Ran out of gas after 472 miles

When my 04 #9 gets to the 1 square flashing it always take 7.5 gallons to fill it up again reguardless of any other display read outs,so I know exactly how much gas I have left to drive on,this seems like a better way to judge your fuel status.

 

I was going to start a new thread, but see running out of gas is a pretty common occurence.

Last night on the way home at 398 miles, the last bar started to flash. I figured I could wait until tomorrow morning to fill up. At about 427 miles this morning on the way to work I get the big ! warning on the way to the gas station. I was just ready to exit off the highway so kept driving just fine at about 50 mph for maybe 0.1 miles and then another 0.2 miles to the station. It was down to the last 2 bars on the battery and they were purple. I filled out and it only took 10.24 gallons which goes to show the tank can be off by 1.66 gallons.

I drove again over lunch almost all the bars reappeared and back to green so everything looks to be okay.

This is only the second time in my life that I've run out of gas and the other time I was about 300 ft from a gas station so pushed the car.

I found this web page on running out of gas http://www.mv.com/ipusers/lsg/Prius/OuttaGas.htm

Andy

 

Same here. I understand the warnings, but think we're coming on a little strong. I've always figured I've had like 30 miles whenever a car's low fuel light came on, and it appears to be something like that on the Prius too. Don't run out of fuel, but don't freak out either. The "pip" starts blinking and a drop down on the MFD displays "low fuel." That's really your first official warning, there's no reason to careen across 4 lanes of traffic from the carpool lane and start walking....

 

I've decided that I'm going to try to avoid waiting until it is flashing. After it started to flash yesterday, I was only able to drive about 30 miles and then ran out of gas today.

Andy

 

I'm with you. I usually get about 7-8 gallons when I've got two pips left.

But the other day I had started longish run when I only had 3 pips left. My son noticed the flashing pip first. I did notice that it was only 360 miles into the tank, so did the last part of our trip with a flashing pip until I could get gas again. It took 9 gallons and had 377 miles on it (41.89 mpg)

But boy was I nervous.

It should be noted that I've just passed 10,000, and this is first time I've seen a flashing pip.

FYI - I fill slowly to the click then try one more time for more. Usually get less than 1/2 gallon more in that way. But I figure it's full enough top keep the car moving. I suspect I could have gotten more in that last time, the screen was showing 43.7 mpg and it's usually pretty accurate.

Lisa

 

I also have an 04#7, rather had, just traded up to an 06#4. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the amount of miles to fuel in tank. I kept very detailed records. Each fill up: date, miles at the blip, miles at fill up (difference), Avg mpg for tank, Grand Total miles, temperature avgs, # gallons, price per gallon, total, location, station.

I let it go to the last square blinking and its 99% less than 9 gallons. But I learned if the bladder shrinks in cold weather 9 gallons might be the maximum capacity.

I found for example sometimes at an avg of 47.7 mpg I would get a total of 225 miles at the blip and sometimes same mpg but 375 miles at the blip - even during the same season. Someday I'm going to produce a chart to see if I can figure out the common denominator. For sure ambient temperature does make a difference, the warmer the temps the greater the mileage between fillups and vice versa.

 

I'm kind of feeling my way through what the guess guage really means. I'm thinking I should disregard it completely, and just fill up at 8.5 times what the MFD shows is my average mileage. (I reset consumption at every tank).

 

It is a guess gauge when one is trying to guess how many miles you will be able to drive after any given fill-up. It doesn't give an accurate idea of how many gallons of gas are in the tank when it reads full, but all these anecdotes make it painfully obvious that it has a sufficiently accurate idea of when the tank is about to go empty.

9 gallons +/- 20% => Do you really have 7 gallons, or 11? Will this tank let you drive 250 miles, or 550?

1 gallon +/-20% => Can you drive another 25 miles, or another 70 miles? In any case you better buy gas.

 

Now THAT'S funny! :lol: :lol:

 

Being a light aircraft pilot, I just don't play the "How many miles can I get out of this tank?" game.

I fill the tank at my convenience and keep detailed records so that over an extended period I can determine the "real" mileage. The onboard computer is accurate enough for "guess work" - usually within ±3-5% of the calculated mileage. Currently I'm averaging ~5.12¢/mile for fuel - GREAT.!!

 

Even if I said I had, and Schmika bashed me for it, right before Ray said it also? The thread is easy to find with the search tools here. Come on, be a little fair here.

 

^^^
How long the first half of the gas tank lasts depends on how much you fill it past the auto-stop on the pump. I like to fill it up all the way and my first bar on the gas guage doesn't vanish until 180km to 200km.

 

I was able to get in over 12 gallons in one fill this summer. I was trying to run as much gas out as possible and then go for a 600 mile tank which I did get.

Most of the time I my tank is "full" at about 9 gallons. To actually fill the tank full you will spend more time at the pump than a Hummer will.

 

Its easy to understand why people run out of gas in their Prius. The car is a hybrid. Hybrids do what? Get good gas milage!

11.9 tank at 47-49 mpg = approx 500 miles for a tank of gas (thats conservative). So it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense when the last pip starts to blink at 380-390 miles on the tank (in my experience).

I fill up when the last pip blinks and its usually fill up around 7.5 gals. 7.5 gallons out of an 11.9 gallon tank? Thats over 4 gallon difference. Thats over 1/4 tank of gas still in the bladder or unaccounted for!!

Then it lead to the problem or thoughts of the bladder shrinking? Is there really room for 11.9 gallons? Do I assume I fill up 11.9 gallons at everyfill up?

I understand the consumption of gas is less, but my visits to the gas pump have stayed the same.

 

Nu, if I bashed you, I hope it was before 1/1/06 because I resolved to stop bashing people. Sorry!!!

 

I would argue that your reasoning has a flaw. What you should say is that once it starts flashing you know exactly how much it will TAKE. You cannot know exactly how much is LEFT because there is too much variability in the capacity. Let me know after you drain the tank when it starts flashing.

 

They do advertise being able to go farther per tank:
[Broken External Image]:http://mysite.verizon.net/res0ot4f/Art/tankogas.jpg
589? Hmmm.