fix something that pisses me off ,and i did not tare it apart i did however TEAR it apart, somethings are just better left unsaid

[AlaskaCub]

Awesome da bears, that friggin fuel gauge is a major pain the azz for me too and it drives me nuts to stop and fill the SOB cuz its telling me that I am at empty (O miles to go) and I have 6 freakin gallons (supposedly, if it really has a 26 gallon tank) of gas left. Would be interested to see if Toyota will pull their head out of their azz and quit babysitting us and fix this inaccurate fuel level indication system they have so graciously fubarred. To all those that think its okay to fill up all the time at 300 miles even when you have 6 gallons of gas in the tank save it! And dont start with teh whole the fuel pumps gonna overheat thing either please, thats plain ridiculous. The fuel pump in this truck is no different in design than any other they have ever made.

[calgarytundra]

I have been wanting to do the same thing, the inaccuracy of the Tundra fuel gauge is very bothersome to me. I will most likely take a shot at it myself this summer. Thanks for your instructions and pictures.

[da bears]

ok it is much more acurate, reset tripometer when low fuel level came on at 26 miles till empty, got 44 miles then ran out of gas. i put 3 gallons in and drove it 4 miles to fill it up, pump shut off at 23 gallons and i squeezed in another 3/4, fuel gauge is way more acurate and linear 1/2 tank at 14 miles per gallons = 182 right on target.
the last adjustment made was kinda cheesy but it worked great

this time i took a rubber table leg bumper from lowes ($3) and stuck it to the bottom of the sending unit and further bent sending unit float arm to 1 1/4" below bottom of sending unit. the reason for this was as i bent arm down it raised miles till empty to 475 which is never going to happen the way i drive. now it starts off reading 325 till empty but the bottom reading is what i want to be most acurate. click on gallery for out of order pics (don't now how to rearrange so i labeled them in order. hope this gives some of you more piece of ming like it has me.

oh and by the way i think it could be done with out disconnecting 2 fuel lines because the second time i pulled it apart it did squirt a quart or so of gas out and dripped for a while, and both times it was hard to start, took about 6 attempts at 15 seconds each to build up pressure

[mslc10]

any updates???? im confused about the table leg bumper....please explain what it does.... and in the end are you saying the float should be 1.25 inches below the bottom of sending unit?

[da bears]

yes table leg bumper lifts sending unit, otherwise i was getting a reading of 450 miles till empty: which will never happen with the way i drive. table leg bumper and bend arm down below sending unit gives me 350 miles till empty at full and at 1 mile till empty i usually put in 24.5 gallons,much better than stock and a more useable 26.6 gallon tank without stress of driving 70 miles past 0 till empty, my personal opinion is that the sending unit arm is too short and gives inacurate reading, if were to pull it out again i would bend it even more than 1 1/4", maybe as much as 1 1/2" with same table leg shim

[mslc10]

wont the leg come off due to the gasoline or how is it attached? sorry for the questions.....the sending unit is on springs?

[da bears]

no it should not come off because it has a pretty good amount off spring to keep it against bottom of tank, it will come off if pulled it again after it has soaked in gas, i thought about using a small screw but got scared because of wires inside of sending unit