The Guess Gage

The fuel tank/gage/bladder seems a common source of consternation among Prius owners.
I usually rely on a combination of mileage and the gage. I am also guilty of typically refueling at 1-2 pips just to be safe (never blinking).
I was a victim of the fuel tank bladder this weekend however. I drove to the mountains from sea level and refueled at about 5,000 feet elevation. I filled the tank as usual, removed the nozzle, and watched helplessly as about 8-12 ounces of fuel gurgled back out of the tank onto the ground.
Definitely not good for the environment - or my ego!
Oh well, lesson learned. <_<

 

a good rule of thumb is to start thinking about heading for a gas station when you're down to one pip.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(icharry @ Jan 7 2007, 10:33 PM) [snapback]372312[/snapback]</div>

OK, now I understand, at first I was thinking, "what difference does it make?" Knowing your goal to be less trips I see your consternation. But I'm sure you understand with regards to MPG it doesn't matter.

Oh I don't know, I think you'll become hooked on how sweet it is to be doing so much better than your other car(s), having stories to tell to your co-workers, etc. I have record keeping down to a science now and found that my tires stay at 42/40 rather easily.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jan 7 2007, 06:55 PM) [snapback]372305[/snapback]</div>

Yep. The CAN-View does give more precision, but I doubt that it takes care of the variable tank capacity problem. I'm only guessing (will have to ask Norm), but I'm at 92% now, and I assume that means I've used 8% of what was presumably a full tank of 11.9 gallons. If it's the case that a full tank is only 10.5 gallons (the most I've ever put in), I would run out quite a bit before it reads 0%.

Dave M.

 

People, GET OVER IT! It's a fuel bladder, not a fuel tank. Its capacity varies, depending on ambient temperature. Neither you nor the on-board ECU can predict how much fuel it can hold at any particular time.

When you get down to 2 pips start looking for a gas station. If you get down to one, look harder.

This whole topic has degraded from interesting to amusing to annoying.

I had a feeling where this subject was going when I posted a response on a fuel bladder thread several months ago suggesting modifiying the gas cap with a Shrader valve to pressurize and expand the bladder before refueling and found that I was being taken seriously.

I find it difficult to understand how a group of people who seem to be above average intelligence get fixated on this sort of mental masturbation!

 

So syclone what exactly are you trying to say, 'Get Over It', 'Move On', ...? :blink:

Just kidding, point well stated, gotcha, right-on!

 

I don't have a prius myself, but I know in my car the low-gas light comes on when I have 2.2 gallons left. So yeah, I know for a fact in my regular car I can go, in a worst case scenario, another 40 miles. My car's only rated at 20mpg in the city and 27 on the highway, but I usually average around 27 anyway. Hehe, on a long trip once, I went something like 450 miles on one tank, and when I got there I put in 15.0 gallons in a 15.9 gallon tank. Averaged 30mpg.

I guess the prius uses some fuel bladder thingy, but for regular cars, the gas tank is in a V shape, and this is why the gas needle drops so much faster once you get past the first half of the tank.

So yeah, like other people here, just as a general rule of thumb, I usually go by the trip-odometer more than I go by the gas gauge.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(berylrb @ Jan 8 2007, 11:28 AM) [snapback]372472[/snapback]</div>

Considering the terrain where you are, your mpg isn't too bad. All those hills must make it a real challenge.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(icharry @ Jan 7 2007, 06:37 PM) [snapback]372301[/snapback]</div>

Well, after my last fillup, CAN-View showed that tank as 92% full. I did lose the first pip fairly quickly.

Dave M.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jmccord @ Jan 7 2007, 11:22 PM) [snapback]372308[/snapback]</div>

Aint that a trip? Gas Vomit. I think the pump shutoff really has to be screwed up for this to happen. When it happened to me, the thing I did was to re-insert the pump handle back into the tank ... forming an air-tight fit until the bladder aclimated to the larger size ... 2 or 3 minutes later i was on my way. All in all though, the bladder thing never really bugged me ... like Evan says, you'll get used to it.