I brought home a silver Prius C trim 3 over the weekend with 20 miles on it and have been riding it all over town with little trips and now have close to 100 miles on it. However the fuel gauge shows as completely full. Has anyone encountered this before? Is there something wrong with the gauge or am I ruining the battery over the long term? I have been on the freeway for about 25 miles, and have driven more gently than I am used to, however I have used the AC and have hit the red power section sometimes when accelerating. This hybrid technology is new to me so maybe I'm doing something wrong. Thanks.
What is your indicated MPG? If you are getting over 60 MPG you've only used a little over a gallon of gas. You may be a natural hybrid pilot and just getting really good mileage. If you hit 200 miles and the gas gauge doesn't budge - well - then maybe it might be time to worry.
My experience with the gas gauge in the C is that it moves very slowly for the first half tank, then tends to accelerate from the halfway point to the point when the last bars starts to blink. The dash display that shows miles left in the tank is equally funky. It usually shows zero miles left when the bar starts to blink, but I have gone as far as 30-40 miles after that point. Accuracy is not it's strong point, but better that it's off this way, than the other.
I have had the same experience with all Prii. Slow first half, faster second half. The 2006 and 2009 had bladders so it was often difficult to know if I started with a FULL tank when I reset the Trip 1. I usually refill at 3 bars... out of habit... This tank, I'm going to let it fall below "100 miles left" to see what happens. My last tank of gas gave me over 60mpg.
It's normal when you are getting over 55mpg or so. The GenIII works this way too even if it's getting a little less mpg due to the larger fuel tank.
Where I can find the miles left in the dash?? I'm looking for that and I was thinking that not came in PC seriously. Thanks.
Major problem with gas gauge not being accurate We had 2 bars showing and got the warning sign "Hybrid system not working pull over immediately". The cruising range was at least 20. It had run out of gas. 10 days later it ran out of gas again and the cruising range over 30 and just had gone down to 2 bars. Gauge replaced. I still don't think it is working accurately
OK, here's a mystery: I have 2 pips, I fill up the tank, about $25. I drive an hour and a half, and I have 2 pips! Where is the gas? Faulty gauge? No. I fill up the tank again, about $25. Leak? No. I drive another 2 1/2 hours and am only down 1 pip, as it should be. What happened? Did I not get any gas the first time, but the tank registered $25? I have no earthly idea how to explain this. Anybody??
I know on the Gen 2, it needed at least 3 gallons to 'know' any gas had been added. I would like to think $25 was more than 3 gallons but maybe not. I can't find that warning in a 2010 manual.
I have 91 miles on the c's odometer right now, and the gauge is full, too! My '99 Camry did the same thing (although not this drastically), so I think it's just the way Toyota programs their gas gauges.
I currently have about 150 miles on my new C and the gauge also hasn't moved. I haven't checked it this morning yet but I will let you know if the gauge has changed over night and has corrected itself or not. If not, I may have a problem on my hands as well.
I see mine move a bar at 115 miles or so, depending on my mpg. I have filled it twice at "half". Took over 7 gallons both times. That tells me I have about 2 gallons left, maybe 3, when mine says it is half full. Not too accurate but I rarely let a vehicle get below half anyway. Dan
