Top off when filling?

That's good advice...

 

That advice will cost you big time if gas gets between your bladder and tank, not to mention environmental contamination caused by escaping vapors. I question whether the survey was specific to cars that have a bladder. I won't chance it past the first click after hearing others' overfill stories.

 

In NJ one is supposed to stop when the pump shuts off. You'll know when you've pumped too much into the bladder because the car will vomit on your shoes.

 

How will that happen, getting gas into the tank between it and the bladder?
Vapors already escape to the environment, there is not a perfect seal at the nozzle.

 

You mean it will pee on it? That is way too much indeed.

 

what i'm gonna tell you is gonna be VERY controversial here.

i used to hear that people get 100+ miles before the FIRST PIP disappears. i often wondered "HOW CAN THEY DO THIS?" or better yet...........'WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?" well, i had an epiphany the other day. my thought was...............why not fill up until it spills over my shoes? fill it up until it just wont take anymore!

well, i did just that, spare me the sneers and boos please.............

after doing this, to my surprise!!!! i got the same MPG's now! matter of fact, i didn't know what the heck i was doing wrong, but now, i can get 300+ miles BEFORE THE GAS PIPS SHOW HALF WAY! now, after owning the car for about a year and after 15,000+ miles, i'm telling you i will always fill up until the tank cannot take anymore.

what you do is what you want to do, what i do is for my benefit. now, i know i am NOT crazy........................my tank just wasn't stretching enough.........................wanna witness this? no problem, if you're ever in the LA/Socal area and wanna see me top off more than 5+ times WITHOUT spillage, let me know.

cheers.

 

From what I have read the Prius has a bladder type tank, so you must be careful when filling. I listen to the fuel port. When it starts to make hissing and gurgling noieses, you should stop filling, or run the risk of the dreaded over-fill!!

Gregg Hayes

 

Wait. Can you clarify your steps? You overfilled one time to stretch your bladder, or you overfill every single time? If it's the latter, wouldn't that create spillage?

Back on topic: I usually go 1 or 2 more clicks.

 

+1 on that. I can't imagine that it has permanently stretched that much. I would love to get more gas in my tank but it always stops between 7 - 8 Gallons even when it is blinking at me. I'll have to try getting it to belch at me next time I fill up I guess. I usually just stop when it clicks as I've heard the horror stories.

 

I know that it's difficult to make a correlation between pips and the amount of gas consumed, but the guess gauge is very good at telling the driver when it's time to put gas in the car. Given that and the risks associated with overfilling the tank, I frequently wonder why people choose to push this part of the envelope. Squeezing a little more gas into the car isn't going to change the range that much. I'm not trying to be judgmental, just up front.

 

Some people want to go as far possible between fillups because they hate the smell of gasoline and hate getting it on their shoes; seeing the tank burp assures them that they will get the maximum possible interval between fillups.

:_>

 

I used to stop immediately at the first stoppage, unless it seemed crazy that it would be full (5 gallons or something), but after sometimes getting under 250 miles in a tank, I push it to the second, third, even 4th or 5th stoppage... sometimes get another gallon or more in, never had it burp at me.

As for why, I just hate seeing pips disappear so fast. Right now, I've gone 95 miles and am down to 6 pips. Lost my first one at 25 miles. It's frustrating, frankly, and even when mileage is low in winter, I'd like to get near 300 miles in a tank.

 

Some people drive a lot. Over the last year I was driving 850 miles a week just commuting to my job. At 350 miles per tank that would be a fill-up ever other day or 10 times per month. That a lot of time out of my life especially when work and commute is 14 hours per day.

I drove our VW Jetta TDI instead of the Prius. The TDI goes a reliable 650-700 miles on a 14 gallon tank. That is only 5 fill-ups per month.

As to topping off. In the TDI I stop when it clicks off, push the purge button to vent the tank, and then pump until it clicks off again. (The TDI has the purge button to allow filling from high volume pumps at truck stops)

With the Prius on a good day I stop pumping at the second click. On a bad day it clicks off at 1 gallons when the gas says only one pip left. Then I spend ~ 10 minutes of frustration trying to get the bladder to take fuel. (I get ~90% of my fuel from a single pump at the Costco.)

 

I agree. Winter is the worst time to get the smallest fill volume, but the bladder is very sensitive to the cold. In addition it doesn't reliably fill near its working volume in the first place, and it mileage is somewhat reduced in winter. It's a nasty combination.

I'll stick with first click shut off and single pip fills as long as the volume is marginal, but if I'm expecting 8+ gallons and get 5, then I'm going to begin doing what is necessary to fill the tank. If something fails it is Toyota's responsibility, not mine.

 

When I first drove my 2003 Prius (new), the first thing I did was check the utility of the fuel guage. After all, the slick brochures touted 600 miles between fillups. I promptly ran out of gas, and the resulting excitement I never wanted to repeat; but that's a different story. As an engineer, I bought it because the technology fascinated me, and being older than 12, I knew that owning one and driving it over time was better than joining the kids in praising or criticizing something they never actually experienced.
The fuel guage in the Prius sucked then and, if I understand correctly, it still does. The indicator, such as it is, isn't even as accurate as a Model T's. Leaps of technology and it has come to this.
I don't care to discuss the bladder, the pros and cons or anything else, thankyouverymuch, but I can say this. I fill mine until the fuel gets to the top of the filler tube. One click or 15, doesn't matter (every pump is different). The bottom line is, if after automatic shutoff one can still add anywhere from half a gallon to 3.5 gallons, apparently randomly, something is seriously amiss.
What good is an 11-gallon tank if I can only use 8 gallons of it?
I still drive the car regularly, and refuse to be irritated by 60s technology. Nothing ever happened. The world hasn't ended, and it's been over 5 years now.
You want to do it differently? That's wonderful. I just wish someone would make a REAL accurate and reliable after-market guage for the Prius. I would buy one in a heartbeat.

 

I understand wanting to save the time, but is it really worth it for the the three fill-ups or approximately 15 minutes? (OK I'm assuming that you don't have drive significantly out of the way to get to the gas station and that may not be valid.) I'm figuring this based on the assumption that if you could get 500 miles out of a Prius tank (or 10 gallons at 50 mpg) you would be filling 7 times a month (driving 3,400 miles/month) for difference of 3 when compared to the 350 mile tank. If it works for you, I guess that's all that really matters; the world would be pretty dull if we all did the same things.

This sounds like a nice feature that maybe Toyota might want to consider putting on the Prius. I know many people have a love/hate relation ship with the fuel bladder (as in they "love to hate it".) While I haven't had many problems putting gas in the Prius I know others who have and this little feature sounds like it might a way around those issues.

I too get my gas at Costco, but have only had this issue one time. Yes, it was incredibly frustrating. Honestly, I solved the problem by simply going to a different pump. Yes, it meant waiting in a short line again, but that was quicker and less frustrating that continuing to argue with the shut-off mechanism on the pump. The next pump was just fine. Since then, I've only used that pump if there was no other choice, but haven't had the problem since.

 

hello people, again, i told you what i found out was VERY controversial.

again, it's like the mpg people that will inflate their tires to 50+ psi, is that safe? i dont really think so...........................

but what i'm telling you is true.

THIS IS WHAT I USED TO DO............fill up the tank, fill up slow, fill up fast, whatever, when it's done, click once, twice, it stops, i'm DONE> i used to get anywhere between 70-90 miles before the FIRST PIP GOES AWAY.

NOW, THIS IS WHAT I DO NOW........fill up the tank, fast fill, keep clicking, click, click, whatever it takes until i see fuel going down very slowly. then, i'm done. the difference? i now can get 160+ MILES BEFORE THE FIRST PIP GOES AWAY.

here's the bottom line...........AM I GETTING THE SAME MPG'S?????? ................ABSOLUTELY. this is nothing to do with fuel economy. it has to do with filling up the tank/bladder to the max capacity.........PERIOD.

now, here's what everybody wants to know...............DO I HAVE SPILLAGE? the answer is.........NO! not a drop. anyone in the LA area, watch me fill up.

cheers

 

I sometimes in very hot weather take my top off to fill my Prius and I would encourage female Prius drivers to do likewise regardless of the temperature.

In fact all female drivers should observe this practice regardless of what they drive. :cheer2:

 

PAT - lucky guy! how's the show?? RU puttin' your order for a G3 now?