Fuel gauge and/or range readout malfunction intermittently

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We have an 04 GX-470. Most of the time the fuel gauge and the range readout work OK. However, sometimes, the fuel gauge works, but the range shows 0 miles, or they both don't work - fuel gauge shows empty and range = 0. My wife says she thinks she's seen the gauge = empty but the range still showing xxx miles - I haven't seen that. We've been to 2 different Lexus dealers, paid for diagnostics at both and gotten no fix. In fact, they have both said they can't find anything wrong. But thanks for your money...... To my way of thinking, these would both get their initial information from the same source - some sort of sender unit on the fuel tank. However, as both gauges do not always go out together, I'm inclined to think that this probably isn't the cause. I would think that the range readout comes from some calculations done by the onboard computer. Anyone else experienced this? Is VERY frustrating as we regularly drive from Phoenix to Sacramento.

ianshere in Buckeye AZ

Sep 23, 2014

1 Reply

Popular Answer

dms1218on Apr 5, 2018

YES! I'm having the SAME problem! I realize this post is a few years old; however, I'm hoping you finally got a resolution? I have a 2017 LX570 with only around 16k miles and it began happening a couple of months ago. It's taken me a month to finally convince the Lexus dealership that there IS something wrong. I am a loyal Lexus driver, started out with an ES350 about 18 years ago and worked my way up to an RX300, a few RX350's, a GX470 to this - so very familiar with what to expect and it's been very standard across the board with all of the models. We drive regularly from Wisconsin to Georgia, many times I drive solo back and forth. Lexus finally believed me and changed out the fuel level sensor in the tank. I just got a call and they said that it's still not fixed. Under controlled conditions, they started with a bone dry gas tank, knew exactly how much they put in and drove and the light still didn't come on at 14 miles until empty. Which means, there is literally less than a gallon of gas in the tank when the light finally comes on. No wiggle room, no time to look for a gas station at the next exit...when the next exit is 20 miles away you may as well call SOS ahead of time because you'll be out before you get off the phone with them.

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