I am now on Prius #2: after ditching my Testarossa (long story) and getting married five years ago, I bought a 2002 Prius which I have now given to my stepdaughter due to popular demand within the extended family. My new Prius, which I have had for all of 3 weeks, has a puzzling problem. Each time I fill up at the pump, with maybe one bar left on the fuel gauge, the tank accepts at most 5 gallons of gas, then the fuel nozzle trips the pump and stops. Amazing, I say, I must be getting about 70 mpg! Clearly, though, the tank has plenty of room, and if I nurse the nozzle at the slowest rate, I can fill it with another 3 or 4 gallons. This has happened twice now, and today I turned the car on to check the fuel gauge: it read only about 3/4 full when the nozzle was stopping. Any ideas? I'm stumped.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Foulweather Jack @ May 23 2007, 07:49 PM) [snapback]448621[/snapback]</div> Welcome to the site. Let me be he 1st to provide the knee jerk reaction: Probably the pump. Have you tried different pumps and/or different gas stations? How many times have you bought gas?
This is a normal bladder issue for most of us in the states. Do NOT over fill or you will end up with a damaged nonwarranty tank replacement issue. There is a thread about this.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ May 23 2007, 08:58 PM) [snapback]448627[/snapback]</div> I've actually read the thread about not overfilling the pump, but this has happened at two separate filling stations (both Shell) and the pump is stopping when the tank is only 2/3 to 3/4 full. I'll try the neighborhood BP in a week or two when I next need a refill.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Foulweather Jack @ May 23 2007, 09:32 PM) [snapback]448645[/snapback]</div> this happened to me once when i was topping off from a1/2 tank, the pump was just too sensitive. For me it wasn't a big deal because all i needed at the time was a splash to get home, but i have a similar problem with the wifes beetle and it seems to help pulling the nozzle out a little. A word of caution dont leave the nozzle running without holding it when pulling it out a little.
