Fuel Gauge says I need fuel when I dont

You probably already know that the Gen 2 Prius had a problem with the gas tank bladder especially in the winter time. Being you are in south and you don't have the temperature extremes I don't know what advice to give. Sometimes I would go 300 miles in the winter and fill up but was never down to one pip on the gauge. Never liked that setup.

 

There could be some sort of wrinkle or something that isn't letting the bladder expand all the way. I would not try to force more gas in though, because it can damage the emissions system.

PS. You should click the "report" button on your original post and ask a moderator to move this to the Gen 2 forum so that Gen 2 owners are more likely to see and respond to it.

 

Ah! When you said you pushed it, I misinterpreted what you were pushing. My bad!

 

Wrong forum

 

generation 2 forums.

 

You will get more help there - those with the same model car and maybe the same issues...

 

See my PS in post #4.

 

You must be new to the car.

When you get to th gas station open the fuel cap and let it vent for a while.

DO NOT gas it up on automatic as it will fuel way to fast and shut off way to early. If will get stuck
Gas will gush back out and it will not shut off. Do it by hand and slowly.

The longer it vents the bladder will relax and allow to be filled up.

How many times has gas gushed back out during automatic fill?

Back in the day the bladder and the mysteries of the 12 volt battery were the number one posts.
We only see these now from new g2 owners.

 

Oh and another popular post was owners running out of gas trying to get the last drop out of the blinking pip
Which is really stupid. You run out of gas in this car you will really regret it.

$$$$$$$$$$$

 

Mine's the opposite: it shows full for the first 100 miles and then drops fast through the remainder of the PIPS. Taking the advice of the forum, we don't push it and fill up before blinking; usually about 9 gallons.

FWIW

 

Never been able to get more than 9 gallons on mine too but never let it get to the blinking pip.
Driving with blinking pip is Russian roulette with this car.

 

I have the similar problem to the OP, but just not quite as bad.
I tried the gas tank calibration procedure last nite, we'll see what happens.

It is always worse in winter, and maybe winter gasoline enters into the equation somehow, because even on warm days in winter it is about the same behavior. So I do also think it has to do with some change in the tank system behavior with age, but somehow it's better in summer.

It does now *seem* like the answer is the tank is showing empty when there is more in there. I used to think it was not filling as full, but by the ear it sounds like the gasoline is getting to the top of the tank.

I guess the Japanese laws favor getting rid of used autos/Prii so maybe they or not seeing the issue over there. I don't know if they ever had the bladder tanks in Japan...not in EU.