Ok, I need to know the real deal...I ran out of gas

Nahh, you're OK. Other people have done this. Just don't make a habit of it :_>

 

I've been driving since 1969, and I only ran out of gas once --
That was in 1969 when I waws 16. What a royal pain, even though at that time I had no sense of responsiblity, and I could rely on parents & grandparents to pick me up every time I fell.

We're all grown-up Prius drivers now, aren't we !?

 

GenozWorld: so i wouldn't tell the dealer about this,

Limetime13: You won't need to "not tell" Toyota - they will see it in the computer.

PatrickWong: would not recommend volunteering information about your out-of-fuel episode.

=================

Don't you suppose there may be some Toyo-spies (or Chris Hansen) out there lapping this all up ? :spy:

 

Just being careful. There have been a few nutcases here who have run out multiple times: some because they *just know* that there really has to be X gallons left in the tank, others deliberately because they want to find out far they can go, and at least one because, hey, it's an electric car, right? Sheesh.

But no, you don't sound like a nutcase. And running out seems to be much more a boy thing than a girl thing.

 

The gas gauge works just fine in my Prius. I also like to use the entire volume of the gas tank. I am not one of those who fills up at a quarter tank. When I get down to the last PIP I start thinking about where I will fill up. When the last PIP starts blinking, I know that I am in immenent danger of running out of fuel. Surprise! Surprise! I have never run out of fuel.

If I ever run out of fuel before that last PIP starts blinking, I will be really upset. So far, I have driven up to about 10 miles with a blinking PIP. However, I know that if I ran out of gas with a blinking PIP it would be my fault. Essentially a blinking PIP means that you are on "E".

Can the OP answer a couple questions? Was the last PIP blinking before you ran out of gas? If so, how many miles was it blinking before the engine turned off? That would be some usefull information for all of us here at Priuschat.

 

I'm really starting to dislike the whole "guess gauge" shtick. In my opinion, this attitude has probably been at least partly to blame for a number of folks running out of gas. Here's a scenario: Joe Q. Newbie buys his new Prius and does some surfing to learn about his new car. He learns that the gas gauge is so inaccurate that everyone calls it the "guess gauge." Joe knows the tank is 11.9 gallons, and knows what he is getting for MPGs thanks to the MFD. At a mere 450 miles the car says "Add Fuel" and the gas gauge shows empty. Joe ignores it because he knows its inaccurate, and knows that at 50mpg he can go almost 600 miles on 11.9 gallons. Joe runs out of gas, and has no idea why.

The gas gauge may not be super accurate (probably no more or less so than any other vehicle) but it has a much better idea how much fuel is in the tank than the driver does.

I realize that going 600 miles on a tank is sexy. It makes the Prius seem cooler than other cars. But thats about all its worth. At 311 miles in 11 gallons the OPs Neon was getting about 28mpg. Her Prius should be getting almost double that, regardless of how often she has to put gas in it. Personally I love going to fill up at 450 miles, and only putting about $27 worth of gas in. SUV owners eyes tend to bug out when you tell them how far you went on that little money. My truck would struggle to get 300 miles on a $75 fill up (required premium too).

Eco-chic: If you haven't already, try filling up on the slowest pump setting. It will give the bladder a little more time to stretch, and maximize the amount of gas you can get in. Filling up at the warmest time of the day will also help if you want to get the most miles/tank. Of course on Long Island that may mean waiting to fill up until June or so

Rob

 

Here are my comments on the gas gauge, a copy from another post of mine so you might read it twice...

Although the "guess gauge" is inaccurate, it is very predictable. I notice that the first pip takes about 30-200 miles (depending on the temp), then the last 9 get 35-40 miles per pip. You should observe to see if this is true for your driving. This 'rule' depends on your MPG. If you want to use total miles til empy you would be better by using the #of gal added x MPG. I dont know why people would "know" they can get more miles out of a plinking pip. I think the 11.9 gal capacity in the manual is causing most of the trouble.

I too agree that the MFD screen MPG is 99% accurate(not perfect due to rounding errors). I might use my hand calculated for lifetime MPG but that's it. Gas pumps will charge you for more gallons than you actually put in. Pumping slow is the only way to get your bucks worth.

 

During my gasoline studies, I ran out of gas three dozen times to purge the previous samples. I've gone as little as 26 miles and as much as 137 miles between blinking light and out of gas. The average was 65-70 miles. On some of the full tank refills, it ran about 11.2-11.3 gallons with one just over 10 gallons. But complaints about the 'guess gauge' have been around since when I first joined Prius forums, GreenHybrid.com in my case.

I find for spring, summer and fall, my driving delivers between 500 to just over 600 miles per tank. In freezing weather, it runs about 470-500 miles. But one that has never happened, I've not 'run out of gas' without the blinking light.

If I'm doing a gasoline study, I'll put a one gallon spare can in the back when the blinking light starts. Then when I run out, I find a safe place to add the gallon of test gas and drive to the gas station selling the brand I'm testing.

Bob Wilson

 

I've never understood the phenomenon of driving around with an empty or near-empty gas tank. So many people do it. I think that at times they are feeling poor or broke and don't have the $ to fill it, some will put in just small quantities of gas at a time rather than filling it up. That is not a wise practice from a personal safety standpoint (you cannot predict where you will be or what you will be doing when the car runs out and dies on you) or economically. It is no more expensive to drive a car with a full tank of gas than with an empty one!!!!

I think that something about the Prius also encourages this. I've actually seen posters here claim that you'll get better mileage as the tank runs close to empty because the car is lighter! Good grief!! And we seem to be in a bit of a competition to get the "best tank" from a mileage standpoint, something that again encourages letting it get way too low.

Because of the issues with this generally excellent car, the bladder, the inaccurate fuel-gauge, and the problems that can arise from allowing it to run out of gas, not to mention the razzing one is going to get from law enforcement if you do, I strongly recommend never allowing it to get below two pips. In fact, a truly wise person would probably fill up when the tank gets below the half-way point. Just my .02 worth.

 

Your comments remind me of an old pilot's adage:

The three most useless things in the world:

1) The runway behind you.

2) The altitude above you.

and

3) The fuel you didn't put in the tank.

Tom

 

All I can say is, "wow". I haven't been on this forum for a few months and left primarily because of all the ignorant people on here. I know there are very few mechanically inclined folks on this board compared to other automotive boards but your theories about running out of fuel being the end of the world to the traction battery is laughable. This group takes the problem with Internet rumors to an all new level.

For the record I've never run out of fuel on any vehicle I've owned. I typically will stop for fuel when the pip starts blinking on my normal day to day commute. On a road trip I usually fill up between 1/4 and 1/2 (the Arizona desert isn't a place you want to run out of fuel).

Mike

 

if you run out of gas the traction battery might go below 40 %, in which of a case you wont be able to start the car after that unless you go to a dealer.

im talking from experience here, i didnt run out of gas, but the car detected a problem and ran the engine until the Hv battery went down way below 40 %, in which case the CAR WILL NOT START.

its not a laughable concept man. its fact, when you run out of gas you risk damaging the HV battery ( either by shortening its lifespan, or completely damaging it by reaching very low SOC ) , by taking it out of its safe zone.

my 01 prius went well below the 30 % SOC stage, which is why i created a charger and charged the HV battery slowly to 80 % SOC, dealers dont have a charger, or most dealers wont admit to having one, so if you run out of gas dealers are most likely going to waste your money.

 

I've never understood the phenomenon of getting fuel with a half empty or quarter-empty gas tank.

I have better things to do than visit the gas station every 3 days.

Also, everyone should take with a grain of salt the comments made by people who own the Prius without a bladder. Thats like a bus driver telling a airplane pilot the best way to land his plane.

 

It often takes weeks for me to use a half-tank of gas. The only time I stop for gas every couple of days is when I'm making a weekend trip up to NY to visit family, in which case I'm using at least half a tank for the trip up. In winter I have to fill up again before I head back for DC, although in summer temps I can make it down to a Shell station in Moorestown NJ that I like before refueling.

In general once I'm down to about half a tank I decide when to stop for gas based on several factors, such as:

- if prices have been going up a lot, then I'd rather get it now before it jumps again tomorrow.

- if I know I'll be doing lots of driving over the next few days but I'll be in unfamiliar areas so I won't know offhand where I'll find a gas station or what the prices are like there, then I'll fill up near home in advance.

- if it's one of the rare days when I'm not in a hurry to get somewhere, I might as well stop now rather then wait until I really need gas but am in a rush.

 

I put in three tablespoons of gas every month, whether it needs it or not.

 

ECO-CHIC,

Thanks for answering the question about the blinking PIP, and I agree with you regarding the other issues.

I feel that Toyota's claim that the tank holds 11.9 gallons is an outright lie. I dont believe there are any conditions where the tank will ever hold that much fuel. As a minimum Toyota should state that under some conditions the tank has as little as a 9 gallon capacity.

The Prius is also smart enough to give us a "miles till empty" display.

Thinking through this a bit more, I do blame Toyota for this. For my other cars I would watch my gauge when it gets near empty, then see how many gallons would fit at the next fill-up. I would then compare that to the tank capacity listed in the manual and decide if I could go a bit farther. This technique does not work in a Prius, since the manual is not fully accurate its listing of a 11.9 gallon capacity tank.

In the end, it seems that one should not count on more than 15-20 miles after the last PIP starts blinking.

 

Hi Madler and others!

I'm in San Diego and was wondering what kind of mpg's you and other California Prius owners are getting, considering the use of ethanol in the winter, etc. Should CA owners be getting fewer mpg's than non-CA owners?

 

No. It will start just fine without the dealer or any other repair facility. I don't know what problem you ran into. Many folk here have run out of gas, put in more gas, and went on with their driving and their lives with no problem. Even when they deliberately ran down the HV battery to near zero. There were some warning lights on the dash for a little while, and that's it.

Sigh, no. See my previous post on this thread. Running a NiMH battery down to zero once or even dozens of times will have no measurable effect on the capacity or lifetime of the battery.

Don't smoke the dealers' weed.