I had 166 miles on this tank of gas. The fuel gauge was down 2 pips. I took the kids to go get some icecream and looked at mpg and the miles on the MFD and the mpg were still reading the same, but it had reset itself to 1 mile....and no, i did not hit it! I looked at the gas gauge, and it was now full. i was not on an incline. i got home, turned the car off and waited about 15 min and turned it back on it and it still reading a full tank of gas and that i've only gone 2 miles. i did some searches on here and found similar things with parking on inclines but i was on pretty flat roads. to clarify....i did not hit the reset button - it did it itself.
I believe you for two reasons: The reset button would also reset the mpg, not just the miles driven, and it wouldn't magically change the contents of the fuel tank. For the fuel gauge to jump up 2 pips to full, somebody had to put gas in the car. No incline will do that, AFAIK. So I don't know if you have helpful gremlins out where you live or what, but it looks to me like somehow your car was filled, possibly at home, since it sounds like you live about a mile from the ice cream place (why not ride bikes that short distance and enjoy the weather?). Is it possible somebody emptied last year's gas can for the lawnmower or something into your tank and didn't tell you? OTOH, I have tried to brush dust off the MFD, and accidentally triggered the reset button. But that's not what happened here.
hmm, didn't ride a bike b/c it's 95 degrees today and i have a 3 year old and a 1 year old and the icecream joint is 2 miles away, on a 6 lane divided highway. no gas was put in the car. on the way, the 166 miles was reading and it was 2 pips short of full - on the way back it was full and reading 1 mile and the mpg did not reset. i did not turn the car off during the trip. i'm not stupid. i did not hit the reset button. i didn't even touch the mfd.
Well, flaky things sometimes happen to the Prius. Maybe the 12V power to the MFD and combination meter (where the fuel gauge resides) was intermittent which forced a reset. It will be interesting to see how many miles you can travel from this point, until the gauge drops back down two bars.
I don't think anyone here thinks or said that you are. I just think that some people made jokes because they do not know why your car says its full. I think that I was just some type of fluke. If you are still troubled by the occurrence, maybe you should take the vehicle into your dealership and explain the story.
My first Prius fill-up, the pump clicked off, and when I checked the gauge, it was showing 2 pips below full. I went inside and paid (less than $30...GREAT feeling) and when I came out and powered on the car, the pips were full...all pips were showing. Could something similar have happened?
i filled up a few days ago so i don't think something like that happened. i know i'm a newbie so i guess i'm just ultra-sensitive b/c maybe this is common and i'm just unaware. at least i reset my odo when i filled up so i won't run out of gas.... i'm mainly nervous about it b/c it's new - 1000 miles, 3 weeks old....i'm not ready for problems yet!
Fill up the next time you are out. That should give the fuel system a chance to reset with a full tank. Tom
Patrick, how many times were you told to read your owner's manual? Everyone gets one of these gas adding moments courtesy of Toyota and you can find it in the manual, somewhere. I'm just sorry I haven't had mine yet. :Cry: ZC1
I apologize if you think I was calling you stupid, I was not thinking that nor intended that. Somehow the car thinks there's more gas in the tank, and we don't think an incline was involved. Perhaps it went from a cool garage to sit in the sun and the gas expanded? This is just speculation. I've noticed it takes a little while for the fuel gauge to rise all the way to where the tank actually is. Driving a half-mile will do it, so will running inside the store for a minute. For the first time in nearly 3 years, last weekend I paid more than $30 for a fill-up ($32 and change @ $4.12/gal).
The car not only thinks there is more gas in the tank, but it thought that since it was full, it must reset the MFD to zero miles. I guess i'm just perplexed and wanted to see if anyone else has encountered this. I will fill up tomorrow morning and hit the reset button myself and see what happens. I did go from a cooler garage to outside in really warm heat, but I thought that others would have this same issues if that was the case....and why would the mileage counter reset itself? Thanks for all your ideas...and humor.
Early on I did have an "event" where I swear the MFD reset itself to 0. No change in fuel level, however. I just checked it off to a senior moment or gremlins or whatever. 2K miles later and no more problems. I agree with whoever said to fill up and see what is really in the tank and let it reset itself. 166 miles and down to 2 PIPs doesn't sound right. Way too low unless you are driving with the emergency brake on. (just kidding). Really, I'm over 300 miles before I get down to 2 PIPs. Bob
Gremlins. They haven't played with my "guess gauge" but they did push my window lock button. I know I was the "Idiot of the Day" at the dealer. The service writer said I was the 3rd one with "power window failure" cured by pressing the button. Just goes to show that stuff happens to everyone sooner or later regardless of tenure.
sorry if i wasn't clear - i wasn't down to two pips, i was down 2 pips - so i had all but 2. the kids were in carseats in the back and haven't ever sat in the front. i'm guessing it was the gremlins....
