Gas Gage Problem Has Anyone Else Had This Happen?

[silvercorvette]

First of all I never allow anyone to put gas into my tank because I don't trust them to be careful.

I filled up like I always do and when the nozzle clicked off I added enough to have it come out to an even dollar amount. I paid the guy and got in to start the car and noticed the gauge was only on 3/4 full. I got back out to pump more gas but the tank only took a little bit more but this time the gas was all the way to the top where I could see it was full. I drove around for a few days figuring there may have been air trapped in the tank but when I filled up again the same think happened. I could see the gas was right up to the top and I couldn't fit another once in it. But the gauge still showed 3/4. This time I decided to drive around till the warning light came on. But after a few days the gauge jumped all the way up above the full line. I am not going to do anything about it because it probably is a one time thing that just went away, but I am wondering if anyone else had this happen?

[Rx330driver]

hmm. In my old RX300, i noticed that every time i started the engine, a different fuel level was presented to me. I became so paranoid that i had to fill up aevery 3 days cause i couldnt trust the gauge. So i went to my lexus dealer and told them my problem. They never told me how they verified of the problem, but they changed the entire guage display. This reset my ODO to 0 miles. lol

that turned out to be a plus for me, since i leased the car.

[SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME]

First of all I never allow anyone to put gas into my tank because I don't trust them to be careful.

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You'll really freak then if you ever have to drive through Oregon. Funkie rule they have (maybe other states too?) sez only the station attendant is allowed to re-fill the tank. Talk about job protection.

[silvercorvette]

First of all I never allow anyone to put gas into my tank because I don't trust them to be careful.

. . . . . . . . .

.

You'll really freak then if you ever have to drive through Oregon. Funkie rule they have (maybe other states too?) sez only the station attendant is allowed to re-fill the tank. Talk about job protection.

New Jersey has the same law. When I leave Long Island I start out with a full tank and don't stop for gas till I get through New Jersey

[Gryphon]

I haven't experienced exactly your problem but I have noticed that I can top off and get an additional 1.0 to 1.5 gallons into the tank if I persists long enough.

Tom

[retired00]

I haven't experienced exactly your problem but I have noticed that I can top off and get an additional 1.0 to 1.5 gallons into the tank if I persists long enough.

Tom

You need to be cautious with that practice. It's possible to pull fuel instead of vapors into the charcoal evaporative cannister, and cause some problems with warning lights and $$$. I believe the cap says stop at first cutoff.

[silvercorvette]

I haven't experienced exactly your problem but I have noticed that I can top off and get an additional 1.0 to 1.5 gallons into the tank if I persists long enough.

Tom

You need to be cautious with that practice. It's possible to pull fuel instead of vapors into the charcoal evaporative cannister, and cause some problems with warning lights and $$$. I believe the cap says stop at first cutoff.

I agree that overfilling could cause problems but if the automatic cut off stops at $19.29 I add 71 cents to even it out to $20 and at $3 pllus per gallon an extra two tens of a gallon shouldn't matter. I don't round up from $17.29 to an even $20 I just don't like to deal with counting coins when I get gas

[RX400h]

I know that high-sulfer fuel has been blamed for many a gauge/sender unit malfunction in C5 Corvettes. Many have resolved the issue by pouring a can of Techron in their tank. California already has low-sulfer fuel, but perhaps other states do not? ....just a thought.

[silvercorvette]

I know that high-sulfer fuel has been blamed for many a gauge/sender unit malfunction in C5 Corvettes. Many have resolved the issue by pouring a can of Techron in their tank. California already has low-sulfer fuel, but perhaps other states do not? ....just a thought.

Thanks the car has a bit under 5,000 miles on it so it does seem a bit early to have this kind of problem. The car has been fed 93 octane exclusively but from a wide variety of stations. I picked up the car in NY last Oct and drove it for a week before I drove it to my house in Texas. I planed on driving it in TX all winter but my mothers health problems kept me in NY most of the winter while the RX collected dust in the garage in TX. I just drove it back to NY (arrived 4/4/07) so most of the gas I used (although all was 93) was from a wide variety of states with different blends and formulas. I did try whenever I could to buy gas at a big name company like Mobil, Exxon, Amoco etc.. Thanks for the Techron suggestion. I don't know what they do to the gas in NY but they have a winter mix and a summer mixes and one of the blends gives less MPG that the other. I am retired and don't drive the car every day and compaired to my 2003 this thing seems to go forever between fillups. It will probably take a week or two before I need to get gas again (I love this car) so it will be a while before I get to see it it happens on the next fill up. Or if the guage getting stuck was a one time thing that may never happen again. But the fact that I don't buy gas very often made me want to ask this question so I would know if this is something I might expect in the future if it is a common problem with other owner.

[RX400h]

Your problem appears to be rare among us RX400h owners. Another thing I should mention is that anytime you know you won't be driving a vehicle for more than one month, you should add fuel stabilizer to the gas. This prevents the gas from getting "sour", which tends to wreak havoc on components that come into contact with it. I throw a can of Techron in the gas tank of each of my 4 vehicles at least once per year. It does work!

Dave

[Rx330driver]

when you guys say techron, do you mean the Chevron gas?

I only use Chevron in my cars, nothing else. just premium Chevron with Techron. lol. Glad i made the right fuel choice to stay with.

[retired00]

when you guys say techron, do you mean the Chevron gas?

I only use Chevron in my cars, nothing else. just premium Chevron with Techron. lol. Glad i made the right fuel choice to stay with.

There's an additive, as well, at auto stores. Put the contents in the tank, and drive it. I used it many years ago on an 83 MB diesel. We drove low annual mileage and the engine developed detonation. Literally, after about 20 miles with the additive in the tank, it stopped the detonation and it never returned. Good stuff, but if you already use Chevron it would be overkill unless you're trying to cure a problem.

[RX400h]

when you guys say techron, do you mean the Chevron gas?

I only use Chevron in my cars, nothing else. just premium Chevron with Techron. lol. Glad i made the right fuel choice to stay with.

There's an additive, as well, at auto stores. Put the contents in the tank, and drive it. I used it many years ago on an 83 MB diesel. We drove low annual mileage and the engine developed detonation. Literally, after about 20 miles with the additive in the tank, it stopped the detonation and it never returned. Good stuff, but if you already use Chevron it would be overkill unless you're trying to cure a problem.

I agree, although you could save quite a bit of money by pumping Arco gas and then using a can of concentrated Techron every so often. Chevron gas is expensive compared to most other brands.

[silvercorvette]

Your problem appears to be rare among us RX400h owners. Another thing I should mention is that anytime you know you won't be driving a vehicle for more than one month, you should add fuel stabilizer to the gas. This prevents the gas from getting "sour", which tends to wreak havoc on components that come into contact with it. I throw a can of Techron in the gas tank of each of my 4 vehicles at least once per year. It does work!

Dave

I normally use STA-BIL fuel conditioner in my Corvettes during winter storage.(I have a 1962 numbers matching fuel injected Vette and a 1996 collector edition Vette that I bought new with every option including museum delivery) I didn't expect to have my RX400H sit in a garage in TX all winter when I drove it out there. I got th RX to TX on the Oct 31 and flew back to NY on Nov 20 for Thanksgiving. But when I got back to NY I discovered that someone had broken into my house. The guy was still in my house when I got home that night, he was actually living there for three days when I caught him in my house. I chased him out of my house with a shotgun (I pointed the gun at him and told him not to move but he ran) I followed him with the Shotgun in one hand and a cell phone dialed into 911 in the other hand. The police caught the guy hiding in a neighbors yard behind some bushes. But I had to remain in NY for Grand Jury and continue to stay there in case it wasn't pleaded out and went to trial. So a planned weeks stay in NY wound up keeping me there till Jan 10. Unfortunatally I was only able to stay in TX a couple weeks on that visit and the RX continued to collect dust in TX till Mar 30 when I flew back to TX and drove the RX back to NY.

The first time I left the car in TX the battery went almost completely dead and had to be jumped, my the second time I brought a Deltran battery tender with me and it kept the battery charged without overcharging it.

[retired00]

The first time I left the car in TX the battery went almost completely dead and had to be jumped, my the second time I brought a Deltran battery tender with me and it kept the battery charged without overcharging it.

Electronics are sometimes fragile when you jump them. Not saying you did anything wrong but--you're under warranty so just let the dealer fix it all, and let him know you had to jump it. You might get a new battery under warranty and they'll sort out the gauge.

[silvercorvette]

The first time I left the car in TX the battery went almost completely dead and had to be jumped, my the second time I brought a Deltran battery tender with me and it kept the battery charged without overcharging it.

Electronics are sometimes fragile when you jump them. Not saying you did anything wrong but--you're under warranty so just let the dealer fix it all, and let him know you had to jump it. You might get a new battery under warranty and they'll sort out the gauge.

The battery was jumped last Jan an everything has been perfect since then expect for the gas gauge glitch that seemed to have fixed itself. The semi dead battery was taken care of by Lexus roadside. The battery had some juice left in it but not enough to get the car going.

The funny part of the whole thing is the guy that Lexus roadside sent was totally clueless and didn't even know what a hybrid was. The guy didn't even have any way to jump start the car so he used the portable emergency battery I keep in my car. So I doubt if jumping the car from an emergency portable battery can cause any dammage. But when I called Lexus roadside I expected to get a hybrid expert that had special tools to diagonise any hybrid problems but all I got was the guy from the closest local gas station. When I brought the car in fto Lexus or it's 5,000 mile oil change I asked him if there were any trouble codes stored in the computer, he said there were none.

[NeoN]

First of all I never allow anyone to put gas into my tank because I don't trust them to be careful.

. . . . . . . . .

.

You'll really freak then if you ever have to drive through Oregon. Funkie rule they have (maybe other states too?) sez only the station attendant is allowed to re-fill the tank. Talk about job protection.

New Jersey has the same law. When I leave Long Island I start out with a full tank and don't stop for gas till I get through New Jersey

yea i live in jersey and regularly pump my gas, the attendants don't stop you just tell them your car is special and its of utmost importance and you have a court order that you can pump your gas, throw some big words at them like arraignment and reconciliatory obligation and they will get most likely get scared and leave you alone.