The 2006 Prius that my wife and I bought used last year has chosen a frustrating time to develop a problem. We're at 99,900 miles and are about to go on a road trip this evening. I went to fill up the gas (we were at one bar) and got about $0.30 in before the pump clicked off. I tried again, and got just about as far. I tried three different pumps at two stations before deciding the problem was with the car and not the pumps. I spoke with a mechanic who said that it had something to do with the venting of air as I pump gas. He said that I should be able to fill it up if I just did it in small increments, so I at least go the tank filled. The questions, then, are two: 1) What is happening here? 2) Is this something that would fall under the 100,000 mile warranty (in which case I would need to go to a dealer right now before the road trip)? Thanks!
welcome to priuschat! there is a bladder in the tank of gen II's that can be difficult in cold weather. search threads on this issue for tips on refueling, all the best!
I would get out of the car, open the gas cap first, then pay and select gas. This allows the bladder to inflate a little before you start pumping. If your pump has the 3 detents, say on the first.
Thanks for the welcome! I've perused a few threads before, but this is the first time I've felt compelled to post myself. So you don't think it's anything that needs to be repaired? Maybe it's just a cold weather thing? Because some of the other threads I found seemed like they were saying the tank would fill up about halfway before the pump shut off. This was just a little bit at a time that it would allow me to do.
i can't be positive, i never had any problems with my '04 or '08. hopefully someone with more knowledge/experience will post. i recall most being able to get a couple gallons in at a time by filling very slowly, but there may be better techniques. try waiting 15 or 20 seconds each time it shuts off. i suppose it wouldn't hurt to have the dealer give you an opinion and estimate if any work is needed. i don't think it's under warranty tho, that's just the hybrid system.
Our prius v clicks off early all the time. All the fuel stations appear to have different flow rates differently so we are learning what all the local stations are like. It is fine at the 'slow' stations. There also appears to be a knack getting the angle and depth right. If its really bad we almost need to completely remove the nozzle from the filler pipe for the first 15L (4Gal).
On Gen 2 Simple remedy is remove gas tank cap. Go inside the gas station and purchase a beverage. Return and fill up. That interval of time is needed to vent the tank. The gas tank is held to a very high vacuum during READY. The venting relieves that vacuum. This venting really helps the colder it gets. I figured this out 6 years ago. The other day I tried to see if things changed. Pulled up...jumped out..stuck gas pump in and it would not pump. Click..click. Then tried waiting an interval after that and it was still unhappy so you have to vent it from the get go. Tried later on that day using venting and it was fine like it always is. Filled up perfectly on slow no click off first click hang it up. Letting the gas get really low makes it much worse too. Fill at 2 pips. Try it.
Great! Thanks for the advice, everybody. We successfully completed our scheduled road trip this weekend (and passed 100,000 miles), so that's good. We refilled once on the way home and after clicking off twice, it filled up the rest of the way with no problem. I guess we'll do as some of you have done and just find ways to live with this. Thanks again! Frank
