Bad Prius Experience yesterday while fueling

Do a search here....you're not the only one it's happened to (including me). The bladder doesn't like to be overfilled. How much fuel did it take before spewing?

 

It's usually a problem with the auto-shutoff feature on the pump nozzle. Try a different pump or station next time.

Tom

 

The common solution is this: use only quality "top tier" gas like what Toyota recommends (I use Shell, but other brands also participate in the "top tier" program), and buy only from well maintained stores. You'll get good gas (that actually increases your mileage over the random gas the grocery stores pump) plus a much better chance that the pump handle is working correctly and shuts off correctly.

The Prius bladder thing can mask a bad pump handle until you pull the handle out, at which point the Prius bladder squeezes back to the size it wants and spews the gas it can't hold back out of the filler tube (and probably right onto YOU).

The Prius bladder thing is a good intention gone bad, that Toyota should have done away with by now.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(adam1991 @ Apr 6 2007, 06:48 AM) [snapback]418738[/snapback]</div>

Actually, where you buy gas makes no difference unless you need specific additives in your gas (like Chevron's "Techroline"). My understanding is that all refineries dump their gasoline into a common pipeline, so gasoline from different manufacturers and refineries gets mixed together prior to delivery. At least that's what I learned on Discovery Channel!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusBoyAZ @ Apr 6 2007, 12:12 PM) [snapback]418855[/snapback]</div>

Anyone know what the difference between ARCO gas and other gas brands? All I seem to know is that it is a lower grade of gas and I won't use it in any of our cars.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusBoyAZ @ Apr 6 2007, 01:12 PM) [snapback]418855[/snapback]</div>

If so, then I'm going to find the biggest, baddest law firm I can find and sue Shell out of existence:

http://tinyurl.com/yvdmvz

http://tinyurl.com/2zoq68

My 07 has seen nothing but Shell so far.

I also have a 94 Lexus, that I've driven 50K miles over the past 3 years. I got it at 124K miles, and it now has 175K miles. I used to put the cheapest gas into it, but I tried the Shell V-Power for a couple of tanks to see what happened.

What happened was that my fuel economy jumped significantly, to where it was cheaper per mile to use the more expensive (per gallon) Shell gas than the cheaper (per gallon) gas.

After a few tanks I went back to the Shell 87 octane, without the V-Power cleaners (I figured those few V-Power tanks had cleaned things out enough), and my mileage stayed up there.

 

This is the first I've heard of "Top Tier Gas". Maybe it deserves it's own thread? According to toptiergas.com, the only approved retailers are the following:

QuikTrip
Chevron
Conoco
Phillips
76
Shell
Entec Stations
MFA Oil Company
Kwik Trip/Kwik Star
The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Chevron-Canada
Aloha Petroleum
Tri-Par Oil Company
Shell-Canada
Texaco
Petro-Canada
Sunoco-Canada

What if I don't have any of these brands in my area? We have Exon-Mobil, Hess, BP, and Citgo off the top of my head. There are some Kwik Fills around (same as Kwik Trip/Kwik Star?), but they are few and far between. What to do? I've used BJ's brand in the past, but I'm starting to get a little worried about using it in my new Prius (I've yet to fill up for the first time, but its coming soon).

 

From the distribution center and back, gasoline is all mixed together, flowing in the same pipelines. A refinery puts in x gallons, and takes x gallons out the other side. Its not the same gasoline, but the same amount. Then it goes by truck or tanker to distribution centers that local fuel trucks come to pick up fuel and distribute it. They are all getting the SAME gasoline at that point. When the truck fills up, it adds its own additive package at that point. This is also where the 'mid grade' fuels are blended. The distro center may only have 87 and 93, but they are mixed at the pump truck (or even later, at the station) to make 90.

The additive package is the only thing different with the fuels. Of course, additives can potentially make a difference, and there are other factors, like if water or diesel or rust can is in the pump tanks at poorly maintained stations or something, but the fuel isn't fundamentally different from gas station to gas station.

It's 10% "real" differences, and 90% marketing fluff.

 

If the additive package makes you pay less per mile for fuel, it's a very real difference indeed.

Same with engine oils. It's the additive package.

 

I had the same thing happen to me last night on my second fill up. It was much colder out than the first time, so I don't know if that was a factor. If I put the nozzle all the way in, it shuts off immediately, so I had to pull it back some. I think I pulled it out far enough that it couldn't sense the vapor to shutoff. So somewhere between these two is the sweet spot I need to find. I did it on the first fill up, but not this time. I have to admit I have had this happen on two other cars when I first got them. It only takes one time of feeling really stupid and washing the gas off the car and then I don't do it again. I hope that's the case this time.

 

CITGO is NO-GO! don't buy it!

someone at work told me that sunoco profits all stay here in the US.......

we don't pump our own here in jersey but maybe the pump speed was toooooooo fast! remember, when it's cold the bladder will be more stiff.....

 

Next time you fuel up, look closely at the nozzle. See that little
hole in the bottom of the pipe? See the little hose that starts
there and runs back inside the main delivery hose? That's the
shutoff sensor, and if you pull back on the nozzle or otherwise
block that little hole, it has no idea that the tank is full.
.
That's probably the main cause of "burping" and overfills...
.
_H*

 

It's also important to fully insert the nozzle (several inches) into the fill pipe. And don't top off.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(adam1991 @ Apr 6 2007, 02:52 PM) [snapback]419050[/snapback]</div>

I agree. The additives may seem like a small difference, but over 100k+ miles, they could save $1000's of dollars in repairs. Also, consider that as a percentage of cost, "cheap" gas isn't that much cheaper than top tier. A few cents per gallon? A buck per tank?

In my opinion, the best additives justify paying an extra buck or so per tank of gas.

Another thing mentioned above: top tier gas stations are more likely to enforce controls over water content, and are more likely to have pump equipment in good repair.

 

And my results showed that the fuel cost per mile--which is the only real factor--is less with Shell gas than with the other fuels around here.

So it's a few cents a gallon, or a buck or so a tank--but I got that back and then some while I drove.

Most people are so fixated on the amount of money they pay for a given fillup, they don't stop to analyze the actual cost per mile of that fuel. They're looking for a smaller dollar amount on their charge statement, without adding it all up and doing the math.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusBoyAZ @ Apr 6 2007, 12:12 PM) [snapback]418855[/snapback]</div>

I used to drive a gasoline transport for a company that hauled gasoline for all the refineries over oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Missouri. I can tell you for sure that depending on the area the Distributor was located in determined where you gasoline was coming from. If there was a Conoco refinery near, you would be burning Conoco. If there was another brand of refinery, you would be burning that brand of gasoline. I have even hauled gasoline out of independent refineries to brand name Distributors. The refinieries swap out their products among themselves.

 

cheapchic started this fuel spew thread on 6 April, and 27 hours later claimed that he dumped the Prius for a variety of perceived defects: http://priuschat.com/Dumped-the-07-Prius-a...eks-t31558.html

I smell bullsh!t, or maybe someone who needs to up his ADHD meds.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sfprii @ Apr 6 2007, 01:08 PM) [snapback]418913[/snapback]</div>

Arco, or Atlantic Richfield, isn't a lower grade of gas at all. They have slightly lower prices because they do their own refining. I've never had trouble with Arco gas, I bought it for years back in the 90s. I believe that BP bought Arco, and I did have issues with BP gas, but we don't have any more BP stations in the Seattle area.

I avoid Safeway gas, Costco gas, and any other off-brand. I buy Shell at my local gas station most of the time, unless I'm on a road trip, where I'll stick with Chevron or Shell or Texaco.

Dave