I'm sighting some of these number from memory as I do not have my owner's manual in front of me. My understanding is that my '08 Prius holds 11.8 gals of fuel. My further understanding is that the low fuel warning indicator is supposed to come on when the remaining fuel level gets down to 3 gallons. After allowing several different tanks of gas get down to the one "bar" level of fuel remaining on the gas gauge I have yet to ever have the low fuel indicator come on. For obvious reasons I am reluctant to allow the fuel to get any lower than the one "bar" indication on the fuel gauge. On a couple of occasions I have put as much as 11 gallons of fuel in the tank upon fill up. For these reasons I believe my low fuel indicator is inoperative. Can someone give me some insight based on their own experience as to how much fuel is left in their tank when the low fuel warning indicator comes on?
There is no light in the Gen 2. The last bar blinks just before you run out. (somewhere between 7 and 30 miles after it starts blinking in my experience) The North American Gen 2 Prius has a flexible bladder inside the metal tank. How flexible varies by temperature. In MS in summer I could get 11 gallons in it. In Winter, 8 gallons was full. (Your winters are likely colder than mine) For this reason, the safest way to drive a Gen 2 is to always get gas at 2 pips, unless you have a station every block to push it to. In summer you may drive 160 miles before the first pip disappears, in winter 40. While the bladder did an excellent job of pollution control, it makes knowing when to refuel difficult. It also can make slow to refuel, my advice is to open the gas cap before paying, the 3 minutes will help.
what jim said^ it sounds like you're getting the most from your bladder, so i wouldn't push it. the manual is correct in a perfect world, but not in the real world. my gen 2's always started blinking the last bar after it was done, accompanied by a very quick, quiet short beep. and then they would take around 10 gallons, so i figured there were about 2 left. i guess i was lucky. unfortunately, with such a poor notification system, the burden is on the driver to know when to fill up. maybe toyota doesn't like to advertise that a prius can ever need gas.
You really don't need a "low warning" light. The one bar you're showing is a pretty good indicator to fill up. When I get to the point where my 1 remaining bar starts blinking, it usually has about 80 miles left on it before it runs empty. However that is not always accurate, the bladder tank is very unpredictable. Best to fill up when you get to about 1 bar on your gauge.
@MontyB Jimbo and Bisco pretty much summed every thing up IMO. The only thing I might add is to fill the bladder SLOWLY and try not to top off. If you do sooner or later you will take a bath in gas. And I do mean bath, as that thing will burp and throw up if you overfill it. Best of luck to you and "Welcome to Prius Chat"!
Especially in Michigan, you shouldn't pass a station after being down to the last blinking bar. The Prius manual states, once the bar is blinking, you have "3 gallons, or less". Usually less. I've found about 1.8. Those in cold climates have reported none, within a mile or two they were out.
I know this is an old thread but I had to pipe in. I was wondering if there was a low warning light like on the wif'e's Lexus which is a tiny yellow light that illuminates when you get low. It's tiny but it is effective. Once it turns on you can't help but see it. Not having one in the Prius has nearly led me to running out of gas. When I had my Accord I'd get 240 miles out of a tank which was a week or two of driving. I'm getting double that now with the Prius so the thought of gas just doesn't cross my mind until I happen to look down and see I'm at one blip. It would sure be nice to have that damn light.
I didn't have a Gen2, but Jimbo gave an answer above that matched my Gen3. Though my Gen3 lacked the fuel tank bladder, so could go much farther after the light started blinking: This little blinking light is the same color as the rest of the display, and is much easier to miss or overlook than the contrasting color warning lights in my household's Subaru.
I just keep my odometer on Trip A and zero out everytime I tank-up. I know how far I've traveled on that tank and when to fill. This will also give you advanced warning if something is happening to your car. Hope this helps...
Maybe an old-school gas gauge, a needle pointer on a dial, and nothing else, commands more attention. Similarly, I remember when the LED tail lights came out; somehow it was hard to take them serious. with our ‘10, the gas gauge is all I keep an eye on.
The "Low Fuel Light" is when your fuel goes down to 1 bar. That would tell you your fuel is low, no other light is going to warn you besides the 1 bar on your fuel gauge. The car will warn you officially when the 1 bar starts to BLINK. There is also an audible BEEP that will sound and your Multifunction display will also show a message similar to "low fuel". This is the last warning before you run out of fuel......
A large Coke bottle filled with petrol sits in the trunk for those times when you don't notice the low fuel light flashing. You can also calibrate the fuel level system indication.
LoL, that's how our Tuk-Tuk driver in Cambodia bought his gas after he stalled it at a light and had to blow into the fuel tank to get it restarted. One liter plastic bottles, not a 2-liter soda bottle in sight out there. Good Times.....
That video shows a procedure for calibrating the inclination sensors. Those are in the combination meter in the dash, and are used to tweak the fuel gauge reading according to any slope the car might be on. The actual signal from the level sender in the tank does not have a calibration adjustment. The usual reason to go through the inclinometer calibration will be if the combination meter has been taken out and reinstalled.
