38 Gal tank experiences....

That's pushing it way passed the comfort zone.

 

Maybe I will put a 5 gallon tank in the back of the truck and run it dry.. get a real reading. Pump burns out, under warranty.

 

That's cruel.

 

Honestly I haven't really paid attention to it with this truck. I had a 36 gallon tank on my F-150, and if I filled it up from empty it would take about 33 gallons. And the Ecoboost was averaging around 16mpg. Now I have a 38 gallon tank and I'm averaging 15mpg. Either way, I can make it two weeks on a tank with normal driving. Not sure how many gallons I'm actually getting, but I know $75 buys me 500 miles, and I'm okay with that. The difference in fuel range between this truck and the Ecoboost is hardly noticeable. It's gotta be better than the old 26 gallon option. That would probably be annoying.

 

Just reset your Trip A or B when it hits 0 and you'll know.

 

Yeah I did. But would be nice if there was a countdown to fuel pump burning out.

 

Wow yes it is!
FWIW I logged my fuel consumption for over a year with a app on my phone called fuelly.
In stock configuration I averaged right at 13.8 mpg thats with almost all city driving.
I added slightly larger tires a couple months ago and lost 2 tenths on that average (Old tire revolutions per mile divided by new tire revolutions per mile then multiply that by the MPG).
Also now the MTE and MPG on the dash is not as accurate as before. Before the larger tires, the dash was pretty close.

My logged stats are:

88 Fuel Logs
Total miles tracked: 28255
Total Fuel Cost: $4743.79
Total Gallons: 2108

 

I’m at 13.7. Not bad with a camper shell and Decked drawers.

 

Pics, or it didn't happen........ JK

 

Fuel buddy enough? The low mpg was from towing a portion of the tank.

 

I fill up when I am below 1/4 tank, although depending where I am, it might get closer to empty. Typically between 28 and 30 gal to fill up when close to empty . It happens to be once a week.

 

My gas mileage has been steadily increasing from 13.5ish to 15ish. I am trying to see how high I can get it. Probably won't last too long before the experiment is over and my foot gets heavy again.

 

I have a 2018 Limited. Filled up about 2 miles after the low fuel warning came on and it took 33.3 gallons. And yes, it just happened to stop at exactly $70.00.

 

Has anyone here ever run dry and had damage to the fuel pump or is that just a assumed thing?

 

HA! I filled up today shortly after the light came on and it was only 29 gallons for exactly $70.00.

 

Here is my fuel ups

 

Got 459 miles light turned on. Little over 32 gallons for fill up so 6 gallon reserve is right on to the 38 gallon tank.

 

Your gas tank is nearly 4 feet long by 1.5 ft wide... a few gallons spread along that surface area is really only a few inches of gas. If you can avoid running your gas that low just for kicks, i would try to avoid it.

Also its a PR thing for toyota: if you set the xx miles to empty conservatively, you have less consumers stuck on the road without gas = less toyotas appearing to have broken down.

 

I like to push to see how far it will really go after the low fuel light comes on. I have pushed it as far as 70 miles and then refilled with 34.5 gallons. I also carry a 5 gallon tank in the back just in case.

 

Welcome!

 

Low Fuel warning light came on right as I got to the pump. Perfect timing.

 

@cu52 How do you like the 46 transferflow? I am thinking about getting one and did you opt for the liner coating on it?

 

Ok guys I have some results.. I ran dry, or as close as I could.. I carried around my dirt bike gas can which had 2 gallons in it. Came home last night, and no issues. Parked on the slightest of grades, and the truck started up this morning, but sputtered. I tried again after priming the fuel pump, same thing. I added the 2 gallons, and drove to the gas station which was 5 miles away. I took on 34.473 gallons of gas (in 2 pumps, 1st stopped at $95 gallons=25.545, 2nd $33.20 gallons=8.928. I worked a spreadsheet below to show some estimates.

Key takeaway, you can burn 36 gallons, with 2 gallons unusable. If your light goes on at 32 gallons burned, you would have about 53 miles until empty(@13mpg).
I have images of the 2 pumps if there is doubt.

 

I know this is a old thread, but wanted to throw my 2 cents in here. I worked for about 7 years at O'Reilly Auto Parts back in the day. We use to have tons of chevy guys come in with bad fuel pumps all the time.

Eventually one day we had a vendor rep from Airtex (aftermarket fuel pump company) who stopped by. I told him we sell tons of their parts for Chevys. He said it was because there is no reserve in Chevys (this was like 1996 to 2003 year models) and because people ran them to "E", it shortens the life of the pump.

Well we had a older gentleman who came it about once every 6 months or so who drove hot shot, and would always need a new pump for his Silverado 1500. I told him what the Airtex rep said, and recommended that he fill up at about a 1/4 to 1/8 a tank. He said he would try it. I never sold him a fuel pump again. I would ask him how it was doing every few months I would see him for other stuff like oil changes, but he said it seemed to be working. I told every customer that from then on... we ended up not having to warranty fuel pumps nearly as often.

Later on I went to work for Lonestar Chevrolet as a tech. I heard the same thing from Master ASE certified techs that leaving about 1/8 to a 1/4 tank of gas in the vehcile will almost indefinitely increase the life of the fuel pump. When I purchased a toyota many years ago and realized Toyotas fuel gauge is very conservative, i thought to myself, the Toyota engineers are smart. Do you want more fuel, or reliability?

 

The frustrating part about it is if you buy the truck for a perceived range because maybe you tow regularly long distances and stopping to get gas every couple hours is a giant pain in the rear. Then the truck doesn’t live up to that range because there is a ton of unusable fuel that’s not advertised anywhere.

 

Exactly. My tacoma has an 18gal tank and I put 18 gallons in it a couple times 17 gallons regularly, and never actually ran out. But the range SUCKED, towing or driving forest service roads.

I got the 26 gallon in my tundra and thought it was going to be a nice bump in range. It shows empty at 20-21 gallons. If we aren’t supposed to use anywhere close to the advertised/stated capacity they should say so. Clearly. I am disappointed.

The should use a small sump with baffles at the fuel pump so that it stays wet with a much smaller reserve than 6 or 8 gallons if it’s that big of a deal.

 

I completely agree. I came from an ‘06 4runner that was absolutely bulletproof with 170,000 miles it looked and drove like a new car. I would have kept it but someone hit me and totaled it. Finding one of that vintage that hasn’t been neglected on the interior is next to impossible.

So since I was right at the top of my towing capacity on my 4Runner I decided to get a tundra. I always wanted one when I had my 4Runner but really never “needed” one. But why look at anything else right? It’s a Toyota and I keep my cars for a long time. So I picked up a ‘15 tundra limited with 32,000 miles (not even broken in for a Toyota) and I have to say Toyota has not wowed me. The mileage with the 5.7 and stock everything is terrible for a late model truck. I know airplanes so useable and unusable fuel are something I’m familiar with but nowhere does Toyota mention this LARGE amount of unusable fuel.

And just fit and finish wise the tundra seems more domestic than a Toyota. My 13 yr old 4Runner just seemed “tighter”. Just look at all the thread on mysterious dash and windshield rattles. Who cares if it runs to 500k it all the plastic inside is cracked broken and rattling. My limited has a leather wheel but the SR5s don’t even have a leather wheel. Really? My 13yr old sr5 4Runner had one. I had to buy an after market tray for inside the console. Really? What’s with all the lighter outlets? Who uses those things? Hell my 4Runner even had a real electric outlet which was great for filling the air mattress on camping trips.

I wouldn’t say all of these things would make me want to sell my tundra because it does tow my 5000lb boat with ease but man they sure left a lot on the table with the tundra imo. I would always look at any Toyota in any class before looking at the competition. We did when we looked at minivans and ultimately went with the Honda because we found one at a good price and my wife liked it better than the sienna. That Honda minivan is middle trim level and a year older and has much better fit and finish than my tundra limited. Frustrating to say the least.

Flame suit... DON

 

All valid points. I had a 2018 Limited Tundra and due to some unfortunate circumstances I'm now in a 2010 SR5. After owning it for almost a month, I don't really miss anything from my 2018, which is kind of sad when you think about how much they cost.

 

You can run your tank dry and it will use all 26 gallons. Ask me how i know.
I would regularly put 24+ gallons in my 26 gallon Tundra tanks. I just reset my dash mpg calculator when i got gas and do the math with a small margin for error. 26gal•12mpg=312 miles so I figure I’m good for 290-ish miles. The point is you can get more range out of your truck, you just can’t rely on the fuel gauge to do so.

 

I think the consensus is that doing that regularly will burn up the fuel pump which is why Toyota gives the low fuel warning so early on the tundra. It’s a poorly designed tank plain and simple