Ran out of gas! Opportunity to assess gas tank capacity

What makes your experiment sort of irreproducible is that changes of temperature change the elasticity of the bladder, and therefore how much fuel you can put in.

The answer you got this time was the right answer, this time.

-Chap

 

12 gals is pretty good, we are lucky to get 7 gals these days from flashing PiP.
>>What did you usually get before the 12 gals fill from total empty?

We did have a funny recent thing happen, we were highway driving and all of sudden we went from 3-dots to flashing PiP. Alls I can figure is the gas tank flexed but I do not know.

 

I ran out once as I exiting the interstate headed to the gas station. I came up a 1/4 mile short but was able to roll into the pumps with battery and gravity (slightly down hill) I nursed it full to the point it wouldn’t take anymore. 11.9 is was I got.


iPhone X ?

 

I ran out with 2 pips showing. Now 2 pips = time to fill up.

 

Oh crap! Not ideal!

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Sounds like your guess tank is doing well. Our tank is not taking in as much gasoline anymore.

 

Maybe the 12V battery is starting to flake out and a cell temporarily shorted, depressing the 12V bus and causing the fuel gauge to reset?

 

Good thought but 12v is new, maybe something else flakey like combo meter?
But it was 90F so I thought it could be gaso tank flexing more open.

 

I routinely get 11.6-11.8 in there (I like to live on the edge)

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Mine is 2008 and since last year from blinking light on, I can only fill the most is 8 gallons, just 2 weeks ago, it got worse. Now I can only fill 4+gallons.

 

Ours is like that too now...although we get 6 gal in there. I assume the flexible gas tank has lost it's flex, but the tank is not visible so we have to guess. That's why they call it a "guess" tank. It is obviously worse in cold weather.

Also every couple of months we get a bogus flashing pip suggesting the tank instantly went empty from semi-full status.

 

I lose about 1.5 gallons of capacity in winter months due to the bladder losing elasticity.


iPhone X ?

 

I really wish there was a wa to fix the bladder issue. I drive a ton and having 6 to 7 gallons is annoying. I fill up every 2-3 days. Makes me long for an electric car. Lol

 

trade up to gen3!

 

Japanese models did not have a bladder. If you change out could you do a write up here?

 

I think European too, no bladder tank? Googled threads on this, and concensus seems to be that to replace the tank with bladder-free is too expensive, too much hassle. Frustrating situation...

 

Yes if it was a super simple mod, I’d do it but dropping the tanks, etc means I’d have to pay someone. And this being a 13 yr old car, I don’t know if this car has 1 year left or 10 years. It’s all hard to tell really.

 

You live in LA it doesn’t get that cold. Do you fill up in the morning or afternoon? Has to be warm enough most afternoons in LA to not have a problem.