Ongoing gas gauge problem

[Nos402]

So I've read through ons of posts here about the various gas gauge inaccuracies and problems, but hadn't seen this exact problem mentioned yet..

I had the usual problems people complain about with a gas gauge that seems less than accurate. However, recently it got a lot worse. I would usually get about 450 miles a tank, and it started getting to the point where I would have driven 250 miles and still have a full tank.

Then the real problem kicked in. The gas gauge started acting fairly normally for about half a tank and then would just decide to jump back up to full. I took it to the dealership and they replaces one part. When the gauge once again jumped back to full for no reason, I took it back in. They replaced a second part. When that didn't work, they called in some specialists who found the first part had not been installed quite right.

When that didn't work, they kept the car for almost a month. My service advisor said that they had on of the top Prius techs around working at their dealership and that this problem had really confounded him but they thought they had tracked it down.

I used up about half a tank. Today the gauge is back to full. Frustrating.

And to top it off, after getting it back from the dealership, I immediately took it into a body shop to have the bumper and tail light replaced after being hit by truck from behind. The replacement bumper doesn't have the protective lip guard bit on the top of the bumper that my old bumper had.

So it looks like I may have to take it back into to BOTH shops. I'm tired of being without our Prius!

[galaxee]

what parts did they replace?

he says what he'd do is fill the tank all the way, tap the fuel pump, and use the scantool to activate the fuel pump and watch the gauge.

first instinct says fuel sending unit. this is built into the gas tank.