TSB Released on Fuel Gauge Innacuracies

I have a 06 Prius.

1. MPG has dropped with the thermomentor -- I understand that it is normal thing to happen to the PRIUS. Past couple of days, with temps in the teens and 20s, MPG has been in the mid-30s. Back when temps were warm, it was in the mid-50s.

2. Owners manual says that the gas tank is 11.1 gallons big. I did not know until reading the preceding posts that it was a bladder.

I don't recall my owners manual saying anything about 3 gals needed to reset or anything like that. What I do recall it saying, is that the gas gauge may not respond immediately after fillup, wait awhile, it will get there, and it does. BTW, it works like that on my 98 Toyota Camry too.

3. I normally wait till the last bar, sometimes the last bar is flashing. I have not run out of gas yet. Then I put in about 10.5 gallons. Varies. Sometimes the fuel nozzle clicks off at 6 gals, sometimes 8 gals, I then carefully top it off till I see fuel standing in the neck, which is around 10 to 10.5 gals. 1st couple of times I got the spit back. Since then, I have been working on a technique that will not spill the fuel. Yes, I am aware of expansion, so when I fill up, I do it prior to a drive of 60 miles or more. I figure that by then, I will have burned off enough to allow for expansion.

Seperate subject, I got a little scare last fueling. I was down to the last bar, and when I tried to fuel, my fuel door was iced shut. I had a pocket knife, and I so did not want to scratch the car. I would pry until I saw the door flex, then again on the other corner, eventually it popped open. I found it iced on the inside as well as the outside.

 

Don't do this. It causes the charcoal cannister to be saturated with gasoline and reduces the effectivness of your pollution controls. Just fill it until it clicks off and be done with it. Does it really matter if you go 450 miles on a tank instead of 495?

Search using the google link in my sig for other posts on this topic. The best advice is never "top off" your Prius to the point where you can see gas in the filler tube.

 

With a few of our last fillups in the cold weather (not that cold ... mid--teens to 20's) and yes I know the bladder gets stiffer but at on bar the nozzle is clicking off at 5-6 gallons!!! I accept that the bladder helps with the PZEV rating as there is little if any vaporized gasoline sitting on top of a near empty tank but sure wish the bladder weren't so temperature sensitive.

 

the last time i filled the tank the last bar on my fuel gauge was flashing and the screen was reading 'add fuel'. without topping off i managed to pour in a whopping 7.5 gallons. i have never been able to put in more than 8 gallons. since the car is very new (about 1200 miles) and its been kinda chilly here in the empire state i am trying not to get worked up over this. hopefully i will see an improvement either A) after 5000 miles or B) when the temperature warms up.

or should i be concerned now?

 

No, don't be concerned now. You'll be able to pump 10+ gal into it when it warms up.

 

yesterday while driving the wifes k24 got the ping add fuel reminder on the mfd and drove for an additional 10Km about 6 miles and filled up with topping and managed to get 29.87 liters in a tank that is supposed to hold 45 liters. We just live with it. It gets better in the summer but the most ever pumped into it was 32.13 liters. CAN-view was saying 10% left in the tank but we were about 15 Km from home and not any where near a bus route to take it to the "limit". This is a Prius quirk that we have come to accept. Her 2k4 is way more resticted in capacity than her 2k1 was or my 2k3 is. When it gets hot here this summer I'm going to swap cars with her and fill it right to the brim and then keep doing that every 20-25 km. and see if I can strech the bladder. That should be an interesting block of data on the spreadsheet.

 

I've been on vacation almost 6 weeks, spending the time at my hobby farm. Have made a few trips back into Winnipeg for supplies and to check my mail (Snail mail, not the email).

About 3 weeks ago the gas was down to 3 bars, so I pulled in to a convenient station to top off before meeting my Aunt at the airport. She happened to notice as we were in traffic that I only had 1/3 tank. I knew I had just topped it off, and even had the receipt to prove it.

I pulled in to a different station, but the tank really was full. I tried to power down/power up several times but the gage claimed 3 bars.

I had already received the letter from Toyota Canada about the steering shaft, so back at the hobby farm I called my Toyota dealer to explain what had happened. They wanted to replace the display cluster and do the filler pipe, along with the steering shaft. I dropped it off last week for them to do that.

I had a call the incine sensor was ok, the new gage cluster and filler pipe appeared to work, and the steering shaft was also replaced. Apparently they have already done most of the Duffy Taxi Prius fleet, so my Prius wasn't the first one done. They incidently found a defective driver front wheel bearing, so had to order in another hub

Everything should be ready this Wednesday

 

Well I stopped in today to see how much progress they were making on my car. They did confirm the incline sensor was ok, the replacement display and fuel filler TSB cured the gas gage. Only problem now is the odometer is reset to 0.

 

Picked up my Prius this afternoon and can confirm the gas gage now works properly. It claimed one bar below half, so I topped it off with 24 litres. I was already used to using the first step on the gas nozzle as it used to always click off if I used the second or third step.

I was a bit surprised when the nozzle clicked off with gas right up the top. Before, I really had to futz around to get the level anywhere near that full. So at least it fills easier now.

Yes, the odometer was reset to zero. Apparently Canadian Toyota dealers are not authorized to program in a new value, there is even space on Page 2 of the Canadian Maintenance Menu to record the date and km's when zeroed.

 

06 Prius, 1 month old, 3011 miles, Arlington, VA

Filled my tank this morning after driving about 10 miles after blinking 1 bar. With nozzle on slowest speed and filling to auto shutoff, the tank accepted 12.5 gallons according to pump. At that point, I noticed a very slow drip from the handle itself -- obviously some defect in the pump handle.

I notified the station manager and he insisted that some cars will "overfill due to fuel going up into vapor lines". He said he owned a car that supposedly held 16 gallons and he sometimes put in 17.

I asked that we measure it into a container. We filled a 2.5 gallon container but he insisted on using mediium speed instead of the slow that I used. It looked accurate in this test. He did agree the nozzle needed to be fixed.

Question. Is it possible the Prius might actually accept 12.5 gallons? I have not seen anyone show this much fuel intake. FYI, the odometer read 534 miles and the indicated MPG was 49.1.