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Gas gauge griping

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by seeh2o, Apr 7, 2004.

  1. seeh2o

    seeh2o Prius OG

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    I'm driving along, three bars left on my gas gauge, feeling very encouraged about how the mileage is going up with each tank. I drove no more than 10 min. each direction on flat surface streets in 75 degree weather and my gas gauge dropped two bars - now it's down to one bar. :cussing: How could that be? I know there has been a lot of discussion about the gas gauge, but has anyone had something like this happen? Now I'm wondering how far I'll be able to drive before it starts blinking.

    It seems the gas gauge problem seems worse than I thought it was.
     
  2. mikepaul

    mikepaul Senior Member

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    I added 3 gallons to a tank that had 1 unblinking bar left, and it went up to *6* bars.

    Hardly the 50% of a tank increase the 10 bar-divisions imply...
     
  3. eak354

    eak354 Member

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    :? When i got home the other day, it showed 4 bars left. yesterday it showed 6 bars. then today it started as 3 bars then after several minutes went down to 1 bar! :cry: sup with that? it wasnt blinking yet, but with those fluctuations i didnt want to chance it so i gassed up - stopped at 8 gallons. oh yeah, i got around 340 miles before that fill-up.
     
  4. HFFL

    HFFL New Member

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    The best way to remedy this problem is to take the amount of gallons the tank holds, 11.9, & multiply it by your average MPG. That will show you the max # of miles you can go on one tank. I would never suggest pushing it to the max, but that should give you an idea on how far you can go on one tank of gas.
     
  5. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    The gripe is that we don't have 11.9 usable gallons in our tank, so determining range this way would certainly lead one to running out of gas prematurely.

    -Rick
     
  6. financeguy

    financeguy Doing Well

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    I must be lucky, or a lot of people are not posting here. I don't have a gas gage problem! I've had the car 6 weeks and have filled it about 6 times. If I wait till only one bar shows it takes around 10 gallons. If I wait till it's been flashing a while it takes 11+ gallons. I just set it on the slow fill notch and do my windows, no problems. I should add that I'm in Michigan so we are not in a warm area.
     
  7. rflagg

    rflagg Member

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    I can usually get between 7-9 gallons in my gas tank, and thats with coaxing and slowest fill. I've had it go from 3 bars to Blinking in an instant, which didn't make me too happy. There's definately still a problem, but either people are just getting used to it and waiting for the supposed 'fix' that may or may not be coming - or others just don't have the problem anymore.

    Oh, and I've got 3200 miles on it, and it doesn't seem to get any better/worse with time, at least not yet. The largest amount I've ever put in the tank was after a long amount of freeway driving, mileage in the lower 50's (which is norm for me), and I got 9.3 gallons in.

    The truly best bet to 'guessing' how far you can go is mpg x previous amount of gallons placed in the tank.

    -m.
     
  8. mikepaul

    mikepaul Senior Member

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    I'm waiting anxiously for the European Prius owners to wonder why the rest of us complain... :evil: :cussing:
     
  9. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Mine's pretty consistent. I use the slowest nozzle setting and quit when it shuts off. If the last bar was blinking I get about 8 gallons in. Then it drops fairly close to one bar per gallon, steadily.
     
  10. Astroprius

    Astroprius New Member

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    This is only a theory, and one that I proved incorrect just this morning. I actually ran out of gas on my way in to work, but I knew I was calling it very close. I had 640.7 miles on the tank and my MPG display was 60.1 which should have put me in the 700+ mile range assuming 11.9 gallon capacity.

    The last fuel bar began blinking at 559.1 miles so I went about 80 miles in that condition.

    1) The calculated MPG wasn't too far off (58.5 MPG calculated v. 60.1 on the display), so I can't fault the software for a calculation error.

    2) There may be about a gallon of unusable fuel, although some owners are getting results that suggest 2-3 gallons are never used.

    So at least I know that I can use the 10 gallon rule for a safe range.

    The really stupid thing about this incident is that I forgot to put the spare container of gas in the car before I left the house. This was supposed to be an insurance factor, knowing that I was pushing the total range and could run out of gas by doing so.

    To add insult to humiliation, the gas station that I tried to use battery only to get to was no longer in operation. I only had enough reserve charge to go 2.1 miles, which was 0.4 miles too short.

    BTW, the car was not a happy camper and eventually shut down with the warning triangle and the red car icon being displayed. These did not go away after I added a half gallon of gas to the tank (to get me to the gas station). The ICE did start right away, but the warning lights remained on. I drove the 0.4 miles to the gas station and filled up (10.5 gallons). Once I filled up, everything was back to normal.
     
  11. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    So, your tank was dead empty and only took 10.5 gallons. So much for the 11.9-gallon-tank theory.
     
  12. mikepaul

    mikepaul Senior Member

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    Looks more like .5 + 10.5...

     
  13. RobertO

    RobertO New Member

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    I live near Seattle, so you know our weather here.

    I routinely use the slow setting at the pump.

    It invariably clicks off between 7+ and around 8 gallons. I invariabl can cosx another1.5 to 2.5 gallons into the tank.

    Indicated and calculated MPG differ any where from .5 to 3 MPG, although last fill up the display showed 43.7 but I calculated 47.5.

    Right now, until more warm weather comes or Toyota releases the software patch for the (now we know, improperly placed) Fuel Sensor, I figure about 430 mile range at around 43 MPG average. It's probably a smidge more, but I don't need to push it.

    It's all conjecture anyway, until Toyota fixes the damned thing. Even then, the refill gallons with the baldder system will remain problematic.

    Way I see it; anything over 40 MPG in town is gravy. That and PZEV rating.


    Bob
     
  14. eak354

    eak354 Member

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    :cry: we're happy for you but wish we're as lucky as you. :cry:
     
  15. priusfanmh

    priusfanmh Guest

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    Oh I am sure that if I had that dreaded bladder in my fuel tank here in the UK causing the gauge to be erratic then I would too be cussing.

    You have my sympathy. :|