Falcon LS

Did a search but nothing relevant came up, so I finally decided I'll post and ask.

I'm not exactly sure what this is, but I'm wondering if it could be something related to the fuel gauge, or something along the lines. '02 ES 300...seemed to have pretty low gas mileage, according to the range reading on the dashboard, although fuel economy didn't seem to suffer as much. So just to try it out, started off with 3/4 of a tank and drove for about 3 hours both city and highway. Whilst the majority of it was city, most of it was WOT to try and see how the gas mileage would suffer. After about 310 km of driving, the gauge was between the 3/4 and 1/2 mark (not even at the 1/2 mark, quite a bit above it in fact), so I thought that seemed to be damn good fuel economy considering the mileage, time and in particular, the style of driving, taking WOT into account. Filling up the tank, I noticed something that didn't really make sense at all. If the gauge was in between the 3/4 - 1/2 mark and the fuel tank capacity is 70 liters, how the heck did I pump 38 liters of fuel? If there was half a tank of gas, that would mean about 35 liters...but with the gauge reading above the 1/2 mark and the pump stopping at 38 liters without pumping more fuel in, it just seemed like it doesn't quite make sense. In the end, I managed to pump just over 39 liters (trying to round up the cost to the nearest figure). I realize the fuel gauge is not completely accurate, but rather an estimate of how much fuel is in the tank. After starting the engine however, I noticed the fuel gauge was now showing me there's only 1/4 of a tank of fuel! So where the hell did the 39 liters of fuel go?! It took about 15 to 20 minutes before the gauge was showing a fuel tank. Does this sound familliar to anybody? Any idea what it could be? Thanks!

Falcon LS

TTT anyone?

lexusk8

I had a similar dilemna with a loaner '01 ES. The fuel gauge was not properly reading the amount of fuel in the tank, and after every fill-up, the needle goes up VERY slowly to the full mark (sometimes it doesn't reach there at all). Methinks there's a problem with the fuel sending unit, most likely a malfunctioned capacitor on the circuit board. I've seen it happen in other older Lexus vehicles, but it can happen for even 2-3 yr old cars. Some people leave this issue alone, but if this does bother you every time you drive out, you should take it to the dealership and confirm the problem.

Falcon LS

Thanks a lot for the reply! I take it this would affect the range reading as well from the looks of it. Do you suppose it would be covered under warranty by any chance?

lexusk8

Well we're talking about your 3-yr old ES, and as long as you're under 50K on the odometer, I'm pretty sure you're obligated to have the fuel gauge issue fixed at the dealership under no charge. If you're over that mileage though, you can rightfully argue to them that this is a safety issue that should be fixed immediately. Good luck

Falcon LS

Thanks again! To the best of my knowledge, Lexus' warranty is 4 years or 80,000 km (50,000 miles). Car's just hit over 70,000 km (43,000 miles) so I guess it would be wise to get this out the way on an ASAP basis.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

Had the same issue, and then eventually had the needle to never go passed 3/4, even when full. Then it wouldn’t even pass 1/4. A few days down the road, it officially registered Empty 24/7, regardless of fuel. Turned out to be a faulty Fuel sending unit. Replaced it, and everything was fine, even fixed the famous "miles since refuel" issue in the 98-2000 LS.