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I filled up with 12.73 US Gal fuel in my Prius!!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by derkraut, Jul 23, 2007.

  1. derkraut

    derkraut Member

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    Well, My wife and I were on a cross-country trip from SAN to the Dakotas. I had filled the tank in Grand Junction, Colorado, and was planning to refill in Cheyenne, WY. Soon, while we were daydreaming, Cheyenne was far behind, so we kept going on a local highway towards Lusk, Wy. I figured I had about 2 gal left when the guage showed one bar. But, soon the bar went to flashing. There were absolutely no service stations (OR ANY OTHER BUSINESS OR SIGNS OF CIVILIZATION) in sight, so we had no choice but to continue. After about 45 miles with the flashing bar, we rolled in to La Grange, WY (pop:300) and found a non-manned, self-service pump. I filled up with 12.73 gallons, without spilling any. Guess you could say that my tank was empty, huh? We had covered 572 miles, including the huge climb up thru the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70.

    I'll never do that again.

    PS: we're back home now---covered about 4300 miles. Fuel for the trip averaged out to 51.7 mpg. No problems whatsoever, except that I cracked the front lower grille from hitting two pheasants north of Pierre, SD, while cruising at 70mph. One of the birds was embedded against the air conditioner condenser. MESSY!! Most expensive fuel was $3.39 up in North Dakota; cheapest was $2.76 in PHX.

    This is a great road machine, more comfortable than my Avalon, I think. :)
     
  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    wow nice!

    Most I've pumped was 38.00x litres.
     
  3. PriusTouring07

    PriusTouring07 New Member

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    12.73 gallons of gas? Doesn't the gas tank fit just 11.9? That's almost an extra gallon.
     
  4. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    If I did that with the wife in the car on holidays as soon as I filled the car she'd stab me to death just to get the point across, not to do that.
     
  5. mindcrime67

    mindcrime67 New Member

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    Did you mostly run on cruise control? I'm heading on a trip from denver to des moines and so far after my 1st 1,000 miles in all city driving I'm averaging about 46 mpg so was hoping with it set on cruise at 75 I might get towards 50.
     
  6. jewelerdave

    jewelerdave New Member

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    hmmm, local small pump...sounds like you filled up on them thar Wyom'n gallons O Gas.
    No need to fix a broken pump if your selling more gas than you buy from your "broken" pump
     
  7. PriusTouring07

    PriusTouring07 New Member

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    LOL nice profile picture! You might get shot in this forum wearing clothes like those ;)
     
  8. Rest

    Rest Active Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusTouring07 @ Jul 23 2007, 09:37 PM) [snapback]483978[/snapback]</div>
    This practice will ruin your fuel tank and not be covered under the warranty. The extra fuel flows into the charcoal canister and will cause damage. There was a thread about it on the forum.
     
  9. Elephanthead

    Elephanthead Junior Member

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    probably either a broken pump that doesn't shut off right overfilling the canister, or a pump that sells you more then it pumps lol.
     
  10. Devil's Advocate

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    The pump is probably fine. The problem, if it is one, lies in the damn bladder! I've had several instances at different stations where I have had 12+ gallon fill-ups. The first time I accused the station of tmpering with the pumps, then several weeks later it happend again. Given the right scenario of air and fuel temperature (and remaining fuel) you can get about 13 gallons into the tank.
     
  11. wiiprii

    wiiprii New Member

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    Without waiting for the blinking last blip, I've never been able to get more than 8.5 gallons of gas into my Prius. I guess this means I can drive another 150+ miles until I run out, not that I'm planning to do that.
     
  12. ystasino

    ystasino Active Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(derk @ Jul 23 2007, 11:42 PM) [snapback]483952[/snapback]</div>
    So now 3 posters in this thread report broken pumps/cheating/exceeding the bladder capacity often more than once.

    Well this is weird.
     
  13. moxiequz

    moxiequz Weirdo Social Outcast

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(wiiprii @ Jul 24 2007, 10:22 AM) [snapback]484192[/snapback]</div>
    Based on what I've read here at PriusChat I wouldn't assume that. The bladder is stiffer (and has less capacity) on newer Prii (because it has yet to be stretched out through use).

    I'm in the same boat - I've never been able to get more than 8.2 gallons in my tank. I've let it go down to 1 solid pip but no farther than that. I'm not too enthusiastic about dancing with a flashing pip.
     
  14. daronspicher

    daronspicher Active Member

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    I put in 11.87 gallons one time, and usually over 10. I imagine the tank from dry to full is 11.9 gallons but you can get 1 or more additional gallons in the filler tube.
     
  15. MarkMN

    MarkMN New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mindcrime67 @ Jul 23 2007, 11:56 PM) [snapback]483988[/snapback]</div>
    This isn't directed to me, but I have driven long distances through the plains a few times. At 75 mph, you would need a nice tailwind to get you towards 50 mpg. If you have a stiff headwind, your mpg will drop to 40 or lower at 75 mph (I got 37mpg through Iowa with a 20-30 mph headwind last April going 70mph). From my experience, dropping the speed from 75 to 65 easily increases mileage by 5 mpg. Happy travels!
     
  16. Chuck.

    Chuck. Former Honda Enzyte Driver

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    That sounds about right.

    I took shifts driving Dan's Prius to and from HybridFest (1200 miles of driving for me :) )

    Filled it up as the last notch on the gas gage was blinking.

    Filled 12.35 gallons, but learned about the bladder spitting it back {blush}.

    It probably held about 12.1 gallons after the spill.
     
  17. derkraut

    derkraut Member

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    Thanks everyone for your comments. I assure you I will fill the tank @ 1 bar whenever possible from now on. Worrying about running out is just not very enjoyable. When I filled with 12.73gal, I did top it off all the way to the filler cap, since I was still a long way from civilization.

    I ran with cruise control the entire trip whenever possible. My poorest stretch for fuel economy was between Pierre, SD and Garden City, Kansas (southbound) into a stiff headwind. Averaged 44.5 that day @ around 65-70mph. My best was 58.3mpg on I-40 between ABQ-PHX. That stretch (445mi) was with no wind to speak of, and included a 3000ft drop in elevation between ABQ-PHX. I now have 10,000mi on the car. Overall mpg is now 47.7. In my experience, my best mpg at highway speed is around 65mph with cruise engaged. It runs great @ 80mph, but fuel consumption goes up significantly (along with "angst" regarding speeding citations).
    By the way, I did fill with 1 tank of 10% ethanol blend in Nebraska. Fuel consumption seemed higher than normal, but it's hard to judge due to the headwind. Due to the fuel bladder, etc, I don't intend to use ethanol blended fuel unless I have no other choice; although my manual says it's OK.
     
  18. gupchurch1349

    gupchurch1349 New Member

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    Here we go again. Why do people run their tank so low. Over time dirt of all kinds collect in the bottom of the tank. When fuel is low, the pump (fuel pump) sucks this stuff up. Goes to your engine and other working Parts. You are asking for trouble. To replace a fuel pump in the Pruis would be costly. Several hundred dolars, just as a guess. Do not let your guage go below 2 marks.
     
  19. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    Last night I thought I had 2 pips left. Starting out today I had 1. It started flashing just past the Shell station in Delran (a few miles from home). I got gas 15 miles later in Bordentown. 500 miles and 54.0mpg on the MFD infers that I should have plenty of gas left. Pump in 8.976 gallons at the slow speed & automatic shut off for 55.7 mpg calculated. This is why it is called the "Guess Gauge".
     
  20. KD6HDX

    KD6HDX New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(derk @ Jul 24 2007, 04:33 PM) [snapback]484399[/snapback]</div>
    Dude, this is bad for your car. You should never fill the filler tube up to the cap. Long story short, the liquid gas will saturate your charcoal EVAP canister. The dry state of the charcoal canister is designed to absorb fuel vapors. There is a thread on this from ancient times, but I heard the service manager at the new car seminar tell everyone that filling up the gas tube all the way was a sure way to get error codes that will result in a wild goose chase of discombobulated diagnostic guesses by unskilled mechanics. Poor mileage in the future could be a result of saturating the charcoal evap canister.

    in the prius, you're never that far from civilization.

    Good luck.