Driving Past The Add More Fuel Beep

[diamondlarry]

Originally Posted by DaveinOlyWA

Larry;

very very impressive performance you have there... but was the last pip flashing?? after all, that was the only statement made here

oh!! nm, you stated that it was...

I should add that on the latest tank it had been flashing for 4 days before I filled up.

[KV55]

My last tank was 64mpg UK and I had about 20 miles on the last pip before the add fuel ping. It is worth saying that the fuel station I made for was empty and had to drive on to the next, making just over 20 miles on the flashing pip. I am confident of doing 30 miles on the flashing pip with a UK specification Prius but prefer to avoid it, and I set the trip counter when it does ping and also take on fuel as a priority without letting the engine cool off, when the mpg will drop.

[KAR IDEA]

Hey everybody! Wow, haven't been on here in a while, and this thread has grown a bit! : ) Anyway, lot's of good stuff here, some good experience, some good ribbing, some good fighting. Love it. I am most impressed with the driving range on the 2010. Too bad it's so ugly. (Badum dum, crash). Anyway, I have yet to run out of gas or damage the car in any way from this experiment of mine, however, that is a big YET, and I've gone back to being less interested in seeing how far I can push it, meaning, I now fill up pretty much soon after the car gives me the I'm thirsty signal. : )

[KAR IDEA]

I also can't believe the car is almost two years old! Time flies when you drive something fun!

[Muhahahahaz]

Ooh, I'm glad you mentioned that the beep occurs at ~12% (1.4 - 1.5 gallons). I always thought such warnings typically occurred with ~2 gallons left, so that sure does explain a few things...

The other day I kept driving past the warning. I thought that I had about 2 gallons left, so I was sure I could simply find a station near my destination. In fact, I did try to find one a little while before I got there, but I didn't know the area, and the stupid 2007 nav pointed me at TWO different stations that no longer existed...

Anyway, when I was less than a mile from my destination, I ran out of gas... the funny thing is, that I most likely would have made it if I hadn't been running all over looking for those two gas stations a few minutes earlier. I knew that it was safe to keep driving on the battery to find a good place to stop, as long as I didn't completely deplete the battery. Sadly I was going up a hill, so it was tough going, but I pulled off at the first side street and parked in some neighborhood.

It didn't turn out to be a very big deal at all though. All I did was call the Toyota Roadside Assistance, and in less than 30 minutes they put about 1.6 gallons of gas in my tank for free!

After that, I proceeded to my destination, which turned out to be right across the street from a gas station. As I said, I was less than a mile away when I ran out... hahaha. I drove exactly 480 miles on that tank... another reason I thought I could go much further. The damn gauge said I was getting 45MPG. WHAT LIES!

[jwarrenjg]

Originally Posted by richard schumacher

Everyone needs a hobby, but surely there's something more fun than deliberately running out of gas.

i simply cant help my self laugh w/ you input here.. sarcastic but funny! hmmm this thread makes it interesting

[KAR IDEA]

Originally Posted by jwarrenjg

i simply cant help my self laugh w/ you input here.. sarcastic but funny! hmmm this thread makes it interesting

OK. So it happened. Last night on my home. Funny thing is, I wasn't even trying to beat a record or prove a point, I just forgot to stop at a gas station first thing after I left the house and then again after I was on my home!!!

So I'm almost home, cruise control set at 60, and I'm heading up on the first of two long hills I hit on my usual route. All of a sudden, the car revs like real high, and the engine shudders (and I could've sworn I saw "Somethings Wrong" flash on the MFD, did I?). I almost **** a brick , and I'm like WTF!!! Oh, duh stupid, you're really out of gas this time genius.

So I start praying , and make it to the top and start going downhill, trying to charge the battery up as I pick up speed so I can at least make it to the gas station a little less than half a mile away. I get to the exit ramp, and the warning buzzer starts going off! Oh, and that red triangle of death goes off!!! I'm like NO WAY, this isn't happening! Deny Deny Deny!!!

So now I'm crawling along at like 20 mph, and losing speed. No response from the gas pedal at all...the silence would have been eerie except for the fact that it wasn't silent at all, cause the warning beeps are going off...and then DEAD. One purple bar. Crap. The gas station is like 1/4 mile away, straight ahead.

Sooooo, I remembered not to shut the car off, someone told me that, probably my mechanic (who also told me it was a really bad idea to run out of gas in this car, and he's Hybrid Certified, so he MUST know what he's talking about). I look to my right and there's a dude walking along the sidewalk. Amen (prayer answered, obviously not in the way I anticipated, but hey...), I recruit him. With his help we push the car to the gas station.

On the way there he says "Hey, isn't this a Hybrid?" I'm like "Yep..." He says "And you ran out of gas?" I say "Yep...and I feel like a total Dumb A**. By the way, thanks for your help!". I fill it up, it takes 11.741 gallons. The engine started up, and I drove around for a couple miles to charge the battery back up, and I breathed a sigh of relief after I pulled in to the garage and parked.

That red triangle and the check engine light are still illuminating though, so I guess I have some homework to do! Any help would be appreciated!

Also, I have to admit, ya'll warned me this might happen. So I take full responsibility. And I've learned my lesson!

Dave

[Flip]

Dave - You've brought me out of my 'read only' mode with this last post. Too many times while reading your experience I tapped my chest and said "I feel ya" while wiping the tears from my eyes from hysterical laughter.

Just returned from a 5,852 mile jaunt. Washington/Michigan/Colorado (11,000+ Altitude)/Washington. Now have 6,700 total miles on our 2009 Touring. We wanted to use this trip as a true test.. so many different environments and driving conditions, etc. Am considering writing more on the whole trip... but needed to express my empathy for your situation....

We are 100 miles away from home.. having traveled 5,700 miles.. no problems. Had been averaging 44mpg during this last leg of the trip.. had 2 pips left.. gave an easy 88 miles (I figured). Passed Moses Lake, WA .. and all it's gas stations.. heading towards Ellensburg.. about 70 miles away. We would coast in with 20 miles to spare... ahh life is good in an electric car.... (What is that saying about pride and a fall??)

The first pip disappeared at 44 miles out... great.. right as we figured. The 2nd one went into blinky mode only 21 miles later. Yikes.. mild panic... but the math should get us there.... Then came the simultaneous high rev of the engine and the red triangle of DEATH with bells whistles and some cackling laughter... Double YIKES and a spike in my blood pressure!

My travel partner woke up to all the racket and checked our phone GPS for gas stations.. about 3 miles ahead. Pulled to the side, put on the emergency flashers, kept her rolling in Neutral for a bit to buy time so my brain would thaw from the "OH CR*P what do I do now"... while swerving around debri on the side of the road and avoiding all the I90 traffic whizzing by. Realized we could run on battery and was down to 2 purple bars... then one.

We are approaching the off ramp and can see the gas station just on the other side.. yes, we WILL make it! Then I refocus on what is right ahead... a motorhome had pulled over RIGHT where I needed to keep rolling.. too much traffic. I had to stop right behind the motorhome. We did turn off the car.. figuring we could go no further.. but! we were within walking distance and could fill something up and bring it back. Just as I turned the Power button off... the motorhome fired up and pulled back into traffic! Touched the power button, the engine fired up and the gas pedal got a response!!! Woo Hoo... Pulled the off ramp hill fine and coasted down to the station. Took 11.1 to fill it. Stood in the warm wind with my hands on my head airing out all the sweat that had built up in my clothes for those last 3 miles.

Yes, all those scenarios were running thru our heads... You CAN'T run out of gas in a Prius!! All the comments that would come out of that.. so, of course, the first thing we did was to notify family and friends of our great folly... everyone was so kind in that they shared the laughter and irony and kept any other comments to themselves!

About 20 miles after filling up all traffic stopped on Interstate 90. There had been 2 separate accidents that stopped traffic for roughly 45 minutes. We were thankful this all had happened BEFORE getting into stopped traffic. We rolled the windows down, ate homemade cookies, and relished in the knowing that we were not burning any gas while stopped on the highway... and that we HAD gas to burn.. if we needed.

Yes, life is good.

BTW..the death triangle and check engine light went off when we turned the car off at the station (they were still doing their best to get our attention when we restarted once the motorhome pulled away). They did not come back on after the fill up. Whew. Took it in for it's first 5,000 oil change and there were no comments from the mechanics saying the computer had given them something to laugh about.. maybe they, too, kept it to themselves! (I will have to bring it to their attention that when they do the service and rotate the tires.. that the rim covers need to be put back on so they don't pop off! grrr)

Loved your descriptions...

[fuzzy1]

Originally Posted by Flip

... Passed Moses Lake, WA .. heading towards Ellensburg..
...red triangle of DEATH with bells whistles and some cackling laughter...

In addition to other miscalculations, I think your short term MPG was killed by the climb from the Columbia River at Vantage, 2000 feet up to Ryegrass summit. All cars need more fuel to climb, but it is more painfully obvious in the Prius.

Also, this region frequently has substantial winds that often clobbered the westbound MPG of my prehybrids. But those same winds did help give my Subaru a 38.8 mpg tank eastbound last year.

[Flip]

Originally Posted by fuzzy1

In addition to other miscalculations, I think your short term MPG was killed by the climb from the Columbia River at Vantage, 2000 feet up to Ryegrass summit. All cars need more fuel to climb, but it is more painfully obvious in the Prius.

So true what you say. I drive this road many times a year for business and pleasure (Gorge Amphitheatre) and am very familiar with that pull. I had considered it in my calculations.. as erroneous as they were.. but having just pulled multiple passes in Colorado.. I thought it could be done. Yes, the lessons we learn..... I am happy to say that all appears to be alright with the Prius.. and my sense of humor is still intact!