Bladderectomy

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Proco @ Sep 11 2006, 11:34 AM) [snapback]317719[/snapback]</div>

As the second biggest tax donor state (last I checked) in the US, chances are our tax dollars are paving someone elses roadways or building someone elses schools. So we will keep our odd laws and traditions and if the tax leeches will kindly keep their mouths closed, we will all be happy.

FYI -- as a side point, could anyone tell me why PriusChat freaks out when I hit the apostrophe key in Firefox?

 

I have a 06’ Cali car so maybe mine is slightly different, but I've filled my car 61 times now. It's annoying to me mainly because my car runs out of gas at around 10.2 gallons (from a full tank). To me the car was really impressive because you could (based on my calculations on 11-12 gallons, go 500 or so miles (easily) per fill. You can't.

My method of filling it is put the pump on the SLOWEST setting and when it clicks once it's done. It takes longer but it actually fills it to the "full" (10 gallons).

A couple times I’ve tried putting extra gas in and I got pretty much an extra 2 gallons in there. That pisses me off. I want to be able to use my car’s entire tank. 2 gallons (at least 1 of which I can use on a regular basis) is at least a good 40-80 miles at least of extra range I’m not getting because of the poor design of the car. I don't have time to spend 5 minutes doing the click click click routine to actually get my extra 2 gallons.

Speaking from someone who drives 35,000 miles a year that bit of less tank usage equals quite a few wasted trips to the station. My average fill is at 350 miles, if I were able to use the complete tank that would be closer to 400.

It also took me running out of gas twice when I first got the car to fully realize this. If I’ve driven only 400 miles getting 48mpg, in a car that has at least 11 gallons I can drive a pretty conservative 500miles right? WRONG. Ran out of gas at 440 miles and put only 10.3 gallons in a bone dry "12 gallon" tank. BS


Model: Toyota Prius
Generation: II
Year: 2006
Transmission: CVT

Lifetime Fuel Economy: 43.5 mpg (US)
Current Distance: 21,355 mi
Starting Fuel Economy: N/A
Starting Distance: 0 mi
Tanks: 61
Distance/Tank: 350 mi
Total Fuel: 491.3 gal (US)

Speed: +10% of Limit
City/Highway: 30/70%
Calculation Method: By Hand
Primary Environment: Suburban
Zip Code (US): 93560

 

Class Action Law-Suit!!! This is ridiulous!!! I just ended up going this for the 3rd time (6 total refills) and it SUX!!! It's embarassing to have a car that doesn't want gas and needs it to run its "hybrid" butt.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jonnycat26 @ Sep 11 2006, 12:12 PM) [snapback]317794[/snapback]</div>

Thats a "feature" in firefox... if you aren't focused in some sort of text input field of a website (such as the area where you type your replies, or the search bar in google, or whatever), the apostrophy opens the firefox search feature, which comes up at the bottom of the page, automatically putting the cursor in the search box... it then actively searches as you type in the box, jumping forward to the next string that matches with each new character, generating the "freaking out" behavior mentioned. discovered it when someone on another board asked pretty much the same question.

Personally, i don't see why they needed this, control-f is just as easy to bring up the search with.

 

240sxer and tyrael - Please browse through this thread and read other related posts on this topic. Your expectations are unrealistic, and many fellow members have taken their valuable time to explain why you shouldn't expect to get 11.9 gallons into a flexible fuel bladder (not flex-fuel) that has a MAXIMUM capacity of 11.9 gallons.

I educated myself before I purchased my Prius to know that while I could get more miles per gallon versus a conventional car, I wouldn't necessarily get more miles per tank.

 

I think it's hilarious when someone asks a question; the first ten posters respond to that question, then the forum degenerates into sub topics. The original question was about removing the bladder, but the forum soon got into the question of why Oregon and New Jersey still have full service stations...THEN, as an implied sub-plot, the oil company conspiracy theorists suggest (with probable cause) that the oil companies pulled a fast one on us. Meanwhile, no one really answered the question, which was about rthe feasibility of emoving the bladder, probably because no one has done it.

One function of the bladder vs. a conventional box tank, is that the air-gas mixture that is present in a conventional fuel tank is absent in the Prius. For sure, this has a positive effect on air quality by eliminated fumes, but it's also a safety thing because those same fumes are an explosion hazard in a collision. This is why race cars have bladder tanks instead of box tanks.

I've had the same problems as the original poster. When I keep getting a shutoff click before the tank has taken enough gasoline, I close the transaction and move to another pump. If I get the same from a second pump, I quit using that gas station. It's happened only a few times in two years, so I don't think it's a design flaw on Toyota's part as much as a sensor problem at the gas station.

One thing I did find puzzling was my inability to pump more than 8 tank when I was at the last square on the dash guage. I concluded that that last square represented the three gallons or so that were already in the tank. I'm too chicken to run the car to the "blinking" stage on the last square.
Bob

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(brandon @ Sep 11 2006, 02:08 PM) [snapback]317871[/snapback]</div>

Thank you for pointing that out!

Good grief, I can't believe this thread has gone on this long. Heck, even in my Odyssey the 20gal tank "runs out" at 15 gallons. Who cares? With that car I know I can go at least 100 miles after that point. My wife likes to pull into the next gas stations she sees. In the end you need to get gas whether it's today or tomorrow. With the Prius at least I know I've gone twice as far on the same amount of gas I would use on another vehicle.

If you don't like the Prius just because of the gas tank, I'm sure there are 100 people lining up to buy it from you. :lol:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bob Allen @ Sep 11 2006, 02:39 PM) [snapback]317902[/snapback]</div>

Exactly! There's a Chevron in my neighborhood that won't let you put in more than a couple gallons on *any* vehicle. I just avoid it now. And no special problems with the Prius either, filling it seems to be just as good or bad as any other car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bob Allen @ Sep 11 2006, 03:39 PM) [snapback]317902[/snapback]</div>

Bob, just give this thread a few more hours and soon we will discover how the Prius fuel bladder can actually reverse Global Warming... but if you remove it, uhh, well, the oceans will boil, Polar Bears will drown, Cheney will become President....

Rick
#4 2006

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bob Allen @ Sep 11 2006, 02:39 PM) [snapback]317902[/snapback]</div>

Yes, it's a bit like an online soap opera. We haven't worked in the evil twin yet, but I'm hoping that happens before the season ends.

 

Just fill it up. Chill and fill it again when the tank gets to on 1 pip. Don't get up tight about this it is not worth it?! Trust me "Do Not Stress Over This". Go, Fill, Go. What is the problem?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(viking31 @ Sep 11 2006, 10:49 AM) [snapback]317694[/snapback]</div>

You get what you settle for.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hdrygas @ Sep 11 2006, 08:40 PM) [snapback]318095[/snapback]</div>

Excelent advice. Stress negatively impacts pretty much every aspect of your life, so make the decision not to be stressed anymore. It really is as simple as that (ask people who have known me, and they'll tell you that through about junior year in high school i was the most stressed person they ever met. I made the decision, and haven't been stressed one minute since then, regardless of deadlines or running late for stuff. I just made the decision that it really doesn't matter. Life goes on.). there was a thread a while ago about "prius causes downtempo" or something. Let the prius do it's job, and chill... Some of you say that getting that extra gallon into the tank every time will save you a number of trips to the pump each year... so? you spend an extra 1-2 minutes each time getting that extra gallon in, then every 10th fill you get to "skip" one... for me, a typical pump takes about 5 minutes. seems like overall your wasting time. but thats just me.

 

ay, now discussion of a class action lawsuit??

yep, one more sign of a lawsuit-happy america.

i can rarely get more than 8 gallons in my tank anymore, i'm going to sue!

 

Well, since I drive more than probably ALL of you, it's a bit different filling the car ever 3 days vs. filling the car every 4 days.

Obviously I’m living with it and it's not the end of the world. But it's annoying. If I could remove the bladder or get a larger tank I would.

Screw the whales.

Look at it like this:

Me @ 36,000mi annually

@350miles per tank = 103 fills per year
A fill every 3.54 days

@400miles per tank = 90 fills per year
A fill every 4.1 days

Clearly; it’s not the end of the world. But when you actually drive the car a lot your range becomes more important as you spend more time filling the car.

I fill the car when it needs around 8 gallons or pretty much when it has 2 pips. Being able to stretch that to 9 gallons would be nice. I often let it go emptier, but I don’t like running out of gas and it’s hard to predict what I’m going to be doing so I usually like having a full tank rather then an empty tank.

So for all of you who say it does not matter it's just like a guy who drives 2 miles to work saying Fuel Economy does not matter. It’s a different perspective.


I'm just saying that although it's not a huge deal even to me. Don't act like it's the same for everyone when you drive only 10,000 miles a year and fill the car up every couple weeks.

 

Okay, now you're just complaining to be complaining. :lol:

35,000/365= approx. 95.89 miles per day. What are you doing that requires you to drive nearly 100 miles a day, 365 days a year?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(brandon @ Sep 12 2006, 12:00 PM) [snapback]318488[/snapback]</div>

Pretty much...

I love the car, but don't act like it's not a problem. No car is perfect. I'm only 24 but i've owned 12 different cars, I currently have 5 cars. Every other car i've seen when it says it hold 17 gallons.. Or 23 gallons... 12 gallons.. etc. It actually does. Claiming 11.9 and running out at 10.3 is a FLAW in the car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(brandon @ Sep 12 2006, 12:00 PM) [snapback]318488[/snapback]</div>

It's our main vehicle. Anywhere my wife and I go we take that car. I or she drives it to work every day and that's 50 miles a day. I also do realestate investing which requires me to drive around town a lot and to other cities. I've made several 500 mile trips to vegas. Several 400 mile trips to san Diego. Plus just driving around for daily tasks. I'm 24, married and I don't have kids. So we just go a lot of places I suppose.

I often ask myself how I drive that many darn miles. I'll probably sell the car when the 08 Prius comes out because I hear it's going to be much better.

I used to drive more powerful Accord V6s around but then I realized who needs power. You just need to get around and have enough power to drive the car around.

 

I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area where all the nozzles have the recovery system. No matter how low the tank is in my '05 car (and I often wait for the blinking bar), the pump always clicks off around 8.5 gal. when I know by the mileage that I'm close to empty. If I click it again it adds a couple hundredths of a gallon. If I keep clicking for about 5+ minutes I can sometimes fill it as much as 10 gal.

Once, when I accidently let it run bone dry, with warning lights flashing and it running on battery power, I got to a station and the same thing happened. Except this time I got it up to 10.4 gal. So what about the other 1.5 gal the tank supposedly holds, which would get me over 60 miles further on a tank? So...I start driving and 3 min. later I get a VERY strong gasoline smell -- apparently there's a relief valve somewhere that caused a lot of gas to spill on the road! Couple of other times it got overfilled and spilled gas when I removed the nozzle. This happens regardless of what station I go to and even happened at a pump that doesn't have the recovery system.

I get about 43 mpg, so I expected to get over 500 mi. on a tank (43mpg x 11.9 gal= 512 mi.), but the time it ran bone dry I was at 427 mi. the furthest I've ever gone.

Ah well...that's my gripe for today. I did see some suggestions somewhere else on this site and will try them next time I fill up.

Steve

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(viking31 @ Sep 11 2006, 03:54 PM) [snapback]317907[/snapback]</div>

Uh-oh. We might survive the first two but that third one is the killer.

 

I totally agree. It's the exact same issue I have. Plus I drive a whole lot which makes it even worse. It's not that we have inreasonable expectations. I expect to have 11.9 gallons of gas avaliable, but I really only have 10.3. In a car like the prius that extra gallon is a lot of miles.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SteveG @ Sep 12 2006, 07:03 PM) [snapback]318720[/snapback]</div>