New Prius V - out of gas - need clarification please

Didn't work for us or the OP, but it did for Bob Wilson. I'm sure there are other reports on this forum at one extreme or the other. I guess you have to be lucky, or at least not unlucky.

 

How can we be the lucky one I hope I don't have to confirm it one day Thanks guys!

 

You own a Prius, read the manual!!! There is a very specific routine that must be followed when you run out of gas. If you don't you will likely break something, which it seems you did quite nicely. Not only did you run out of gas but you most likely drained the Traction Battery by continuing to run the car with absolutely no gas in the tank. Yes surprise, surprise you need the dealer to recharge the Traction Battery and they will charge you for this tedious service. Next time spend less time on the phone and a little more reading the manual that came with the car you life may depend on it!!! The only one you should be angry with is yourself, but that would be un-American.

 

It is multiple attempts to start the car without gas that leads to the tow. Waiting until after adding a gallon is all it takes to avoid the tow.

Bob Wilson

 

Thank you everyone, especially the lady at the beginning, for this enlightening, if ear-bashing, thread. I've learnt a lot.

 

Hmm...so since the single most common reason for an engine failure in planes is fuel exhaustion, the designers should also make sure to design it so that it can continue to run safely when out of gas?

What kind of logic is that? Granted it would be great (in a perfect world) to have the ability to "undo" a mistake like insufficient gas, but some fuel injected, i.e. newer, airplane engines, if choked off from its gas supply (perhaps someone pulled the "gas shutoff" by accident) may not even readily restart again in that air. Defective design?

I can proudly and safely say I have yet to run out of gas in my car. Even if the tank were to spring a leak, I doubt I would run out of gas. How? Simple - you keep an eye on the fuel gauge and also keep track of the miles driven. After awhile you get to know a rough average of the "range" of the vehicle before it needs to be (practically) refueled - I'm not talking about driving it down to where the engine quits.

Then, even if the fuel gauge sensor is busted and reads always "F", you'll still get a warning when you hop into the car and realize that the mileage is getting near re-fill point yet the fuel gauge doesn't coincide.

Or, if the fuel gauge is indicating 1/4 tank, you should start thinking about that fill-up and try to plan it into your travel plans. By the time it hits 1/8 I consider that my "reserve" and will stop at nearest gas station. By the time the "Low fuel" warning comes on, I should already be desperately searching for fuel stations, and at that time am already thinking about whom I need to call in case the car quits on me.

This is all simple, common sense. Drive defensively in all situations - not just against other drivers. Drive defensively against yourself and the car itself.

Trust, but verify. Cross-check instruments. Keep aware of your surroundings (situational awareness) and other vehicles/hazards on the road. Aren't these things taught in the mandatory driver safety course any more?

 

The Graham miniscanner gives us up to three error codes found in the hybrid, engine and battery ECUs for the NHW11, 2003 Prius. So yesterday, I finally ran it out of gas to run some 'restart' tests. After five restart attempts without adding gas, I added a gallon and it started right up.

There had been a suspicion that the car would 'set a no-restart' code after so many failed attempts. If the older, NHW11 does, the failed start counter has to be larger than five. After the first attempt, a second code was added to the hybrid vehicle ECU and no others. I continued my restart attempts until the lowest traction battery module started reaching a value too low for my comfort.

What happens is the NHW11 gives one "START" attempt for every "ON-to-OFF" cycle. Repeated attempts to start without visiting "OFF" won't work. This may give the impression that the car won't start after too many failed attempts and lead to an expensive tow to the dealer.

Now too many attempts can drain the traction battery too low BUT we don't know what that level is. When I first ran out of gas, the traction battery minimum module voltage was running ~15.2 V. By the start of the 6th attempt, it was down to ~14.2 V. There is not an infinite amount of engine start attempts in the battery.

I plan to retest "fuel exhaustion" with my wife's ZVW30 Prius. Sad to say, I do not have any additional instrumentation to monitor the traction battery SOC and voltage levels, yet. Just I want to make sure there are at least 4-5 restarts if the car runs out of gas and stops because there is no more traction battery energy for motive force.

Bob Wilson

 

The Graham miniscanner gives us up to three error codes in the hybrid, engine and battery ECUs for the NHW11, 2003 Prius. So yesterday, I finally ran it out of gas to run some 'restart' tests. After five restart attempts without adding gas, I added a gallon and it started right up.

There had been a suspicion that the car would 'set a no-restart' code after so many failed attempts. If the older, NHW11 does, the failed start counter has to be larger than five.

What happens is you get one "START" attempt for every "ON-to-OFF" cycle. Repeated attempts to start without visiting "OFF" won't work. This may give the illusion that the car won't start after too many failed attempts.

Now too many attempts can drain the traction battery too low BUT we don't know what that level is. When I first ran out of gas, the traction battery minimum module voltage was running ~15.2 V. By the start of the 6th attempt, it was down to ~14.2 V. There are not an infinite amount of engine start attempts in the battery.

I plan to retest "fuel exhaustion" with my wife's ZVW30 Prius in the future. Sad to say, I do not have instrumentation to monitor the traction battery SOC and voltage levels, yet. Just I want to make sure there are at least 4-5 restarts if the car runs out of gas and stops.

Bob Wilson

 

Ah, so you mean take responsibility for your own actions? hmmm, that'll never catch on! Blame someone else! Now that sounds much better

 

Toyota should install a pre-filled gas can in a break-away glass compartment inside the car somewhere for when my car runs out of gas and I need gas. Obviously another failure of Toyota's...

 

Taking it to the dealership is a total FAKE! If you run out of gas and try to restart it 3 times it does trigger fault codes where the car doesn't want to turn off, you cant take the key out, it shows the big triangle with ! and they are right that the car will not start without the codes being cleared. What they are not telling you is that if you put some gas in (even if just 1 gal) and DISCONNECT THE BATTERY FOR 60 SEC then attach it again...VIOLA! the codes are cleared!!! I am not kidding. Unfortunately I proved this to be true about 30 min ago when my wife ran out of gas a couple miles from home. I didn't see this option posted so I thought I would post it when I got home. Don't waste money at the dealership. Remember that the battery is in the back. It sits behind the passenger tail light. It is right under that carpeted triangle panel but you cant just take it out. Lift up the back hatch floor, then the black tool tub where you can see the spare tire. Now you can pull the panel out (there are no screws). I don't know why they don't tell people this and save them both a tow and dealership charges!!!!!

 

Inexcusable.

 

Give her a break. She sounds like she is a besy lady. Not everyone watches the insturment panel as close as others. What she is looking for is answers for the large amout of trouble she had with running out of gas. I too would like to know what happened to cause all the codes to prevent the car from starting. Sort of like a lot of cars have a cut off switch in the trunk for when you are rear ended. Does everyone of you know that you have to reset the safety switch to get the car started? Not everyone is a mechanically inclined. Also the manuals are not just for the car you have, it covers all the options you might have. I know a guy that called a plummer on a Sunday because his toilet was clogged. For me an easy fix. For him nit so much. Why do you think we have blond jokes? NO OFFENCE. I watched a show the other day about rediculas 911 calls (emergency calls for help). A lady got into her car and locked the doors. Put the key in the ignition and her battery was dead. She called 911 because she was trapped inside and it was hot outside. Dispatcher told her to pull up on the lock. She said the car was electric and the battery was dead. There are people out there that do not have the same intelligence. Give her a break.

wow did not look at original date.