Fuel gage

[tony]

I only get about 300 miles on a full tank of gas and the gage reads empty and the warning light comes on …indicating that I need to get to a gas station soon. . However when fill up it only takes 7+ gallons.. in other words, I still had about 4 gallons in the tank, and at an average of 45 mpg I should be able to go another 200 miles (approximately) but the gage was reading empty and the warning light was flashing.

I went to the dealer to ask them about this problem and they say it was normal for the Prius because it had a bladder gas tank and it depended on the atmospheric pressure, temperature etc.

Have any of you had a similar problem?

[jchu]

Lots of posts in other threads in this forum. Has alot to do with the tank system which is not a simple metal container. Inside the metal tank is a bladder that expands as gas is introduced and contracts as gas is removed. This is to eliminate most of the gas vapor over the emptying tank and thereby decreasing car emissions when refueling.

Thus a simple bouy system doesn't work to measure remaining gas. The system that Toyota came up with results in a great deal of "reserve" However, it has been observed that it is NOT a good idea to run out of gas in this car. Limping to the gas station on battery alone runs the risk of excessively deep discharging of the Main Battery Bank.

[tag]

Figure this one out:

I filled up earlier last week allowing the pump to click off. The fuel gauge read "full" showing, I believe, 10 bars. I drove the thing about 100 miles before the first bar disappeared (leaving 9 bars lit up). The MFD showed about 54 mpg.

I am now going to record how many miles I get for each bar on the fuel gauge.

[rflagg]

Figure this one out:

I filled up earlier last week allowing the pump to click off. The fuel gauge read "full" showing, I believe, 10 bars. I drove the thing about 100 miles before the first bar disappeared (leaving 9 bars lit up). The MFD showed about 54 mpg.

I am now going to record how many miles I get for each bar on the fuel gauge.

Finding a rhyme or reason to how the bars decrease on the gauge - prefix, anyway - is like figuring out Hawking's Theory of Everything before he does.

On the up side, with spending between 5 and 10 minutes at the pump, I consistently get 10+ gallons into the tank, and I don't even pay attention to the gauge if I'm below 500 miles (unless, of course, my MPG is below 48 or so, which is rare). My only suggestion is to go as far as comfortable for yourself, and attempt to consistently achieve that.

-m.

[jamarimutt]

When I fill the tank completely, I go 150-175 miles before the first square in the gauge goes off. From then on the squares disappear faster, and slow again when I reach two bars.

The othe day I parked on an incline with two bars on the gauge and when I came back six hours later I had one blinking bar! The gauge never returned to two bars and I filled up 30 miles later.

[mikepaul]

When I FILL the tank, I've gone as far as 205 miles before the first bar went out. That was averaging 54-odd MPG on a trip.

The only way to be sure the tank is full is to wait until a small amount of gasoline is visible when you stop and pull the filler out. Too much, and it will leap out at you. I've settled on 25 cents worth of gas as my add-then-check amount when I'm close to being full, but that's getting to be a little more gas each time due to price decreases, so I may have to go to 20 cents soon.

The Wal-Mart gas I got Friday for $1.769 is doing OK, much better than the previous Hess tank. Too bad I didn't wait until Saturday for another penny decrease, but I'll gladly put up with disappointments like that for a return to $1.199 or less sometime down the road...

[tag]

The othe day I parked on an incline with two bars on the gauge and when I came back six hours later I had one blinking bar! The gauge never returned to two bars and I filled up 30 miles later.

Yes, I've noticed that; I haven't seen a bar that disappeared light up again.

As soon as I get down to one bar, I start looking for a gas station. I've just been letting the pump click off so far. Maybe one day I'll see how much I can cram into the tank after the pump clicks off.

[rflagg]

When I FILL the tank, I've gone as far as 205 miles before the first bar went out. That was averaging 54-odd MPG on a trip.

The only way to be sure the tank is full is to wait until a small amount of gasoline is visible when you stop and pull the filler out. Too much, and it will leap out at you. I've settled on 25 cents worth of gas as my add-then-check amount when I'm close to being full, but that's getting to be a little more gas each time due to price decreases, so I may have to go to 20 cents soon.

The Wal-Mart gas I got Friday for $1.769 is doing OK, much better than the previous Hess tank. Too bad I didn't wait until Saturday for another penny decrease, but I'll gladly put up with disappointments like that for a return to $1.199 or less sometime down the road...

You know, I was back in Michigan when the prices went down. Out there, it was down to $1.75, and in Ohio, $1.69. Needless to say, I was quite upset to come home to the same prices as when I left! Right now I still can't find it for less than $2/gal.

-m.

[randalla]

You know, I was back in Michigan when the prices went down. Out there, it was down to $1.75, and in Ohio, $1.69. Needless to say, I was quite upset to come home to the same prices as when I left! Right now I still can't find it for less than $2/gal.

-m.

Yeah, its seems that gas prices in the DC area are first to spike upwards higher than a most other areas of the country and last to fall when other areas have already dropped their prices. Gasbuddy.com consistently showed the Germantown-Gaithersburg MD area commanding the highest gas prices in Maryland, though they have fallen back .05-.10 cents since their peak prices.

[frenchofva]

[font=Lucida Console:76dd18dfbb]For people in Northern VA, Costco is usually about $0.15 less than local average. Just filled up @ Sterling (VA) Costco for $1.839 Saturday 06/19[/font:76dd18dfbb]