HELP!!! How to remove gas from tank? Hurricane Sandy coming tonight!!!

It would be much easier for you to purchase additional gas cans and fill them with gas; than to try to get fuel out of the Prius fuel line - so I suggest you do the former.

You would have to jump the circuit opening relay to get the fuel pump to continuously run and that will not be easy since that relay is integrated into a block of four relays within the main relay/fuse box near the inverter, marked Unit C. As your msg pointed out, you would also have to figure out how to attach a suitable fitting to the fuel line, release the pressure, etc.

 

Have you tried calling toyota care? I know it's a shot in the dark. Take care.

 

Hello Patrick:

If you had a 12 volt inverter you could plug it into the DC 12 volt output of the Prius and when the 12 volt battery got low it would take power from the large battery with the DC to DC converter. When the large battery got too low it would run the motor for a few minutes to charge up the large battery. Then it would shut itself off. You can get electricity out of the Prius for a long time depending on how full the gas tank is.

 

There is usually a drain plug on the bottom of every auto gas tank.

 

Classic and 2G Prius have a flexible bladder within the fuel tank. Therefore, you will not find a drain plug.

I've posted a photo that shows what the Classic fuel rail looks like after the air cleaner housing and the valve cover has been removed. See the black assembly immediately above the intake manifold.

I don't see any valve, Schrader or otherwise. Hence it looks like the fuel rail itself would have to be removed from the fuel injectors for access to the fuel line.

Alternatively, the OP could remove the hatch floor trim and rear seat, remove the cover which provides access to the fuel tank, then disconnect the hose that leads from the fuel tank to the engine.

The OP would have to be very desperate to remove all of those components for access to the fuel line. If he anticipates that he will reach that level of desperation, I suggest that he download relevant electrical wiring diagram pages for his model year at techinfo.toyota.com so that he can find Unit C within the main relay/fuse box, figure out where the circuit opening relay is, and plan how to short the switched terminals to power the fuel pump.

An alternate approach would be to remove the fuel pump connector via the access provided at the rear seat, and provide 12VDC directly to the fuel pump. It would help for the OP to have access to the repair manual pages at techinfo so that he can follow the procedure listed there.

It is a good idea to use a 12V inverter with the Prius, however the most AC power you can expect to produce via that process is around 1 kW.

 

I've never seen a drain plug on a gas tank, care to share some examples with pics?

 

Not common, but I have seen them. Mostly foreign cars, mid 90's?

 

Nope,

Unless you want to do the old tried and true method - ice pick and hammer. As mentioned above the Prius has a fuel bladder, so no drain valve.

DBCassidy

 

You're better off just heading for a shelter if you run out of your first gallon of gas because if things go wrong while you're trying to get gas out of a ridiculously complex fuel storage system there's not going to be any emergency services to help you for a while. Just ration your tank of gas until you run out and keep your car functional/untampered with... And be glad you don't have to worry about anyone ever stealing your gas, which is yet another great Prius feature that I didn't know about.... ;-)

 

How many gallons are you trying to get out (how much does your gas can hold)?
Hillsborough, Hillsborough...near Princeton? I was from deeper South Jersey.
Safety first. I would think if you drove into PA you could find a gas can.
Do you have any substitute can such as a 5-gal kerosine can?
Not safe for gasoline, but what I use for used lube oil are the HDPE bottles from the windshield washer solution. Those are fairly strong HDPE bottles (#2 plastic).
All of these activities have safety issues be sure to follow instructions to prevent static, such as keep container on the ground and so on.

Keeping your gas tank full is high safety priority anyways.
Your first plan should probably be shuttle trips to the gasoline station to fill-up can.

 

Cut a section of garden hose without the metal couplings on each end, about 5 feet long or so. Insert into gas tank and suck. Stop when the sweet taste of gasoline hits your lips and proceed to fill containers with gasoline at will.

Or you could go to the nearest auto parts store and get a manual siphon pump. They have a squeeze bulb inline that replaces your lungs and work well too.

Either way good luck and stay dry!

 

the original poster tried that and it didn't work. Maybe they didn't suck hard enough? More to point accidentally getting gasoline in your mouth can give you a chemical nemonia, in some cases, like during a hurricane when medical facilities may be unavailable it could exacerbate other dangers / untimely demise...

 

Ah. I wonder if there is still some drain facility built into the the bladder as there is in regular fuel tanks in case of need for draining the tank.

 

Not sure if there's an anti siphoning spring in the fuel neck. There is an anti diesel pump blocker though. Thats that plate with the hole you see down in the pipe that prevents a diesel gas pump from being inserted If thats whats restricting you it does seem to come right out. few posters have complained of it coming out. Pull it out if you need too. It wont harm anything but you will be able to fit a diesel pump in it though.

 

Never seen a fuel drain on a car gas tank. Safety issue I assume. Sure would be handy though.

 

the technical drawing shows a carbon cannister valve in the line, also several 90 degree bends.
I am sure there are past threads on how to do this, but not sure OP should do it anyways.

 

No the poster should preserve Prius gas and RUN! It will be days without power and water so he should have had at least 50 gallons stockpiled anyway. But they have cold too. Without gen no heat unless fireplace. Down here never have to worry about being freezing after a hurricane.
I keep ten 5 gallon cans. Half for car gas the other 5 for water to flush the toilet.