How much fuel is in the tank when the last bar blinks?

I did the stupid thing last night, trying to eek out 500 miles to a tank (while MFD was displaying my MPG as 49.0)....and ran out of gas after driving 38 miles after the blink...so my experiment is over...always fill up as soon as the blink happens......

And I have never gotten more the 10.1 gallons into my tank driving only 10 - 20 miles after the blink!

 

With my 2006 model, I filled up six times within 15 miles after the last bar started blinking. I noticed that it was taking about 9 gallons and getting 49- 50 mpg, I was going about 450 miles between fillups.
So I decided to drive further after the last bar started blinking, since it seemed obvious that there must be considerable gas left in the tank as it would only hold about 9 gallons each time.
So at 468 miles on the tank, the last bar started blinking. I kept driving, only got 29 miles further when I ran out of gas on the Interstate at rush hour. Managed to run on the battery to a nearby exit and gas station.
29 miles should only have burned about 1/2 gallon, so I was very surprised.
At the discount gas station, the pump shut-off apparently was not operable and I was filling with my back to the pump. I put in over 12 gallons and never got an automatic shutoff or any feedback of fuel around the nozzle. But when I stopped filling and pulled out the filler nozzle, after a couple of seconds, the gas welled up in the filler pipe. It flowed slowly out of the filler pipe and down the side of the car. This continued for about 5 minutes. There was an occasional "burp" of air too. At least a quart ran out. I let it continue. It was a windy day and the gas was evaporating from the concrete. I thought it might harm the car to clamp on the filler top and trap gas in the tank that obviously was under pressure to come out of the tank.
Comments from someone who really understands how the bladder functions or malfunctions would be appreciated!

 

For the most part it's really YMMV. Some can go 50 miles, some only go 5. Even when empy you normally won't be putting in 11.9 gallons. The amount you can put in is partly due to the bladder. If it's new, or cold, you won't be able to put in as much.

I normally fill up at two bars. Twice I've let it go down to the "Add Fuel" warning and both times I was less than a mile from the station (which I was going to anyway).

 

The first time I tried to push it I ran out of gas at 27 miles after the last block started flashing. I don't push it anymore when it says low fuel. When you run out of gas it says "Problem", yeah, it was a problem. Lucky I was only about a quarter of a mile from the gas station.

 

Here's another data point.

Lately my 2005 Prius (with ~52,000km and warranty expiring at 60,000km) hasn't been taking as much gas in fillups, so I decided to see how far it would go after the last bar started blinking. I carried a jerry can with 10L of gas, but didn't end up using it. I abandonned the experiment when I chickened out and filled up after going 187.5 km (116.5 miles) after getting the first warning, and still hadn't run out of gas!

For the first time ever, I was able to put in over 40L (40.16L or 10.6 US gal) without topping up. Recently I have only been able to put in 30 or 31L after the last bar starts blinking (and I don't top up). The computer gave my average consumption for that tank as 5.2 L/100km, whereas my manual calculation for that tank was 5.8. (My lifetime consumption is 4.93 L/100km or 47.7 US mpg, compared to 4.75 L/100km by weighted average of the computer's reported consumption. It's worse in the winter, in part due to switching to winter tires on steel wheels.)

So I think I had at least 10L (2.6 US gal) left in the tank when the last bar started blinking. YMMV.

 

well DTE is never gonna be a reliable thing even if Toyota posted one since it will still be affected by the fillup.

when i had CANVIEW, the last bar started to blink consistantly at 12% full. that would assume 1½ ga give or take. since CANVIEW only displayed tank capacity remaining in 2½ ga increments, we can say anywhere from 1-2 ga which as we all know is not really a lot of help.

even with a digital readout, CANVIEWs reading still fluctuated like a regular analog gauge most of the time and it was worse as the tank emptied. i actually drove 4-5 miles when my tank reading was ZERO so even then, we really dont know and i will not run my car out of gas.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dstrevel @ May 7 2006, 04:31 PM) [snapback]251216[/snapback]</div>

there have been several here that can get more than the rated capacity in the tank. i would have put the gas cap back on and drove away. better than oozing gas for 5 mins.

another thing to toss out to those who got the new CANVIEW on an 06 or newer. at what level does the last bar start blinking?? there was data posted by one poster monitoring the CANBUS that might have suggested that the 06's may start blinking at around 6% instead of 12

 

Now THIS is a question I have wondered about. The first time the buzzer went off it scared the HELL out of me. I kept telling my husband "You know, spontaneously the car will beep and I don't know why!" OK, I AM a college grad.

That and the fact that the miles go to ZERO on the consumption screen when you refill your tank. That took a time or two also...

But the best was having a good friend go out and buy a Prius soon after I got mine. The day I told her she could just put her hand on the door and it would unlock itself....THAT was a miracle.

I just had to chime in. I love my car. I love that we finally did it and I'm in the club.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gwilliams @ Dec 20 2004, 06:04 AM) [snapback]58759[/snapback]</div>

Too many variables to predict accurately. I've gotten well over 30 miles at that point, but the time I actually ran out of gas I got less than 15 miles. I mistakenly thought I was safe. I'd just passed a gas station but knew the next was within 20 miles.

Dave M.

 

We ran completely out of gas approximately 43 miles after the last pip started blinking. Our average MPG has been 45, so I surmise that the blinking pip signals one gallon left. That's plenty of time, usually, to get to a station. We plan to refill at 330 to 375 from now on. The range of the tank was 450, and that would be right if it only holds 10 gallons. I guess we'll just pretend it only holds 10, given that I can't quite figure out what to do about these final 2 gallons that never seem to come into play.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jendbbay @ Jan 11 2007, 05:38 PM) [snapback]374401[/snapback]</div>

I keep track of every fill up, and have now 98. The average fill up is 10.97 gallons (41.5 liter). I count 6 times that it was actually over 11.9 (!) gallons and I have never experienced a 'run-out-of-gas' !!!.
My total distance is now 51358 miles (82653 km's, and my overall MPG is 48.3 (4.87 l/100 km).

Boy, oh boy, am I glad we don't have that bladder here in europe. That gauge is accurate and reliable (without bladder), and I usually go by the last bar blinking or 12*MPG.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Arnold @ Jan 12 2007, 05:20 AM) [snapback]374606[/snapback]</div>

Well, it sounds like the bottom line is that the MFD can be trusted for accuracy. I'm still waiting to finish and average my 2nd 20,000 miles. Hopefully over that distance I can do a reasonable comparison of gallons put in and mpg. Even about 2 gallons out of 400 gallons should only be 0.5% difference. I lost info in the 1st 20,000 miles. Hopefully I won't this time.

Dave M.

 

I have never ran out out gas but the most I have been able to drive on the blinking bar is appr. 25 miles. I probably could have gone furhter, but i didn't wanna have to push.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jendbbay @ Jan 11 2007, 02:38 PM) [snapback]374401[/snapback]</div>

I thought he was not paying attention to the fuel gauge.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jendbbay @ Jan 5 2007, 11:48 AM) [snapback]371403[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jendbbay @ Jan 8 2007, 04:25 PM) [snapback]372780[/snapback]</div>

 

Weird. I normally fill up as soon as it goes down to one bar. I usually put in 8.5 +/- 0.2 gallons. Today I was down to two bars, but I knew it would be awhile before the next station so I filled up at a rest stop. I put in exactly nine gallons. Go figure.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Jan 12 2007, 11:43 PM) [snapback]375055[/snapback]</div>

He wasn't lookign at the guage that day, and if that seems inconsistent with something I have said in the past, I can/could probably explain it, if that is important in any way.


Here's the deal. I, not him, calculated a lot of this after the fact. I, not him, I usually fill up the car. And, the habitual filling up depending on the distances of the jobs, really was kind of the two of us. When you have been maried for 400 years, things just kind of blend together sloppily. I think he would ask if the car is full, and would do that on a certain day -- that being the day before he would expect to really need gas. Usually, I would have thought to fill the car that day, since I drive it in the early morning to take my son to school. I do that, because the car is really fun to drive.

Also, we have only had this car since October and really are establishing new habits because of it. Also, we are just now understanding that 2 gallons are universally known to be inaccessible, unusable, not really there -- whatever. Also, we are just now getting our bearings about how many miles are left after one blinking pip precisely because we have only once driven it to that point. Normally, we refill when the car has 300 or more miles on one tank. That is usually at 2 or 3 non-blinking pips. We have no interest in attempting to run it out of gas to prove a point, out still it is important to know basically what the miles per tank really are. It is an important fact to know.