Fuel Gauge

I don't think there's any real scientific answer here - It varies with everyone.

What I can tell you.. are you listening??

FILL THE $%$# CAR WHEN YOU GO FROM 2 TO 1 BARS OR SOONER!!



I mean... come on. You joined in March. There's been a zillion posts about fuel, the guess gauge and various people running out of gas.

Why oh why anyone feels the need to let their gauge get that low is beyond me. I usually fill up with 2-3 bars, sometimes more. Hell, I've filled up with 6 bars.

 

110% agree. Although I DO wait until it clicks from 2 to 1 bar. At that point I start looking for a place to fill-up. Since I go the same route everyday I know the best (read cheapest) places to stop and at the 1 bar point I have a long way to go.

My first bar lasts 110 miles or so, the rest can be between 20-50 depending on the alignment of the moon and the price of tea in China (it's about that scientific).

Andrew

 

Can't agree more.

 

Yea, you get to drive forever as it is, no sense in pushing it to the limit.

In answer to your question, although I don't have the numbers handy, the 1st pip to pop can last as long as 200 miles, with the other pips being 30-50 miles a pip (if my memory serves).

 

It's a reasonable question but as Maytrix said it has been addressed quite a few times and if you do a search I think you can find some of those old posts with good information in them. I think the amount of gas per bar can't be computed accurately because it will vary with temprature and with which bar you are looking at. My car runs a lot longer on the first bar than some of the others.

I really don't like to run out of gas so I usually start looking for a gas station when it gets down to 2 bars or before. I have never seen my low fuel warning come on. I decided to check it out one time and after I had run for 20 miles or so on the last bar I chickened out and filled the tank, it took 11.7 gal but that was in warm weather.

 

<_< There's NO WAY to assign "miles" to GUESS GAUGE pips. I usually fill at the last "non blinking" pip without regard to the miles traveled. I do, however, keep an Excel spreadsheet tracking my MPGs and ¢/mile (currently 5.1¢/mile over the last 14 months) derived from odometer reading and gallons purchased.

 

Same here. I mainly fill up at 2 bars. Once I filled at one bar and once (2nd or 3rd fill up) I waited until the Add Fuel warning came on. Of course I was across the street from the gas station at the time. Some have gone a lot of miles after that, but I wouldn't rely on that.

They don't call it a "Guess" gauge for nothing.

 

I have gone from three bars to one flashing bar in a little as 10 miles. The last bar on my car will start flashing between 315 and 370 miles. I don't use the gas gauge, I refuel based on the MPG and miles I have driven.

 

i agree with harper. no one asked u to read this post. if you see a question posted and it's been asked before, then just skip it. it's that easy. no need to be rude.

 

I drive the same route every day and have come to know the gas gauge well. It is not a guess gauge once you get to know it. I drive 20-30 miles after the last bar starts blinking and then fill the tank, consistently with the same amount of gas every time.

Hope that's more useful than the preceding posts.

 

the fuel gauge, like the rest of the car, is pretty quirky. takes a bit of getting used to, but once you know it you'll do fine. typically the first bar takes longest to go out, then they start dropping quicker. i fill up once i get down to one bar, before the blinking bar thing starts.

most gas gauges are programmed this way, but it's much harder to notice on an analog gauge.

it's been said before, there's no real telling how many miles per bar you're going to get in your car on any particular tank of gas. eventually you'll just be able to sense on your own.

 

Harper

I've gleaned MUCH helpful information on PriusChat, almost always from courteous, helpful Forum members. By and large, the folks here want to help you. There's a lot of information available here that can't be found in the Owner's Manual.

There are crude folks everywhere and one responder used very poor manners and judgement in his response to you. I suppose it's a clue to his character. I also note that another Forum member "agreed." Both owe you and the entire Forum apologies.

 

I don't think I was being rude or disrespectful. Harsh, curt and to the point.. sure. After posting, I was actually going to edit a bit, but decided, why bother - that's how I was feeling at the moment. There are plenty of questions asked over and over and I don't have a problem with it.

I just keep seeing the gas gauge posts and I think it's getting to be a bit much. Why does everyone feel the need to push the Prius to the limit? Did you do that with other cars? If so, it's not very smart (Note: rude would be if I say "If so, you're an idiot". but I try not to make rude posts - I will speak my mind though) .

Bottom line - as you can see from the other posts, it varies. It's a bladder and it's inconsistent. If you really want to push it, try this. Make note of how many gallons you fill up with. Then, assume that's all you have in your tank and go by the MFD. If your last fill up was 10 gallons and you are get 50 on the mfd, you should run out around 500 miles.. that's much better than guessing based on the bars, total tank size or any other method.

 

The fuel gauge was the first thing I was going to post about. I bit my tongue and just asked a friend about it. Still, it's good to ask when things come up. Hell, two days ago there were two topics posted within 2 hours of each other (about the AutoweAk article as I recall). The funny thing was that people were responding to both of them throught the day. Duplicates are bound to happen and they're a great way to determine what hot topcs to include in a FAQ. Based on what little I've seen (I've only had my Prius for about 3 weeks) the first bar, like everyone says, is the slowest. This tank it ticked off at about 75 mi. I'm just over 200 mi an the gauge is at the half way point. I suspect that my last bar is another 75 mi wonder tick as well. When I filled up last tank I had just hit the last bar and I put 9 gallons into the tank. That's almost exactly what I expected base on the Trip ODO and the MFD. That was a confidence builder. I stopped putting gas in at the "click" and didn't try to top it off. When I drove off the fuel gauge went back to full. I was sorta surprised that the gauge would read so low based on ~11.9 gallon tank, but as other people have pointed out it's got some play in it.

 

We fill it when the gauge says it's half empty. h34r:

 

I've read some of the topics on the fuel gauge, and I don't remember anyone asking "... how many miles does each of those 'dashes' represent..." or even how many gallons they represent. Just a lot of discussion about the bladder and innacuracies. So, it seems like a decent question to me.

I also just looked over the first five pages of the Fuel Economy forum, going back to threads "last actioned" in June. I found three threads about the gas gauge (apparent by their titles). None of them discussed how many miles the pips represent. If this has been discussed over and over, it apparently hasn't been discussed in the last few months.

If someone knows where this has been discussed, a link would be more helpful than the rudeness above. (Harsh, curt, and to the point - yes. Rude and disrespectful - absolutely.) If a link is too much trouble, then a simple post reading "search for the word pip" would do the trick. ("If your last fill up was 10 gallons and you are get 50 on the mfd, you should run out around 500 miles." Now that is helpful.)

I also noticed that no one has addressed another part of Harper's question: "... need I worry about fuel tank deposits getting into the engine?" I don't know the answer, but I'd like to. We can never have too much info about these cars.

BTW, Harper, to answer what I can of your questions: I've been filling shortly after I see the last pip (haven't seen it flash yet). I've noticed that my MPG goes up as my gas gauge goes down. Less weight, I guess.