My fuel gauge suddenly lost 3 bars

mootmom · 04-15-2005, 02:51 PM

60+ degree sunny Northern California spring afternoon. Got in my '04 in the flat parking lot at the top of the hill where my office is, turned the car on, noticed idly as I usually do that the gas gauge read 4 bars, backed up, drove down the hill in B. At the bottom of the hill as I was dropping into D again, I noticed that suddenly I had only 1 bar on the fuel gauge! I was getting 46+ MPG on this tank and had <250 miles on it. The single bar showed up again after the car was turned off and on, and it stayed at that point for the next day when it suddenly started blinking. I pulled in to a station and filled up, and it only took 7.1 gallons, so clearly it was the gauge reading and not the tank actually being low. I searched around here but did not find evidence of this being reported before. Any ideas what might have happened?

My car has already had the recall/service for the gas gauge, should this have fixed any such problems? Is it worth a dealer/repair service call, or should I wait for it to recur?

Thanks!
--Diane.

Tadashi · 04-15-2005, 03:10 PM

When you drove down the hill all the gas moved to one end of the tank making the car think the fuel tank was almost empty. Mine has done this also when I start getting to 1-3 bars depending on the steepness of the hill. I have also noticed it will not reset or correct until you fill up the tank again. I did not fill up for 4 days (about 9 turn on/offs). It will did not affect my MPG readings. I am not sure this needs to be fixed, just a Prius-ism.

mootmom · 04-16-2005, 03:56 AM

Thanks for the reassurance. Odd, though, that I've been driving this same route home from work for almost 1.5 years in this car and it's never shown this symptom before...

bookrats · 04-17-2005, 03:10 PM

The Prius gas gauge is not linear -- i.e., each bar on the gauge does not equal an equivalent amount of gas used up.

I don't know if this is an aspect of having a "bladder" fuel tank, or what.

Frankly, I suspect that even "normal" cars's gas gauges have this to some degree -- though apparently less than the Prius.

Since I live and work within ~2 miles of a gas station, and know that even when the gauge starts blinking I have ~40 miles (and that's grossly conservative) left in the tank, it hasn't bothered me.

mootmom · 04-17-2005, 04:00 PM

I do realize the gauge is not linear, and I also assume I have about 40 miles in which to get to a gas station once the final bar starts flashing. But 3 bars disappearing in the course of a 1-mile downhill which I've driven every day for more than a year without similar incident is just a bit more than weird. When the final bar starts flashing at me incorrectly (that is, I've got over 3 gallons actually left in the tank when it's telling me I need to go fill up *now*), I think it's more than just a Prius-ism, it's a report of incorrect information. I don't want to get in the habit of mistrusting the reports my car's sensors give me.

Thanks for the responses.

--Diane.

Claude · 04-18-2005, 01:19 PM

My Prius started reading low this winter. Normally I would go about 400 miles at 43 to 444 MPG before the gauge would begin to blink on one bar. Suddenly it began to drop to one bar and blink at 270 to 280 miles even though I still was getting 43 to 44 MPG. Thinking it was just a adjustment, I continued one day to keep going. It blinked till 399 mile THEN DIED. RED WARNING gives you about 1/4 mile, then dead. Car took 9.5 gallons. Tank is 11.9 gallons.

Dealership has just done a repair. I just filled the tank for the first time since. Started blinking at 340 miles. Took the normal 9 gallons at 385 miles.

I would like to see it act like it did when it was new, 400 to 420 miles before blinking, but I'm not willing to let the dealer mess with it anymore for the time being.

Also, both my fog lamps have cracked lenses. Dealer says it's from stones. I don't think so. I think it's from internal heat of the lamps (I have mine on at all times) Anybody elese have this problem?

Claude

04-15-2005, 02:51 PM	#1
mootmom Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Saratoga, CA Posts: 3 My Car: Model: Package: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	My fuel gauge suddenly lost 3 bars 60+ degree sunny Northern California spring afternoon. Got in my '04 in the flat parking lot at the top of the hill where my office is, turned the car on, noticed idly as I usually do that the gas gauge read 4 bars, backed up, drove down the hill in B. At the bottom of the hill as I was dropping into D again, I noticed that suddenly I had only 1 bar on the fuel gauge! I was getting 46+ MPG on this tank and had <250 miles on it. The single bar showed up again after the car was turned off and on, and it stayed at that point for the next day when it suddenly started blinking. I pulled in to a station and filled up, and it only took 7.1 gallons, so clearly it was the gauge reading and not the tank actually being low. I searched around here but did not find evidence of this being reported before. Any ideas what might have happened? My car has already had the recall/service for the gas gauge, should this have fixed any such problems? Is it worth a dealer/repair service call, or should I wait for it to recur? Thanks! --Diane. __________________ '04 Seaside Pearl '04 Tideland Pearl ('01 Pioneer Aqua Ice, sold to a happy second owner)

04-17-2005, 03:10 PM	#4
bookrats Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 2,843 My Car: Model: Package: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	The Prius gas gauge is not linear -- i.e., each bar on the gauge does not equal an equivalent amount of gas used up. I don't know if this is an aspect of having a "bladder" fuel tank, or what. Frankly, I suspect that even "normal" cars's gas gauges have this to some degree -- though apparently less than the Prius. Since I live and work within ~2 miles of a gas station, and know that even when the gauge starts blinking I have ~40 miles (and that's grossly conservative) left in the tank, it hasn't bothered me. __________________ "Have you ever noticed.... Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?" -- George Carlin</span> Jeff Meyer <span style=\'color:green\'>Tideland '05 AM Package, 12 November 2004

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04-15-2005, 03:10 PM	#2
Tadashi Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Fort Hood, TX Posts: 795 My Car: 2005 Prius Model: N/A Package: #6 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts Friends: 0	When you drove down the hill all the gas moved to one end of the tank making the car think the fuel tank was almost empty. Mine has done this also when I start getting to 1-3 bars depending on the steepness of the hill. I have also noticed it will not reset or correct until you fill up the tank again. I did not fill up for 4 days (about 9 turn on/offs). It will did not affect my MPG readings. I am not sure this needs to be fixed, just a Prius-ism.

04-16-2005, 03:56 AM	#3
mootmom Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Saratoga, CA Posts: 3 My Car: Model: Package: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	Thanks for the reassurance. Odd, though, that I've been driving this same route home from work for almost 1.5 years in this car and it's never shown this symptom before...

04-17-2005, 04:00 PM	#5
mootmom Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Saratoga, CA Posts: 3 My Car: Model: Package: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	I do realize the gauge is not linear, and I also assume I have about 40 miles in which to get to a gas station once the final bar starts flashing. But 3 bars disappearing in the course of a 1-mile downhill which I've driven every day for more than a year without similar incident is just a bit more than weird. When the final bar starts flashing at me incorrectly (that is, I've got over 3 gallons actually left in the tank when it's telling me I need to go fill up now), I think it's more than just a Prius-ism, it's a report of incorrect information. I don't want to get in the habit of mistrusting the reports my car's sensors give me. Thanks for the responses. --Diane.

04-18-2005, 01:19 PM	#6
Claude Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 4 My Car: Model: Package: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	My Prius started reading low this winter. Normally I would go about 400 miles at 43 to 444 MPG before the gauge would begin to blink on one bar. Suddenly it began to drop to one bar and blink at 270 to 280 miles even though I still was getting 43 to 44 MPG. Thinking it was just a adjustment, I continued one day to keep going. It blinked till 399 mile THEN DIED. RED WARNING gives you about 1/4 mile, then dead. Car took 9.5 gallons. Tank is 11.9 gallons. Dealership has just done a repair. I just filled the tank for the first time since. Started blinking at 340 miles. Took the normal 9 gallons at 385 miles. I would like to see it act like it did when it was new, 400 to 420 miles before blinking, but I'm not willing to let the dealer mess with it anymore for the time being. Also, both my fog lamps have cracked lenses. Dealer says it's from stones. I don't think so. I think it's from internal heat of the lamps (I have mine on at all times) Anybody elese have this problem? Claude