When it says low fuel it might be out of gas.

I had a 1999 4Runner towed in several days ago for a no-start condition. The engine cranked just fine. I sprayed starting fluid into the air filter and the engine started. What that told me was I wasn't getting fuel and I did have spark. I was probably going to need to get it on the lift to check the fuel pump but a look at the fuel gauge made me think I should try adding fuel to the tank first.

The gas fixed the no-start. It was simply out of gas. There was another problem though. The fuel gauge still showed the same as before.

The customer declined testing for the gauge problem but in my research for testing procedures I had come across a tsb for a calibration procedure that must be done after any repair to "ensure proper operation of the fuel gauge". Now I hadn't done any work on the system but it seemed possible that any intermittent problem, like a poor connection could cause the gauge to need calibration. I did the calibration procedure and the gauge actually did start working. I hadn't found or repaired the problem and I cautioned it could stop working again but I did have a working gauge at the moment.

Thanks for reading!

Kenny@ggauto.repair