Low gas caused engine failure P0A0F & P3190??

Out of gas does not cause P0A0F. Engine oil overfill does. Cause (Jiffy Lube) and effect (Triangle)

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...42-oil-overfill-caused-complete-shutdown.html

 

??

According to the Toyota repair manual, DTC P0A0F can be caused by a variety of root causes, including being out of fuel. Info codes 533 and 534 in particular would definitely point to being out of fuel as the problem.

The OP has not provided evidence that the engine oil level was overfilled. OTOH with the fuel gauge at one bar it is highly likely that the Prius was actually out of fuel.

The OP apparently did not realize that the Prius fuel gauge is popularly called the "guess gauge" for good reason, or that he was at risk by operating the Prius with only one bar showing on the fuel gauge. Hopefully he now realizes that he should refuel no later than when two bars appear, to be safe.

 

A surprising number of cars have engines that react badly to running out of fuel.

 

Just how serious of a "melt down" was it? The way I'm reading is that adding fuel fixed the problem.

 

Probably resolved itself after enough oil got sucked through the intake. Oh well.

 

I really don't understand that. Out of fuel situations have been reported many times on this forum, and a few of our more intrepid members have done deliberate out of fuel testing. In all of these cases I have never heard of "air entered system" in any form. In every case, adding gas fixed the problem, unless the driver foolishly ran down the HV battery through forced EV driving.

Tom

 

Yep, which means that they would have to add fuel and then leave it in ready for a minute (or less) for the fuel system to prime itself, then it would have just started. The dealer may have reset some codes but they would have reset themselves anyway after a number of successful starts. The $200.00 was just because you needed the dealer to do that for you instead of figuring it out yourself.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that the jiffy-lube scenario confounded the issue and that many of us might have fallen into the same trap of not realizing that it was just out of fuel. But ultimately it could have been rectified by just adding fuel and waiting a little while.

 

Ah, not to be condescending or anything, but the Prius runs on gasoline, not electricity. You have to keep fuel in the fuel tank.

Exaggeration due to your exasperation did not help this thread. There was no "melt down" and the lights and codes that appeared did indicate to the tech. exactly what happened. YOU ran the car out of fuel.

NO car has an "accurate" fuel gauge. Running it till the light comes on is inviting problems.
-I- fill up at 1/2 tank indicated when I can because I have owned many cars over many miles and expect inaccuracy in the fuel gauge. Just to underline this I have completely confused the Prius fuel gauge a few times (it would read nonsense after filling up). -I- knew the tank was full but it didn't.

Moral, don't trust the gauge, don't trust your assumption you have enough fuel. Fill up when you suspect you should, don't leave it till tomorrow. Fill up when the gauge reads 2-3 bars if you must push it. Don't wait till tomorrow.

I just don't understand why so many people run the tank down. It's so inexpensive to fill it I enjoy doing it.

Unless you enjoy seeing all those lights flashing on the dash.

 

I just thought of one other possible scenario. What if the Jiffy Lube guys left the Prius in ready mode (so fuel pump running) while they lifted just the front (or just one side or whatever to place it on a really weird angle). That could have let the pump suck air even before it was totally empty.

 

Interesting thread. Two knuckle-dragger comments. I agree with David Beale, don't let the tank get even close to empty. As my late father said to me many years ago, and I have both put into practice and told many people in the years since, it's just as cheap to drive with a full tank of gas as it is with an empty one. In this instance it is a lot cheaper!! $200 buys a lot of gas for a Prius.

Secondly, I also learned long ago that the quick-lube places were bad news. I'm not saying that they all are, all the time, but most of them are a lot of the time, and I don't care to be that guy. My last experience with a quick-lube joint was several years ago when they recommended a cooling-system flush and new antifreeze in a Jeep Wrangler I owned. I said sure, go ahead, and paid them the $90 or whatever it was to do it. The next time I went into the same place a couple of months later for an oil change the tech came to me with a glass vial to show me how bad and degraded the coolant was. I just about blew a gasket, and so did the owner when we had the subsequent come-to-Jesus chat.

Prii are tricky vehicles, and while I hate to generalize or stereotype, I must say that the general ability and skills of the techs in many quick-lube places is pretty marginal. I take my Prius to the local Toyota dealer. They seem to know their stuff and stand behind it, and don't take a lot longer to get the job done than the jiffy-joints. 'Nuf said.

 

For future searchers, I received these two exact codes and I know the exact cause for my 2005:

12V battery lost and would not hold a charge (it was old and had issues in the past)
ICE died because 12V died
Ran on battery to get close to a gas station (pushed it in and it only took 7 gallons)
Replaced 12V battery
ICE would start, then stop after a few seconds.

Dealer cleared the codes and, because I replaced the 12V, the car ran fine.

The problem here is that the HV battery ran low, just as when the OP ran it down trying to get it into the bay at Jiffy. This put it into what the dealer called "Limp Mode" which prevents it from starting until the code is cleared. After the code is cleared, the condition that led to the discharge should also be corrected or the code will reappear.

Don't run your HV battery down and you'll have a chance to fix it yourself. If you run it down, you'll need to get the code cleared even if you've fixed the problem.

Edit: The dealer charged just the diagnostic fee to fix this (and offered to do another $2000 in overpriced maintenance)

 

I just experienced the same issue you had. I have a 2010 prius with 157K miles and all the lights on the dash light up including hybrid system so I assumed it was the hybrid battery since I've never replaced it and am expecting to need to do that soon. It would turn on but little power and shuts off within about a minute. I had someone check the computer codes and it came with poor engine power and engine failed to start. The car had 2 bars of gas but has an issue with burning oil so it was low. I was told to put 2 gallons of gas and fill up the oil them unplug the battery in the trunk and plug it back in. It worked!

 

welcome! how low was the oil?

 

Welcome to Prius Chat .

Another item to consider is It could also be your fuel pump.

But thanks for sharing your experience .

 

Below the bottom line and I just changed the oil 4K miles ago and put a quart in it the week before.

 

If your car has a known issue with burning oil now is the time to clean out the engine and install an oil catch can before your engine becomes an expensive boat anchor. @danlatu and others here have extended their engine life.

 

that's not good, you may want to read up on 2010 oil burning and pay closer attention to the level.

 

I run my prius till the light flashes. I know it is bad, A fuel pump can overheat and burn up without fuel to pump. It is no different than a water pump. I also check the oil every week on both of our prius' and check the oil catch cans. For everything else, I let the lights, manual and common sense tell me what to do.