Bad gas in my tank? Next fuel up not accurate

if the pump shut off after two gallons, that should have told you something. if you are a new owner, you will find that different pumps shut off differently, due to back pressure variability, or just a broken part.

 

Maybe a defective fuel dispenser nozzle at the station?

 

The manual says refuel 2.5 gals or more required for DTE to recalibrate.

Manuals are pointless, hand fed is best.

 

When I hear "fuel indicator" (aka fuel gauge) I'm thinking of this:



But when you mention "3 bars on it rather than 1 bar" I'm guessing you're talking about this trip meter component:



What did the fuel gauge (first pic) say?

 

The other day I added about a gallon of fuel from my lawnmower can to a relatively empty fuel tank and the “ Remaining Mileage” indicator stayed at zero miles. This indicate to me that the fuel float is far from the actual bottom of the tank. In other words, the fuel reserve is below the range of the float. So, if your reserve is close to actual empty, it’s going to take at least 3 gallons to initiate the fuel sensor. I don’t know if this has anything to do with the OP’s comments but it’s interesting to note.

 

i read it as 'i filled up with 3 bars left, rather than waiting until it was down to one bar' on the fuel gauge (which consists of 10 bars total)

 

The "miles to empty guage" on the Prius or any car is a gimmick... just ignore it -- it's grossly inaccurate.

Treat your Prius just like any other car you've owned: Fill the tank and drive the car. When the fuel guage reads low, refill the tank and continue driving. Repeat as necessary.

 

That's the best darn reply I ever read!

Why do so many Prius owners want to make this car so complicated?!
The technology might be complicated (it is to me) but when it comes to driving the car... Just Drive It. And add gas whenever you feel like.

(I also think those "scores" are a silly gimmick.You guys don't actually pay attention to those numbers, do you? Mine never goes higher than 46. But I still get 55-57 mpg steadily.)

 

The miles to empty is an estimate. As is the mpg gauge.
The only way for it to be accurate, or close to accurate, is to drive exactly the same way all the time.
Try to go to the same station and the same pump. Fill the tank the same way, stop on the first or second shutoff.
Then drive. When the low fuel light comes on, fill as soon as possible the same way at the same station.
After 3 or more times, you should be able to accurately be able to know how far you can go.
But WHY would you want to come so close to running out of fuel?

 

Exactly. My days of being all observant about the gas mileage are over. It's not even fun anymore. I refill when it's at half a tank. Or 1/4 tank left. I don't chart it, or log it, or study it, or obsess about it.

I go refill when they have good hotdogs at the gas station.

 

So you never refill? Gas stations don't have good hotdogs!
I've been keeping tract of my fuel miles for decades. If it starts to drop I know something is wrong.
I usually fill up at 1/2 a tank, depending on my schedule.
I consistantly average 47 mpg, combined. But did get 52.3 mpg Wednesday for 98% highway driving.
And most at 65mph. The most I got out of my Town & Country was 27mpg, at 60mph. So I'm happy!

 

In my opinion, and I think it operational reality, the DTE can by never be anything but an estimate, and especially with a Hybrid, a possibly very inaccurate estimate.

I have a DTE or "Range" designation on my Honda Fit...and it's not accurate, and that's with a vehicle operating with ONLY one power source, and ICE.

A hybrid by definition has 2 power sources to create momentum and movement, Battery/Electric and Gasoline. And the blending and operation of that system is influenced highly by numerous factors. And there is no gauge that can know those factors or account for them. There is no way a gauge knows if you are going to be driving in good weather, cold weather, stop and go, highway...or even how much battery charge you have left.
When I owned my Prius, I would get down to DTE reading 10-5 miles left, and I'd watch. Sometimes, if I was driving aggressively, or uphill, stop and go, those miles would disappear faster than actual miles on the odometer. If I was driving conservative, good weather, lots of battery charge, I could sometimes go 10-15 miles or more, while the gauge remained stuck on 5 miles to empty.
I always looked at DTE as simply a safety net. Get to 0 or near 0...go get gas. I never looked at it and expected what it was reading as range or remaining range...was necessarily going to be accurate to any degree.
What I tried to discover and apply, was simply being able to know about when it was safely prudent to refill.

Additionally, I'm now driving a Honda Fit. It has a Range or DTE gauge as well. It's is IMO grossly conservative. And this is with a vehicle that is ONLY using a singular gasoline fed engine to generate movement. A Hybrid, introduces a plethora of additional factors that can immediately affect the MPG you are getting at any given moment.

I wouldn't expect it to be anything BUT a very rough estimate.

 

Well each car I've owned, I always driven pass the red fuel light warning so your statement doesn't apply And for the record, I've never ran out of gas while driving.

 

I can get away with 2 gals to recalibrate the DTE and fuel indicator would go up also. But when I get 1.5 gals, the fuel indicator ticks up 1 bar but the DTE wont recalibrate.

 

Good hotdogs are in the eye of the beholder.

I will never chart, or keep records and logs of the gas mileage on this car. If I was only getting 30 MPG I would still be happy. That is a lot better than the 17 I was getting in my last car.

I admit, I'm bored, but I'm not that stinking bored to start keeping records and spreadsheets and all that silly stuff. I need a Ford F150. A man's vehicle!

 

Gas gauge got to half today: I dutifully pulled in at Chevron and filled up. It took 20 liters and change. At $1.53.99 (CDN) per liter.

But even filling up at half, this every 6~7 weeks or so. Not Driving that much:

 

How much is that when translated to California bucks?

Gas prices in my neck of the woods is $3.79 for regular.

Peanuts. I'm not complaining. But I just realized something... I'm spending way more money on gas now, being retired, than I ever did when I was working. Must be all those joy rides I'm taking. And that's good... Man cannot live on Priuschat alone! I get out and drive it. I hate being a house potato. And take a nice long walk everyday.

 

I logged for tax purposes. And then kept doing it. It only takes a few second to write it down.
It I dropped to 30mpg, I'm sure I would feel it, and/or there is a problem so I'd want to find out what it is
before it cause more expensive damage to the motor and I've be without a vehicle.