So I've only been able to put about five gallons of gas in the vehicle before getting the low fuel light. So I am planning on running out of gas, putting in exactly one gallon, and then making it to a gas station to get a more accurate amount of fuel in the bladder to see if there's an issue with my fuel gauge. Any notes of caution before I do this? Tired of having to fill up so frequently.
I would probably carry a 5 gallon jug with at least 3 gallons. There have been many reports of Gen 2s that the car won't clear the 'ran out of gas' problem unless at least 3 gallons are added. Would hate to see you run it out of gas and then really be stuck when you drain the HV battery trying to start the car unsuccessfully.
Save the trouble. bob wilson has exhausted every run out of gas scenario under the sun, over the past 2 decades. Easier to read about than to do. .
I can clear the codes with TechStream, and worst case, I can just hang out by the road with the gallon jug in the air, I'm sure anyone passing by will figure it out lol
OK, I'm now seeing several pages indicating that it did. But I'm still not remembering user reports of it being problematic. Maybe I arrived in PC too late? Or were there so few Gen1s that the complaints were not memorable?
Mine never bothered me much. I guess I've never expected too much precision from a fuel gauge. I'd say, from the top, mine reads: too full to fill up a bit early to fill up fine time to fill up later than I'd usually fill up dude, fill up
Also, of course, when you "run out of" fuel, that hardly ever means that there is NO fuel left in the tank. There is bound to be some, but it is unreachable by the fuel pump and so unusable. But you don't know how much fuel is in there. Or how much water and corrosion products are mixed with it. -Graeme- 2004 Prius with >190,000 miles. Sent ?.
I've ran out (not on purpose) in my Gen 2. The first rescue truck brought one gallon. That wouldn't do anything. The second rescue guy brought another 5 gallons, that started it.
Your not the first one to have this idea, and you wont be the last. If you are going to run the car out of gas carry a 5 gallon can as 1 gallon wont reset the code. Even if you do find out how far you can go the only way you could fix it is be replacing the entire gas tank as there are no serviceable parts inside it. I'm guessing that if your putting in 5 gallons your driving at least 200 miles? Rather than pushing the car to empty and risk clogging up the fuel filter or damaging the fuel pump why not try driving X amount of additional miles that would satisfy you. Would an extra 100 miles be OK?
