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38 Gal tank experiences....

Discussion in '2.5 Gen Tundras (2014-2021)' started by KeithM, Mar 19, 2018.

  1. Feb 11, 2019 at 9:06 PM
    #121
    jc153

    jc153 Speed-ish Glamper

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    I honestly don’t think running your tank down to a gallon or so is bad for the fuel pump. I’ve done this in all my vehicles and have only replaced 1 fuel pump. It was in a 1991 Chevy Silverado at about 150k.
    I’m on my second Tundra without issue. The sending unit is what determines when your fuel light comes on. The tank design allows for use of all the gas in the tank so I think the design is fine.
    I just don’t think the fuel pump needs to be submerged in gas to keep cool enough not to fail. I swapped out my 26 gallon tank for a 38 gallon tank and the fuel pump holds quite a bit of gas. Enough to keep it cool without being submerged in my opinion.
    Anyway, just my opinion based on my experience.
     
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  2. Feb 12, 2019 at 3:11 AM
    #122
    Haggis777

    Haggis777 I.L.J.C.M.L.

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  3. Feb 12, 2019 at 3:15 AM
    #123
    Haggis777

    Haggis777 I.L.J.C.M.L.

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    What was the task like and how much did it run you in changing from a 26 to 38 gallon tank?
    I run my 26 gallon down past E and can only put in ~17 gallons...VERY frustrating...
    thought about the after-market 46 gallon tank but it is close to $1,000! Thanks, jc153.
     
  4. Feb 12, 2019 at 4:30 AM
    #124
    nodak67

    nodak67 New Member

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    that sounds like a sensor error. you should be putting in around 10-12gal at the 1/2 mark on the guage. on the 38gal tank in the platinum, the wife usually fills at the 1/2 mark (cause ND winters and the potential to get stuck for hours) and it consistently fills ~16-18 gals each time.
     
  5. Feb 12, 2019 at 6:24 AM
    #125
    jc153

    jc153 Speed-ish Glamper

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    The tank swap was pretty straight forward. The crossmember was a pain. Trying to fit it in an assembled truck took some finesse but other than that just disconnecting and reconnecting parts. I sourced all my parts from a local dealer and all in it was about $1500 or $1600. Here’s a thread with a bunch of good info.
    https://www.tundras.com/threads/07-14-38-gallon-tank-swap-install-thread.27144/
    It’s so much nicer having the larger tank. My range is about 500 miles now on road trips depending on mpg.
     
    Y0TA PR0 likes this.
  6. Jun 20, 2019 at 8:10 AM
    #126
    supermotobobby

    supermotobobby New Member

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    Don't forget to fill your wing tanks.
     
  7. Jun 20, 2019 at 9:10 AM
    #127
    Netmonkey

    Netmonkey Don't be a Dumbass

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  8. Jun 20, 2019 at 9:13 AM
    #128
    ginocara74

    ginocara74 New Member

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    On a trip to DELAWARE from NC, I once drove 400 miles before refueling (I had 2-5 gallon tank in the bed of the truck) having a 26 gallon tank. I pumped on that particular day 26 gallon of fuel. I personally think that the tank upgrade isn't worthed also because the geometry of the tank and the usable amount of gas vs the advertised actual size.
    When I purchased the truck I preferred to have on my SR5 the bench seats vs the larger tank and I don't regret it.
     
  9. Jun 20, 2019 at 10:37 AM
    #129
    TRDProLife

    TRDProLife LETS GO BLUES

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    Wrong again. Can we stop this already?
     
  10. Jun 20, 2019 at 10:44 AM
    #130
    831Tun

    831Tun heartless Bastrd

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    Believe what you wanna believe.
     
  11. Jun 20, 2019 at 10:45 AM
    #131
    TRDProLife

    TRDProLife LETS GO BLUES

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  12. Jun 20, 2019 at 10:45 AM
    #132
    1fujifilm

    1fujifilm New Member

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    Like Kramer and "that guy" from Seinfeld.

    On another note, I rented a 18 Ford Focus and I drove it to "low fuel light" then to "zero miles" and the thing ran out of fuel as I coasted into the gas station 2 miles later. That thing was accurate as heck.

    Bear
     
  13. Jun 20, 2019 at 10:45 AM
    #133
    TRDProLife

    TRDProLife LETS GO BLUES

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    I believe in facts not wonders and guesses. The fuel pump is cooled by the fuel running through it.
     
    tachedoutoffroad likes this.
  14. Jun 20, 2019 at 10:50 AM
    #134
    TRDProLife

    TRDProLife LETS GO BLUES

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    Here's a good post.

    So this has been driving me nuts for a while now.

    It’s not the fuel pump being submerged that cools. The fuel going through the pump is performing the cooling.

    This here is the Tundra fuel pump that sits vertical in the tank, like most vehicles. [​IMG]
    Another view
    [​IMG]

    To fully submerge (and keep submerged) would take quite a bit of fuel. Here is the 26 gallon tank.

    [​IMG]

    Here is a fuel pump housing with the fuel tank level sending unit.

    [​IMG]

    I’m not sure why anyone wants to run the fuel down low every time, or lets say often. This is a really poor habit to be in, and I have seen plenty of times in traffic jams/accidents people running out of fuel because we sat there for 2-4 hours. The longest time I sat in traffic was on I-70E coming back from Moab. There was a accident involving a boat, camper and several vehicles. It was a mess. Due to the Sunday traffic volume, I sat in bumper to bumper traffic inching forward for almost 5 hours with my Jeep in tow. This sucked.

    You all should find it very nice that the engineers at Toyota plan ahead and try and help certain individuals that like to push the limit.

    GM doesn’t really have a “reserve”, so when the Navigation kicks on showing me where the closest gas station is, better get on it. My closest scare for running out of fuel was last year driving from North Dakota into South Dakota. I knew we should have filled up in Dickinson, ND. My wife even strongly suggested it, but hell, I had over a half tank left, what the hell does she know anyway? Winds picked up and dropped me down to just under 10 mpg. Some of our normal routes with fuel stations was on a detour and we were starting to sweat. By the time we found fuel, I put in 34.7 gallons in a 36 gallon system. That’s way to close for me while towing with my family.

    For the people that want longer ranges, you have many options:

    Jerry cans. This is by far the cheapest, but most likely the biggest pain in the ass.

    Larger fuel tank. This is by far the biggest convenience and cost. I helped install a 50 gallon tank in my friends F250 a few weeks ago. Damn that was easy and so beneficial. Not sure it was worth 1100.00, but I’m thinking so when towing 14k lbs.

    Tag tank.

    Here is a tank from Titan. 15 gallons, 400.00.
    [​IMG]

    Plenty of options for people.
     
  15. Jun 20, 2019 at 11:02 AM
    #135
    TRDProLife

    TRDProLife LETS GO BLUES

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    Having the larger tank is wonderful when towing for long hauls.
     
  16. Jun 20, 2019 at 3:37 PM
    #136
    831Tun

    831Tun heartless Bastrd

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    I agree that fuel flowing through the pump will help cool it. But I don't believe that's the end all. Oil in the engine helps keep it cool but coolant, a radiator and air flow are also part of the equation. I don't see any actual FACTS, just your pics and your supposition, aka guesses. Until I get verification from Toyota the answer is NO, we can't stop this and I will continue to say the fuel in the tank helps keep the pump cool. Facts? try this link: https://www.google.com/search?q=fue...ome..69i57.15756j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
    Furthermore, my advice will cause no harm if I am indeed wrong. Your advice, if incorrect, may actually cause harm. You might wanna pick a better battle where you could actually help someone instead.
     
  17. Jun 20, 2019 at 4:58 PM
    #137
    Vizsla

    Vizsla ☠️☠️☠️

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    Oil is used to cool engines, the piston cooling jets that spray oil on the underside of the pistons for one.
     
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  18. Jun 20, 2019 at 5:01 PM
    #138
    831Tun

    831Tun heartless Bastrd

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    FWIW several of my buds agree with you, that the pump doesn't require a fuel bath for cooling.
     
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  19. Jun 20, 2019 at 5:10 PM
    #139
    joonbug

    joonbug °°°°°°°°°°

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    Yeah but every single one of those guys sleep in cot tents so can you really trust what they say? :crazy:
     
  20. Jun 20, 2019 at 5:10 PM
    #140
    Vizsla

    Vizsla ☠️☠️☠️

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    Sorry should word that different. Your truck uses oil to cool the pistons, so does mine. I don’t care about air cooled engines.
     
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  21. Jun 20, 2019 at 5:14 PM
    #141
    831Tun

    831Tun heartless Bastrd

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    Hey, I just got one of those.......crap.:boom:
     
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  22. Jun 23, 2019 at 8:01 AM
    #142
    Tzvia

    Tzvia Just an old woman in a pickup truck.

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    Anytime you take something and dip it in a liquid that is cooler than it, that liquid will draw out heat from the item. If you aren't sure of this, dip your hand into ice water. Now, is the cooling effect needed and designed into the operation of that part. I'm not convinced it is in this case. If it was, the pump would or should have been designed to lay horizontally to remain covered when the 'coolant' was low, and I would have put metal cooling fins on the heat producing areas but it is vertical and without anything to increase its surface area. Nothing in the design of the fuel pump pictured a few posts up indicates to my admittedly untrained eye that it needs to radiate heat out into the fuel. I'm no expert here, just looking at it from the point of view of an avid PC gamer with a custom water loop on my overclocked I9. I've got the water running through a 360 radiator full of cooling fins to get the heat drawn out into the air.
    BTW I usually run the truck to about half empty and refill without noting how much fuel I had to put in (looking at a gas receipt in California can cause a medical emergency) but I did this time. I paid 3.559 gal, the gauge read 1/4 of the way down from half tank to the quarter tank mark. It cost $60.89. 17.108 gallons filled. That's 1.89 gallons less than half a tank purchased even though it was showing that I had used a quarter of a quarter tank more than half a tank. Granted, this is a visual observation without knowing the actual accuracy of the gauge points but it suggests 8 gallons of 'reserve' on a tank. That's a lot. It ceases to be useful if it's large enough to tempt people to just blow off the E because you still 'have plenty of gas'.
     
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  23. Jun 28, 2019 at 5:48 PM
    #143
    tAcomaPueblo

    tAcomaPueblo New Member

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    FFS someone just pull the damn pump out of the tank and run it on the underside of the truck and feed fuel to it with a straw. If it runs for 100k miles you can come rub your balls on my face and prove that pumps dont need to be cooled other than having gas in it and engineers built them poorly with extra reserves. Also turn the tank into a giant upside down pyramid and put it on the top of the truck so it all drips down and theres no argument about unusable reserve fucking gas.
     
  24. Jun 28, 2019 at 7:52 PM
    #144
    Shanesyota

    Shanesyota Midnight

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    So everyone is say we only have a 28gal tanks instead of a 38gal. My F150 had a 36gal tank and filled up with 40 or 50 miles and it was 30-32 gallons to fill up.. I dont understand why they would need 10gals for the fuel pump doesn't make since...
     
  25. Jun 29, 2019 at 12:25 AM
    #145
    L3TT3RS

    L3TT3RS New Member

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    There's some heat in here....
    I regularly run my truck many mile past the fuel light. Truck says I'm getting somewhere between 10-12 mpg. I usually put between 34-36 gallons in. Usually 450-470 miles to a tank...380-400 when the light normally comes on...

    One thing to consider when fueling is the angle of the yruci. If the truck is leaning toward the tank you're not going to be able to put as much fuel in the tank.
     
  26. Jul 16, 2019 at 9:48 PM
    #146
    fundratss

    fundratss Send it!

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    From what I understand from a Toyota tech is that the e light comes on around 30 gallons. Toyota builds an 8 gallon reserve for the people who like to push the limit. Fuel is what keeps the fuel pump cooled down and prevents premature wear. Also this is why you don’t see a lot of Toyota’s on the side of the road out of gas. Ya can’t fix stupid but Toyota sure has prevented it lol.
     
  27. Jul 18, 2019 at 9:31 PM
    #147
    Winning8

    Winning8 New Member

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    [​IMG]
    just get one of this and you could run 38 gal all the time.
    personally, I don't like to run the tank empty. unless I am traveling far, then I will fill up when the light is on.
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2019
  28. Jul 18, 2019 at 9:56 PM
    #148
    WrigglingWilly

    WrigglingWilly Well used Member

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    I am surprised if i pump more than 22 gallons when fairly empty on the gauge, totally on E.
     
  29. Aug 31, 2019 at 2:23 PM
    #149
    bigandtall

    bigandtall New Member

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    Low fuel light came on. Drove another 25 miles. Filled in exactly 34 gallons at the same pump I had filled up at before. At a tank average of 16mpg this tank it indicates my low fuel light comes on with 5.5 gallons to empty.
     
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  30. Aug 31, 2019 at 2:59 PM
    #150
    P-Factor

    P-Factor New Member

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    Experienced yesterday, 2018 Limited 5.7 with 38 gal. tank:
    Fuel gauge on empty, no warning light, and it took 27 gallons to fill.
     

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