I've seen this question posted, but not an answer! I have a 2005 prius, <5000 miles on it. I ran out of gas last night due to the #$%^ fuel gauge coupled with the lousy (<40mpg) I've been getting lately. Unfortunately I was climbing a hill, so e-mode didn't get me far, but fortunately I was less than a mile from my house. I got some gas, put it in, and she started fine, all systems seem to work. But I still have the ! indicator on the dash. Do I really need to go to Toyota to clear this? Will it clear after a few restarts? What's this I hear about voiding the warranty? HELP!
It was, indeed, flashing, but based on mileage, fuel capacity, previous experience, and how far I had travelled, I figured I had a good 50 miles left. I was obviously wrong. I have restarted a few times and the alerts have cleared. Am I OK?
you dont need to take to dealership to remove the symbol. there is a procedure to reset it, might be in the FAQ section... not at home so dont have access to the tech manual
Well, then I'd say your comment "due to the #$%^ fuel gauge" really isn't valid. If you had listened to your car, you wouldn't have run out. Do a search, you'll find tons of topics on the subject. One issue is that most people didn't drive this way prior (calculating how much gas they SHOULD have left) to having a prius. And fill ups are not always equal. Here's some advice: 1. Fill up when the car says to. Or better yet, before, just to be safe. 2. If you feel the need to assume how many miles you can go, base it on how much fuel you KNOW is in the tank. This would be the amount from your last fill up. 3. Unless you enjoy running out gas, don't push the tank to the limits. I think a lot of Prius owners would be in very tough shape if all of a sudden one day, we had a major gas shortage and no gas stations had any gas. It never hurts to have extra gas for emergencies.
Well, I'll definitely do it when it starts flashing, or soon after now. My remark involving the fuel gauge refers to what seems to be an irritating inconsistency in how it represents the fuel amount. I feel like it should either be constant (1 bar = 1 gallon) or much more accurate. Plus fillups are very inconsistent--I almost feel like a random amount of gas is going into my tank if I stop pumping when it shuts off. Now I just have to figure out why my mileage has gone down--it was 47+ in July (I know, hot weather is better) but now I find it very hard to break 40mpg. Does it really change THAT much due to cold? And it seemed to start slipping well before the weather really got cold. This is another thing that fooled me--it even seems that the last part of this tank, my mileage was lower than at the start, so I can't go by the average for computing range, either. Yes, we should all fill up when it says, but part of the benefit of this car is getting extended range from a tank of gas. Thanks for everyone's help, though! -John
That inconsistency is probably due to 2 things. 1. The bladder (it shrinks and stretches) 2. Pumps You feel it's more inconsistent than your previous vehicle, probably because you pay much closer attention to it.
<_< Resetting the "Maintenance Required" light can be found on page 122 of the Owner's Manual - Section 2-5 "Operation of Instruments and Controls." Lots of good information in your Owner's Manual. Why some Prius drivers "push" the fuel capacity continues to puzzle me. I always re-fuel at the last non-blinking "pip."
Question 1) yes. especially if you are not driving reasonably long trips (25 miles+) because the warmup cycle is longer and is a greater percentage of your driving. Question 2) that is because you have most likely switched to winter formula gas. summer formula gas freezes at very high temps (about 40-45º). to prevent gas line freezeups, a winter formulation was developed when anti-freeze components are added to lower the freezing point. they do take up space but do not burn so you effectively dont have a gallon of gas in your gallon of gas.
Dave makes a point here which I'll add a smidgen to. In your situation, I think the MFD can actually "fool" you into thinking you can go farther than you can. (Of course, Maytrix, it's US who are the fools ). That is, you glance at the MFD and see you've averaging, say 46 MPG. So you say to yourself, "no sweat". But on a cool night, 3 miles into your ride home, you're NOT averaging 46. You may be averaging 15-20 MPG!! Don't feel too bad about it. If it happens again, THEN kick yourself around the block.
nagrath was not referring to the "Maintenance Required" light. He was asking about the trouble light which appeared after he ran out of gasoline. He has since reported that the light cleared after he restarted the car a few times. Paying attention to members posts helps avoiding sanctimoniously lecturing them about issues that have nothing to do with their problems.
Well, as this just happened to me, I'll explain my faulty logic. I hadn't read anything about the bladder, to my detriment. All I knew was that the Prius was supposed to have a 11.9 gallon tank. I had read that fact in the manual, on multiple factual sites, and the manual (at least where I read of the tank capacity) mentioned nothing about the bladder. I'm normally a very cautious person. I never chance things. However, I noticed that every time I filled up, I was only putting 9.8 gallons in, roughly. So, being incredibly smart, I think "hey, the car is lying to me! If I even get average 35 mpg, it means once that light starts blinking I have about 70 miles at least to go." Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. So today, I'm zipping along, light is blinking, I'm about 5 miles from filling up the tank on the way in to work, (on the Capital Beltway, Washington DC), and suddenly all the dashboard warning lights turn on, and the engine turns off. Speed maintains at 55, and I can still accelerate a little. I immediately get off the Beltway, and onto a ramp, where speed is still okay. I use the handy DVD nav to show me the nearest gas station, and it's up a slight hill. Car slows to 15 mph. Honks behind me as I turn the blinkers on. This is maybe 2 minutes after "I ran out of gas". I pull over two streets from the gas station, and turn the car off. For the heck of it, I turn it back on, and the gas engine comes on! I quickly get to the station, and fill up, and everything seems okay now. Anyway, very long story short, but having just had a crash course in "bladders", and "cold weather contracts them", and "your gas gauge lies to you often", I have learned a hard lesson. I blame no one but myself.
My biggest gripe is that if I am down to 2 bars or so and I start an uphill drive (even slightly uphill) I have often had the guage go from 2 bars to flashing. I've had the car for 2 years now and have let it train me to fill it up when it flashes (stop pushing for those extra 40 miles that I'm sure I have!!) In those 2 years, I have rarely put in more than 8 gallons when it flashes (usually between 350 and 400 miles.) As I said, irritating, but not a big deal.
This is also why there isn't a simple answer to, "How many miles can I drive when the last pip on the gas gauge starts blinking?"
