Looks like I broke my gas float and I need advice

I often go 160 miles with all pips, without spilling gas all over, give it time.

 

Interesting. The one time that a gas pump *failed* to click off for me was when I barely squeezed the handle, to pump at the slowest rate.

 

unfortunately, it sounds like there's something wrong.

I have gone tops 110 miles before loosing the first pip.

sorry about that, keep us posted. sounds like you need the help of our local gurus
here to answer your question.

 

240 miles is alot without a pip disapersing. The longest I have went before a pip disappeared was 180 miles

 

How many gallons did you pump?
What is your normal fill?
What is your typical mileage in good conditions?
Have conditions been good on this tank?

If you've slowly overfilled, you've possibly filled the tank. The Gen II Prius has an 11.9 gallon tank, but the bladder means that it doesn't usually fill properly, especially in winter.

It's conceivable that you're on a very good topped-up tank.

I'd suggest that you keep driving. You'll find out soon enough if it's broken.

If you still don't lose a pip fill at a safe distance based on your typical mileage and refill a safe number of gallons, carefully. Then drive a safe number of miles and if you see the same behavior contact the dealer.

Hindsight Man says "Some gas pumps are better at stopping than others. When your know your car is close to full, you should fill slowly and watch for spills instead of watching the gallons tick on the pump."

 

You cannot troubleshoot the gas gauge float, which is located within the fuel tank. If the float truly is broken then the tank will need to be replaced.

However, I suggest you continue to drive and see what happens. If you have driven 300 miles and the fuel gauge continues to read 10 bars, then I would agree that your fuel gauge has a problem and you will need to seek dealer help.

 

When you get to your normal distance traveled refill and see if it comes back. I would not hurry into changing a bladder! Probably very expensive. To many weird things happen with all this electronic stuff! Keep track of your miles for awhile, probably do as well as the goo-fie gauge anyway? Hal

 

If reading electrical schematics and measuring resistance is in your personal bag of tricks, then you can find an electrical schematic for your car and check the resistance of your sender from outside the tank.

Measure the resistance while someone rocks the car. The sloshing gas should make the fuel sender move up and down a bit.

This TSB should help you trouble shoot the problem. I hope it's not the sender because I think Toyota in their infinite wisdom made the senders non-replaceable in their bladder tanks
http://priuschat.com/forums/attachm...-diagnostic-tips-tsb-0163-08-t-sb-0163-08.pdf

 

I've done up to about 290km (180 miles) before dropping the first pip when the tank is really full. So I'd keep driving it a bit more and see if does eventually happen before trying to fix anything.

BTW. Pumping too slowly is definitely a problem for the cut off system on most fuel pumps. They work on back pressure and if the flow is too low then it sometimes doesn't get enough back pressure to sense that it's full. I had that same thing happen to me one time when the pump was just running really slow for some reason. Luckily it didn't hurt anything.

 

Do keep in mind that the fuel gauge is driven by a micro-processor, NOT a sender unit. The micro-processor gets its' info from the sender unit. It's possible to confuse this micro-processor. I've done it to Pearl's several times. Wait until you -know- you need to get gas and fill the tank again. I fill at a normal rate until it clicks off, then top it up as I deem necessary. I have overfilled Pearl a few times, usually due to a pump nossle failure. I don't think you can damage the sender unit or "float" doing this. I suppose it's possible the float is "hung up" inside the tank, but I doubt it. It's most likely the micro-processor is just confused. It will straighten itself out, either in a hundred miles, or at your next fillup.

 

The TSB I linked to in post 9 lists a few things to try, including a gauge reset, and also has detailed instructions on checking the sender.

 

I am a first time PRIUS Owner. I go 318 miles with all pips, only put about 5+ gal back in tank. I just joined the CHAT website. My problem is console ceiling lights are burned out. I plucked the rectangle lens, but did not see an easy way of change-out of the burned bulbs. In fact I don't have an owner's manual yet and resultantly am in a dark car each night!! Can anyone suggest how to get the bulbs changed?

FRANKIE

 

take it to the dealer?

 

The bulbs are "festoon" type and just pull out. There is a tool for this, but most people just use a small screwdriver.

 

Are you sure they aren't just turned off? Always check the stupid stuff first. There's a reason I ask: "Is it plugged in? Is it turned on?"

 

you can plug yours in?