Gas Gauge Reading Incorrectly?

Most drivers are going to pay attention to their Charlotte Toyota gas gauge while driving. After all, it’s important to know how long you can drive before filling up, especially if you’re on a road trip and gas stations aren’t as prevalent. But, what happens if you’re driving on the highway and your gas gauge just stops working altogether? At Toyota of N Charlotte, we can help you determine the cause of your faulty gas gauge, and also ease your mind.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, we’ve got to break down all of the parts that go into the gauge.

• The most common reason that a Charlotte Toyota gas gauge fails is due to a bad fuel sending unit.
• The fuel sending unit measures the gas in the tank and carries this information to your dashboard.
• Also, the fuel sending unit is made up of a float, metal rod or arm, and a variable resistor.

The Big Three Gas Gauge Problems 

Issue #1 The gauge is stuck on full. 

Let’s say that you filled your tank up last week and you’ve been driving like normal. You know 100% that your Charlotte Toyota gas tank is not on full, but it won’t budge. And, no your car hasn’t magically sprouted this amazing fuel efficiency overnight. This issue is a little bit deeper and usually means that your variable resistor is going bad. It could be that the wiring is faulty, an open circuit issue in the resistor, or simply a bad gas gauge. Whatever the issue, it’s worth having our Charlotte Toyota auto service technicians diagnose the problem.

Issue #2 The gauge is stuck on empty. 

Now, you just left the gas station, but your gas gauge is stuck on empty. What the heck! This issue is usually four different things. Either the float is separated from the metal arm and isn’t sending information to your dashboard about the fuel level, the variable resistor is malfunctioning, or the wires are corroded and aren’t sending any information.

Issue #3 The gas gauge goes between full and empty for no reason. 

Now, when you’re deriving on a road trip with your best friends, and you notice that your Charlotte Toyota gauge is going up and down, and isn’t really consistent. It’s not fun playing the guessing game on when to fill up your gas tank, so you should go ahead and get this fixed when you spot it. This is usually due to the float “sticking” in place and then going back into motion by the car moving. Also, it could just be a fault gage, too.

Visit Toyota of N Charlotte! 

If you need to get your gauge fixed or want to talk to our auto service technicians about this issue, then stop by Toyota of N Charlotte! We’re open seven days a week at 13429 Statesville Road! Just take exit 23 off I-77 in Huntersville. We look forward to helping you today!