Low Fuel Warning

I got more interesting hobbies than this. TiVo hacking, cats, rabbits, Playstation, xvid vs h264, gravity sims, etc.. Then there's WoW, and work at Toontown.com.

Some other people have too much time...

 

The light starts blinking whenever you get down to that last tick mark - right? there are 10 ticks, and the gas tank/bladder holds about 11 gallons - so that puts 1.1 gallons per tick mark.

So whatever gas mileage you are get out of about 1 gallon is probably a safe estimate on how far you can go when the link starts blinking.



This is all just theory - I'm still on my First tank of gas....

 

best bet is to use the MFD to guess as to how much gas you have left and dont use the 11.9 gallon standard. start out with what you actually put in.

 

Okay - this is what I tried - I was averaging 47.5 mpg on this tank. The first Add Fuel warning came at about 410 miles. I estimated 10.5 gallons usable fuel in the tank when full, so I should be able to go over 500 miles.

Well, on my way home last night, 2.2 miles from the gas station, on the way home from picking up my tags from the dealer, a big red triangle lit up on the dash along with the check engine light. I only had 460 miles. The accelerator would not work. I pulled to the shoulder of the highway and waited for AAA (couldn't find anyone to bring me a gallon of gas) for almost 90 minutes. The driver towed me (flat-bed truck) to the station I was headed to because here it is illegal for tow-trucks or police officers to carry extra fuel. I put in just over 7 gallons while on the incline, still strapped to the truck. That put the gauge up to 9/10 full.

I'm definitely questioning the gauge, along with the usable volume of fuel. It seems that if the average mpg shown on the MFD is correct, then the engine should not have shut off when it did, or something is preventing me from filling my tank completely. This is especially true because on my previous fillups, which were after the last tick was flashing, I have never put in more than 8.5 gallons at a time.

Anyway, this experience shows that at 47.5 mpg, the limit is right around 50 miles from the first low-fuel warning.

 

That's the problem.
Because...

Your estimated volume is 8.5 gallons or little more. It can't be 10.5.
The Japanese model without bladder has 6.5 litter (1.7 gallons) after warning.

Ken@Japan

 

People have found themselves stopped on the road using this theory. The flashing pip means "buy gas right now, damn it".

 

Just filled my new car for the first time . Prius 2006. Got 11.4 gallons in and the last tick never blinked. Was my first tank with a mountain trip to lake Tahoe and got 33.9 MPG. Still working on how to drive and be efficient. The last tick appeared just as I headed home to Reno and after 30 miles I filled up and the light never blinked.

 

The guess gauge is not linear, so the one tenth of volume means nothing.

Ken@Japan

 

well i am tracking my tank range with CANVIEW and the last bar starts blinking on average at 13%. (i will blog details of how i arrived at this conclusion) so if getting about 40-45 mpg,(13% X 4 miles/%) should have maybe 52 miles to go. if 50-55 miles then maybe 65 miles (13% X 5 miles/%. because of warmer temps, better gas , etc, this is probably more, but no summer stats to look at yet) that should give good idea of what you can go.

i have to apologise for misleading post. do not base your mileage to empty on a full tank. base it on the guidelines above. if you have only filled tank to 95% then you are missing sevearl miles of range and that comes off the end of the tank.

 

Very important information! The Prius' bladder (in the US) may prevent you from filling up and you won't be aware of it.

 

I'm still trying to figure out how you get close to empty the last two times before refilling, not by choice, in central New Jersey. Even in the most desolate part of New Jersey, there must be a gas station at least every 5 miles.

 

this is one of the things that confuse me the most about the Prius owners. That incredible need to push it to the point of being stuck on the side of the road. I enjoy the extra tiime the Prius gives me and running out of gas seems to affect that. :huh:

 

The most I've ever gone is just under 100 km (60 miles). I usually go about 60 to 80 km (40 to 50 miles) on the blinking bar.

 

So far every time my 04 #9 gets down to the last flashing bar it takes 7.5 gallons to fill it up ,so far I have done 3 times in a row same thing every time,is this about normal?? or is my gauge off a little?

 

Over 30,000 miles so far, my average fillup on a 04 #9 is 7.516 gallons, so I'd say you're about normal

Actually, before the Fuel Filler TSB, I was averaging about 6.5 gallons at blinking, and now it's about 8 gallons at blinking.

I ususally fill up at one or two bars though.

 

I was curious about this as my first warning came as I was getting ready to leave town and head home in the country. I'm about 9-10 miles from town, up and downhill on the road, gaining a few hundred feet, so I figured worst case I'd coast most coming down.

I made it home, then back the next morning, going about 22 miles from the start of the warning. Filled up with 9.89gal.

I'm in Denver, getting about 53-54 in the summer. Current tank is 56.2 over 104 miles and my gas/guess gauge will has 10 bars. Definitely wrong since I'm about 510-530 on a tank before I get the warning.

 

Have gone down to 1 pip several times. No flash and filled on @ over 11gal each time, 11.6 - 1 time.

 

According to the owners manual I am supposed to have approximately 3 gallons left when the gauge starts blinking. That 1/4 of a tank and should be another 120 + miles before really empty. What the manual doesn't volunteer is what part of the 11 gallons in the tank are usable. My experience
cost me $170 for the tow truck $90 for a motel and $60 to get the computer reset so all would work well. The repairing dealers staff stated that they make sure that on delivery new owner are warned about the unique way of measuring fuel in the tank. This is my first experience with usable fuel verses empty at empty. An expensive lesson.
And how much gas was left in the tank. Something like 2 gallons. To bad Toyota doesn't do something about communication.
jack999

 

Hubby read our manual which said three gallons left after blinking starts.... Just started blinking this morning. I plan to fill up this evening and see how much is left in the tank. Reading the posts, I hope I make it home and to the gas station:fear:. This will be my first fill up. Got 400 miles thus far and the screen shows 46.3 average. Tonight's fill up will tell the tale.

 

How do you plan to remove the remaining fuel from the tank to measure it? I've heard that it is difficult to siphon fuel out of the Prius.