My gas gauge was at 1 blip and I put a couple of gallons in the tank and I noticed that the gauge did not respond. I then got out of the car and put 2 more gallons in thinking it would help (4 gallons total). The gauge is still showing 1 blip. I made an appointment with the dealer for Friday but can't really seem to justify spending $115 for a diagnostic on something as small as this. I have an 08 and it has about 78,000 miles on it. Is there a way I can reset anything? Any ideas on what it might be? I'd appreciate the input. It'd save me time and money!
Why are you putting in small amounts? What if you fill it completely? Google search for siteriuschat.com register gauge gallons. (I don't have my manual handy.) I've personally had goofiness when adding small amounts over the span of several days in an attempt to not cause the MFD to reset. I remember it eventually resetting anyway and a big jump in # of pips.
Cancel the diagnostic appointment, and use some of that money to completely fill the tank. If that doesn't fix it, wait a couple more half tanks (no more tiny refills) before considering making a new appointment.
You need to add 4 gallons or more at a time, for the fuel gauge to register a change. If you want, you can effect a fuel gauge reset by disconnecting the negative terminal of the 12V battery for a few minutes, then reconnecting it.
Before you waste any money at the dealership, I'd suggest you take a few minutes to RTFM (Read The fantastic Manual). On page 122 of my 2007 manual it specifically states: "When you refuel less than about 11.4L (3.0 gal., 2.5 Imp. gal.), the fuel indicator may not change." Since each of your additions was less than 3.0 gal. your indicator behaved exactly as I would expect. Go back, try adding more than 3 gal. at once. Let us know if you still have a problem.
As already mentioned, you didn't add enough for it to register. After 2 or 3 starts the pips may appear. The only time this happened to me was on a rally. Save your nickles & dimes then spend more than $10 per trip at the gas station.
OK, Here's my input to this dilemma: We never let our Prius fuel gage get below 2 bars, but when my wife was leaving the YMCA the other day it started flashing at her and told her to add fuel (she was sure that is was about 3/4 full when she went into the Y). She went to the gas station and added only a couple gallons and of course (as explained buy the info above) the gage did not change, but she didn't stop the fuel, the pump shut off because it sensed the tank was full. The gage was still (and is still) blinking with one bar. We had it to the dealer today and the service advisor told me that it would probably cost me ~$600-700 to replace the sender unit (and surprisingly he knew nothing about any tank bladder) and he couldn't guarantee that was the problem. So we are in the research/tracking/trending phase now. I would still like to know why I read a post somewhere that said it was a common problem. Anybody know?
yes, it is a common problem, but the problem is the bladder. there are lots of threads here, and plenty of advice on how to fill the tank when it's balky.
Before heading off to the dealer, try parking the car somewhere where it is level, then disconnect the 12 V battery in the right rear by removing the twi white connectors that go into the connector block on the positive terminal. Reconnect after 30 secs. As power is reapplied to the car, it will recalibrate the fuel gauge. You will need to reset your radio stations, the driver's side window auto-up/down and you will loose your trip A/B info doing this. Hope that helps.
