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Low Fuel Light Burnt Out

5K views 22 replies 17 participants last post by  Sanderhawk 
#1 · (Edited)
For the first time ever, my FJ stranded me. I've owned my beloved 07 TRD SE for over 8 years and 140K miles. Its been a joy to own and extemely reliable up until a month ago.

I was cruising a long on my way to work and the FJ died while rolling at 45 mph. I managed to make it to the shoulder safely and began trying to figure out what the hell happened. I immediately tried starting her again, but it sounded like it was starving for fuel.

At this point I'm in full panic mode. My gas light wasn't on so I figured I had at a minimum 4 gallons of gas. I tried starting the car over and over again until I killed the battery. I was certain it had to be something with the fuel pump or maybe a fuel filter.

Got the FJ towed to a garage and I went about my day.

A few hours later, I got the most embarrassing call from the garage. The fella says to me, "we charged your battery and put 2 gallons of gas in and it fired right up." This possibly was the biggest blow to my ego to date. I was dumbfounded. My gas light wasn't even on yet.

Turns out, that little yellow low fuel indicator light can and did burn out. Doooh!
 
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#4 ·
I have run out of gas a number of time in my life. Every single time it was not the fault of the car I owned. It was my ignorant ass who thought I could go one more mile before I stopped for gas. :bangin:
 
#9 ·
My dad still reminds me, of long ago, when I was 16, and ran out of gas. I had no excuse, there was a 1000 gal tank and pump at home at my disposal. He rubs it in decades later so I have never done it again. I think it only takes the one time.
 
#10 · (Edited)
(snip)
Turns out, that little yellow low fuel indicator light can and did burn out. Doooh!
How do you know that the indicator light "did burn out"? Just because the indicator light doesn't turn on when it should, doesn't mean that the indicator itself has failed.?

Since all of the light sources for the various instrument cluster indicators are LEDs, it's fairly unlikely that the light source itself has failed. You'll have to do some electrical troubleshooting with a multimeter to see if the low fuel indicator is actually getting power when the fuel level drops below the trip point, or if there is a fault somewhere else in the circuit.

I'll bet the LED itself is fine ....

Also not clear why someone would continue to crank an obviously dead engine until the starter was cooked and the battery was totally dead .... if the engine doesn't give a clear indication of some level of "firing" after several sequences of 5 seconds of cranking, it should be obvious that something is fundamentally wrong, and there is either no fuel or no spark.
 
#16 ·
if the engine doesn't give a clear indication of some level of "firing" after several sequences of 5 seconds of cranking, it should be obvious that something is fundamentally wrong, and there is either no fuel or no spark.
^

That is Day 1 stuff right there !!! :cheers:
 
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#15 ·
FJTest is correct, cranking the engine over and over for what must have been close to 30 minutes makes no sense what so ever. As a result you can now prepare to need a new starter in the not far off future. When the starter does fail do yourself a favor by not constantly turning the key on and off until you break it or the ignition. Everything that has a normal On/ Off function that does not operate in a predicatble normal fashion has a problem and needs repair or replacement. Flame over....This does suck but can be chalked up as being a life lesson, which means you got off cheap and your money is not wasted. I also would be surprised if the LED indicator light is burned out, but test it's function first before moving to more exspensive parts. The FJ is a thirsty vehicle I always think of the 1/4 full mark as my E, think of it this way, it's cheaper to fill the tank to full.
Glad it was nothing major and now you have a remember when beer story.
 
#17 ·
I certainly didn't mindlessly crank my engine for a half an hour. I'm pretty sure it was time to change the battery anyway. It was 8 years old and on its way out.

The sputtering to near ignition is what made me try multiple times to start it, not ignorance.

Well, maybe a little ignorance.
 
#18 ·
This happened to me once on a 2010. No low fuel light whatsoever, and needle showed about quarter tank left. Cruising on the freeway and just died. Luckily had enough speed to get off and into a parking lot.
Spent about an hour checking and rechecking fuses and making several attempts at cranking because it sounded like it was close to starting. Actually started a couple times and idled for few secs before dying.
Finally gave up and called tow truck. On the way to dealer had an idea and asked the driver to stop at a gas station. Put some gas in and started right up.
Gas light and gauge have worked fine ever since.
 
#21 ·
Never ran out of gas in a 4 wheeled vehicle, but I did run out of gas in my Yamaha R1 for this exact reason. Although motorcycles don't have fuel gauges, just a light. The light never came on and I ended up coming to a stop a block away from a gas station. Pushed the bike to the gas station with my head hanging in embarrassment, filled her up, and I was on my way.

I always give motorcycles the shake test when stopped at a light now to make sure I'm good on gas. Can't trust those darn fuel lights.
 
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