Why did i run out of gas at 300 miles?

Obviously, your dealer did not sell you a car with a full tank of gas.


Not to pick on you in particular Anne, but I wonder why so many Prius owners try to calculate and analyze whether they should stop at a gas station rather than just fill up when they see the gas level go down to the last bar.

As for the 5 vs 35 miles on the last blinking bar, I wouldn't try to over analyze this either. There are evidently several factors that could cause wide variability in this number. Bladder expansion due to temperature is one of them, along with the possibility of water/moisture in the bottom of the tank that might cause the car to stop even if not totally empty, especially in the winter months. I don't gamble. I fill up BEFORE that last bar starts blinking. I haven't seen the blinking bar yet and have no desire to see it.

Rick S

 

to say you didnt get a full tank of gas is a definite understatement!!

 

Besides the flashing bar the car actually runs a banner that says ADD FUEL. SHould not be too hard to figure out.....

 

Well I havent gotten my prius yet, but...

Currently I drive a 2002 VW Beetle... Now that car has about a 12 gallon tank and I never let my fuel level go below 1/8 tank remaining even though an eighth of a tank would likely get me 30 miles or so... but why would I do that??? THINK people... THINK! ::sigh::

 

Anne,

Are you from Colorado by chance? I had a plummer at my house today who told me his mother's Prius ran out of gas and was at the dealership. Was that you?

 

Anne this is the only car that I'm aware of that has a bladder in the fuel tank. It's there for reducing emissions and that it does very well. It also makes getting a "full" tank a bit of a challange. In California it won't be as bad as a place like MN or some of the other northeren states or like us in Canada but it's capacity varys with the temperature. About 12 gallons when empty and about 10 gallons when cold maybe a bit less. There are lots of good articles on PC that if you read along with the owners manual will give you lots of good information on filling your car up, on driving the car for maximum fuel economy, and how to drive it to maximise your enjoyment of the car. To get bummed out on the first tank will only get you down but if you read all the articles here on fuel economy you'll get a better understanding of your car and it's potential. I fuel when down to one bar and not blinking but to each his/her own.

 

Yes, the bladder in the fuel tank can cause problems. If it's too stiff you won't be able to put a lot in. As the car gets older the bladder expands better.

I got the blinking bar and the "Add Fuel" warning for the 2nd time since I got the car. Both times I was already heading for the gas station. This time I had a mile to go. Last time I was across the street from the station. Generally I fill at two bars left. Both times it took less than 10 gallons.

 

don't feel bad... you're definitely not the only one out there who's run out of gas. prius drivers tend to be more attentive and calculating people than most, and rather than thinking "hey looks like it's time to fill up again" we think "hey, it's been a while and the gas gauge is low, but i only have xxx miles on this tank. that doesn't add up." unfortunately, many new owners like you don't realize the subtleties of the bladder and filling up and etc. eg you'll never get 11.9 gallons in that tank, even the other day when i filled up i barely put in 8 shortly after dropping to 1 bar.

one thing i didn't see mentioned here- about having your battery charged: if you run out of gas, stop the car right away. don't try to run it in electric. you might be fine, you might fry the hybrid battery.

there are people out there who will debate this... but when facing a non-warranty-covered condition, why take chances is what i say.

always listen to the car even if the numbers don't add up. the car usually knows better than the driver if it's about to run out of gas

 

Hi Anne,

First of all, congratulations on your wise and wonderful vehicular purchase! All of us were "new Pruis parents" once, and most of us have been just where you are. You have a brand new baby and have not yet learned to recognize what all its signals mean.

One thing that you mention does have me a bit perplexed:

"When i bought the car, it seemed full. We drove it down to the last bar, but before it blinked, and put 6 gallons into it when we refilled, and had driven 300 miles. That's why i was misled, i guess, when i got down to my last bar, had driven about the same miles (slightly worse mileage), and assumed by the previous fillup, that i had 4 gallons left."

I know this might seem like a dumb question, but what do you mean by "it seemed full"? If you saw that the fuel guage indicator bars were fully lit up all the way from the "E" to the "F" then the car should indeed be full and the capacity should be 10 gallons minimum. If the lights were not all lit up then the car was definately NOT full.

What got me wondering was the fact that you say the car only took 6 gallons of fuel to full it up. I am thinking that one of two things is probably the case here. Either 1) You might have miss-read the fuel indicator lights. (I know when I first got my car there were so many lights, colors and other details to get used to that I was a bit overwhelmed and could barely glance at my MFD - Multi Function Display, the TV screen in the center of the dash, without feeling like I was going into info overload.) I think that this is the most likely scenerio by the way. Or 2) Your gas gauge and your gas tank are really not on speaking terms. I don't think this is as likely, but it could happen.

I know in my car if I fill up my tank (when I hit two bars left my car takes anywhere from 7 - 9 gallons depending on how long the bars have been showing) I will drive about 120 miles or so (at 47 - 49 MPG according to the consumption screen) before the first light goes out. Then, it will be about another 75 to 100 miles before the next light goes out. From that point on, the lights will go out much faster and my next 150 - 200 miles driven will blank out lights leaving anywhere from 2 to 3 still lit.

One thing that I have done since I got my car (one year, one month, 12 days ago) is keep a mileage diary. I log my actual odometer reading, miles driven according to the MFD consumption screen, MPG according to the MFD, actual amount of gasoline purchased X.xxx, cost of gas per gallon $x.xx 9/10 and total dollar amount spent. I also log things like outdoor temp (if it is really hot 90 degrees or more, really cold) when I change the oil, rotate tires, change air filter, run out of gas (yup, I did it once to ) stuff like that. Then every so often I will reconcile the numbers to see what my actual lifetime MPG is, how much I have spent on gas, average cost per gallon, difference between what I would have spent in a gasoline only car and how many gallons of gas I have saved.

Incidentally, I have seen the blinking bar a few times over the past 32,000 miles but I must say that after I ran out of gas I don't push my luck anymore. When I get down to 2 bars I GO GET GAS. I do have one fueling quirk. I always try to get an even amount of gas into the tank, no special reason but it is a habit for me with this car. I don't stop the nozzle before it clicks off, but once it does I will do my darndest to milk the last bit into the tank to get to the next gallon measure.

Please let us know if you wind up having any problem like this again, especially if it turns out to be a "bug" and not a "boo-boo".

Also, I don't know where you are in California, but if you are here in the southern half you might want to attend one of the different Prius club meetings in Los Angeles, Orange County or San Diego. All are filled with really nice folks who will be happy to show you the ropes and share your enthusiasum. The meetings are also a great way to get real "I drive it" information straight from the sources.

Again, welcome to the community. Enjoy your new toy and if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask. We've all been there (whether we admit it or not).

Take care,

Tisza

 

Good Morning, Captain

Sorry you had trouble with your Prius. Everything you say makes sense -- bummer!

My guess is that your tank was not full even though the gauge said it was. I have averaged 45 MPG for about 11,000 miles. Sometimes I go over 100 miles before the gauge reads less than full. I mean I can drive 95 miles and the gauge says full but the tank/bladder has about 2 gallons less than full.

Your story however adds fuel, if you will, to a long standing discussion on PriusChat. Should we count mileage by the Multi Function Display (MFD ) MPG readout or do it the old fashioned way dividing gallons purchased by odometer miles? Your experience clear displays the problem of going exclusively by the MFD.

Thanks for sharing your story. You have already been given more solutions than you need so I will only say I agree with those who say your mileage will definately improve and so will your Prius savvy.

Good luck!

 

FreshAirguy, I know this post is about running out of fuel but you made mention of something I was going to ask about in a new post...going over a hundred before the gauge reads less than full. Right now I'm a 112 miles, with 41 mpg (too many short trips in this hilly area and 40mph winds) and my gut tells me that I should be down at least 2 blips. I keep wondering if the misread on my gauge is because the tank got overfilled I guesstimate by about 1/2 gal (my bad, the pump didn't top! I'll be more careful next time I fuel up). So, I guess what I am asking is...this is normal, I didn't damage the car's bladder by overfueling, and my gut is correct?

I keep waiting for the gauge to read less than full...

 

Hey all...I just got my questions answered in another topic line...Thanks for listening!

 

There are some other posts about short fills, particularly in states like CA with the more complicated vapor recovery pumps. It seems to be related to the pump and a tight fit with the bladder in the filler neck. This results in the pump shutting off even if the tank (or bladder) is not full. I usually remove and replace the nozzle after the first shut off and "top off" at least once to help make sure it's full. Some pumps are worse than others. Sometimes, a pump will shut off every gallon or so and it's obvious it is not sensing properly. I had this problem a couple of times when we first got CarMyne but it seems to have gotten better with use and has not happened recently.

 

The Prius gas gauge is notoriously quirky. Add to that the bladder (an airtight bag that prevents gas from evaporating out of the tank, and thereby reduces pollution). And finally a tight fuel-filler pipe which can cause the gas pump to shut off before the tank is really full.

Some folks address this last issue by coaxing in more gas, but this can be dangerous because over-filling can cause the vapor trap not to work, and over-filling too much can cause gas to spew out of the tank when you pull out the nozzle.

John1701a suggests that on a full tank you have safely 9 gallons to burn, so multiplying your average tank mpg by 9 will give you the distance you should be able to go on a full tank.

This did not happen for you, but you also note that the first bar went out relatively soon, leading me to believe that you did not have a full tank.

But in addition, you only got 5 miles after the last bar started to blink, and this is very unusual, even with the notoriously inconsistent "guess" gauge.

Sounds like you have two separate problems: Your tank is not getting filled completely (a different gas pump or a different gas station might make a difference, as different stations set their shut-off sensitivity differently) and your gauge starts blinking too late. You can address this by filling up as soon as the next-to-last bar disappears, or sooner.

Sorry you're having these problems. I hope you like the car otherwise.

 

This (my Prius) is the first digital gas gauge I've ever had. However, I have noticed with my first tank of gas and now my second, that it seems to have the same inclination as all my other gauges...the first half of the tank "appears" to last longer than the second.

FWIW, I rarely let any of my vehicles go below a quarter tank of gas, and I plan to do the same with my Prius.