The fuel gauge lies

[Stormchaser]

Driving the wifes 2020 Aygo last night and suddenly heard the fuel low ding.I was quite away from home and the gauge then showed  no fuel at all.Being 3am and no petrol stations open around me i thought i was doomed to run out.Carefully made it back with the fuel light on and still no blocks on the gauge.Today i went to fill it up and after £50 it was totally full but could only get 30 litres in it.Knowing its a 35 litre tank Toyota could at least show the last 5 litres on the gauge.

I really don,t like these new digital fuel gauges.Anyway sorry for the useless story here.

[Bper]

15 minutes ago, Stormchaser said:

Driving the wifes 2020 Aygo last night and suddenly heard the fuel low ding.I was quite away from home and the gauge then showed  no fuel at all.Being 3am and no petrol stations open around me i thought i was doomed to run out.Carefully made it back with the fuel light on and still no blocks on the gauge.Today i went to fill it up and after £50 it was totally full but could only get 30 litres in it.Knowing its a 35 litre tank Toyota could at least show the last 5 litres on the gauge.

I really don,t like these new digital fuel gauges.Anyway sorry for the useless story here.

I thought the idea was that it is a safety feature to ensure you do not run out of petrol and to protect the engine from damage. It's a good idea as many motorists leave filling up for many miles after a car shows empty. Better then running out and all the problems this may cause.😀

[Rhymes with Paris]

It did it's job then, and prevented you being stranded.

Not a useless story though, it all adds to the collective knowledge here that can help other owners.

I too am not keen on the block fuel gauges myself, I do like a needle one, even my 2003 Yaris has the block type.

Petrol stations if you notice, always seem to have a good stock of petrol cans, so I assume do good business from more optimistic fuel gauges.

[Derek.w]

I have known the brackets on a fuel tank to fail leading to a greater error in display discrepancy.

[Wiz201]

I play it safe and use the miles left to gauge when to fill up rather than relying on the actual fuel gauge. I let it get to about 30 miles before filling up depending on the length of a journey I need to do. 

[haelewyn]

I always keep track of all my fillings and consumption. I reset the day counter and refill at the time I think (car always confirms) the car can not go more than 50 to 100 miles.

Never get stranded,

I never drive with little fuel in the tank, etc. It's not good for the car and in more reasons not good for me.

[Donrald]

I am not sure how many miles are left in the tank is displayed on older Aygos, it is with the current model. Like others I rely on that more than what the gauge says. I also note the mpg figure given is slightly optimistic compared to actual miles travelled and the volume of the fill up. I fill to the top each time to ensure a more accurate reading. I know, there are different schools of thought on doing that, but it’s an easy way to check.

[Hornet3D]

2 hours ago, haelewyn said:

I always keep track of all my fillings and consumption. I reset the day counter and refill at the time I think (car always confirms) the car can not go more than 50 to 100 miles.

Never get stranded,

I never drive with little fuel in the tank, etc. It's not good for the car and in more reasons not good for me.

I always fill up when the gauge is reading between a third and a half full.  I think this comes from the times when all I could afford was old bangers and I did not want to draw up the last dregs from the tank.

[APS]

17 hours ago, Stormchaser said:

Knowing its a 35 litre tank Toyota could at least show the last 5 litres on the gauge.

That's what it does. When the last segment goes out you know that you have about 5-6 litres left. I believe this matches the figure stated in the manual. I can't remember if the Aygo also flashes the last segment faster when you go below a certain level as well (some models do).

[haelewyn]

Sure ..   when the ding dong sounds, you are driving on reserve.

 

The general idea is then that you can drive 100 km which means with the aygo, the general idea is completely true.

Don't try out without testing though..  some vehicles can only go half that distance after the ding dong and the blocks all disappeared.

[Andy74]

Hi the wife has bought the Aygo x in august and the fuel gauge is stuck on full how can I reset this on my own 

[haelewyn]

Doesn't it go down after 150- 200 miles .. Have you tried that ?
I would think to replace the fuel sender unit ... but you have an AygoX from 2022 ? Unlikely to have this part broken.

It's under warranty if something is wrong. See the dealer.

[Andy74]

The range reader goes down but fuel display stays at full 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Rather than mess about with it yourself, and possibly void the warranty by trying to fix it, take it back to the dealer for a warranty repair (if that's needed). That's what the warranty is for !!

[haelewyn]

What you describe seems, to me, to be an electronic or calculation fault.

 

I don't comprehend the system well enough but it's just like that my older Aygo 2021 made strange calculations when I fill it up with 5 liter gas on an empty tank.

In that case the range will also show the good result but the meter (digital) will still show empty.

If I fill it up completely, it will go to full right away.

I always guessed that is because for the range it uses a calculation based on the sender's information. For the gauge it uses a calculation that includes recent averages and some fuel added doesn't make the thing sure.

The right situation will be shown after restart later on or after a 50 km drive.

If the meter stays on full also after switching the engine off, it could be stuck. If not, it could be extremely bad on calculation. >> Electronic problem.

Why do I add just 5 liter sometimes : I always add when it goes to reserve to avoid heated fuel pump and sometimes the price is less nice than at home. Save a few euros..

But I think too that this problem is something you would use the warranty for. Let the dealer break their minds over it.

[forkingabout]

2022 built vehicle - it's a Toyota dealers problem to fix it under warranty.

You never know there maybe a TSB for this very problem being a newly released product OR it maybe a fault not seen before.

[Chiz878]

Hi I’ve just bought a 2011 Aygo filled it up and the gauge is still showing full after 76 miles is this normal? Thanks

[davidif]

46 minutes ago, Chiz878 said:

Hi I’ve just bought a 2011 Aygo filled it up and the gauge is still showing full after 76 miles is this normal? Thanks

Not unlike our 2012 Aygo, tank seems to be 'v' shaped and systems not calibrated to suit!

When it does eventually start to go down it does so disproportionately

 

[haelewyn]

Don't worry. Should start to go down after 60 to 130 miles.

Not just the aygo doing this....

[Stecha]

9 hours ago, Chiz878 said:

Hi I’ve just bought a 2011 Aygo filled it up and the gauge is still showing full after 76 miles is this normal? Thanks

Yes, normal. As said can be 130 + miles before it goes down a block, especially if you brimmed it

[Cyker]

My Mk1 and Mk2 Yaris did this too. The iQ and Mk2 Yaris have this particularly badly! (The first 2 blocks are actually half the tank, while the remaining 6 are the other half of the tank!)

[Rhymes with Paris]

Aye, block fuel gauges are spawned from the devil's very own herd of vehicle instrument designers.

But you get used to it , just fill up every couple of hundred miles or so.

I preferred the wildly swinging needles of undamped gauges that doubled the reading in a right hand corner.

[Roy124]

10 hours ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

I preferred the wildly swinging needles of undamped gauges that doubled the reading in a right hand corner.

Had that in the Lancaster.  Did you read the low end, high  end or try and guess the middle. 

We had fuel low lights too but I didnt know how much we had from low to empty. 

[Puglet]

As mentioned the first 3 bars are like never ending fuel tank and the last 3 it drinks like a fish! Suppose it called a 'feature', at least it beeps and blinks on the last bar, which impressed me when we first got ours, but its predecessor had the oldie dumb needle type.

[haelewyn]

Hold on..  when you switch to the aygo x, you can see the level in percentage steps in the app 😉