[ KB ] "Empty" fuel warning: results of an experiment

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayman\";p=\"73465)</div>

Can you tell me if our Canadian Prii have the fuel tank bladder.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Houston\";p=\"110549)</div>

Yep, they do.

The best way to confirm this is to open the hood and examine the Emissions label. The Canadian market Prius are certified to meet all Canadian and all U.S. emissions standards.

 

Re: [ KB ] Running out of Gas ruins Battery

Hi All,

I just discovered this list at one of the Prius Yahoo groups.

My better half apparently ran out of gas in her 2001 Prius with just over 50 K miles on it last week. She only knew it was low at the time. The Master alarms came on. It was still drivable, so she tried to limp it back in a very heavy thunderstorm toward the dealer, which was only about two miles away. It didn't make it, so she called AAA, and it was towed in.

The dealer says that the main battery was fried. They checked with the SE Regional Toyota office who said they would not cover it because it was "abuse." The dealer said they "warned her about letting the gauge go below 1/4 full. But apparently it was a bad day at work, so her mind was on other things. So they will not cover this.

Is running out/low on gas abuse?

I thought that Toyota was especially concerned with the performance of this vehicle and would do their best to take care of it.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what we should do here?

Happy Motoring,

Bill B.

 

Call the local newspaper? Better yet, call Click and Clack? Abuse, indeed. With all the technology in these cars the one thing they should be able to do is protect the battery from frying itself.

 

same problem

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ALoLA\";p=\"102239)</div>

the exact thing happens to me & drives me crazy.
i don't like stopping for gas if i don't have to...

 

I take it by this that the car still would not start (go to READY) once gas was put in? If she was able to drive it partway to the dealer, how is the battery fried? Low maybe, requiring a bit of a recharge, but fried? I suspect not.

 

Re: [ KB ] Running out of Gas ruins Battery

What is actually WRITTEN IN THE MANUAL about low fuel? If the manual does not specifically state that allowing less than 1/4 tank causes damage and voids warranty, then threaten a suit. Just because some blankety-blank dealer says something 'don't make it so'!

What state are you in? Call the state bureau of auto repair and/or Toyota USA directly, don't rely on what the dealer says.

 

Followup:

In my 2005 set of manuals, I found this:

Toyota Customer Experience Center: 800-331-4331

National Center for Dispute Settlement
P.O. Box 561109
Dallas, TX 75356-1109

In California only:

California Dispute Settlement Program
888-300-6237

BTW: I looked in my manuals, and NOWHERE was there any statement defining abuse, or more specifically, that allowing fuel level to fall below 1/4 tank is damaging or 'abusive'.

 

My tank regularly goes below 1/4 of a tank. I wait until the blinking light to fill up. That should not be a problem. I would go back to that dealer and challenge it. If a car cannot go below 1/4 without damage that in my opinion is a piss-poor product. Unless they warn you ahead of time and my dealer never said anything of the sort.

 

Yes, but they ran out of gas. That IS warned about in the manual. It's a bad idea, but real world experience says it should cause no harm. However, if you then drain the HV battery, then you could have a problem, if the ECU's won't give it a second try after getting gas. The G2s seem to give you a few chances, don't know about the classic. It might only need a charge to get things started.

 

According to the originator of this thread, she ran out of fuel only 2 miles from the dealer, and only went a short way (read perhaps yards) on the battery in the break-down lane. She then had AAA tow her to the dealer.

The Toyota Rep made a judgement call that what she did (run out of gas) constituted 'abuse', you know like she ran nitro-methane and dragged the car on all 4 wheels or something.

Where in the 2001/g1 manual does it clearly state that driving the car to a safe area (ie: breakdown lane) after emptying the tank is 'abuse' or even 'not advised'. All of the warnings in the 2005 manual always advise getting to a safe area off of the road.

True, we don't know how far she drove, only that the dealer was less than 2 miles away, so i assume that she tried to drive say 1/2 mile on the shoulder before stopping and calling AAA.

And, even though I know that the fuel pumps in these newer cars need to be awash in fuel, I could find no direct reference in the manual as to how much fuel is required nor how to discern if my fuel-pump is in dire straits...

Toyota has 'nanny stated' every other aspect of this car's information screens, why not nag us some more in the manual.

I for one will be interested in how this plays out. Years ago Porsche replaced my entire cooling system under warranty even though the dealer knew that I campaigned the car in club racing. In fact, PCNA used that data as information for improvement, not as a weapon to badger its customer.

 

Someone had talked with a Toyota technical rep (engineer?) during a seminar and asked about the fuel pump issue. No damage to the pump should occur. Even if running the pump dry continuously could cause it to overheat, I am sure the car stops running the pump once it decides the ICE won't start, and that's like in 10 seconds. It won't retry until you reboot the car. I myself tried to get a bit more gas out of the tank, it very quickly came up with "Problem".
The battery could have been drained to the point of the car shutting down. But it still has 20% left in it, so the car can try again on next reboot. I sincerely doubt the battery was 'fried'. It may have coincidentally came up with the battery strap problem.