NO fix for Prius Gas Tank Filling Up Issues

[ranchogirl]

I have had my car for about a month now and just had a problem with this yesterday. I think it was something I did, though. My first 2 or 3 fillups were fine, filled to the rim. This time, though, I had two gas gift cards from work, one $25 and one $50. I decided to use the $25 one first and discard it then the $50 one. So I filled up to $25, and at a few cents before it slowed down and stopped on it's own to $25. Then I couldn't figure out how to keep filling it up using a different form of payment, so I took the nozzle out, printed a receipt, then started over. When I put the nozzle back in and started to use the $50 card, it got to 94 cents then shut off. $25.94 nowhere nearly fills up my car at $4.11 a gallon. I had arrived at the station with one pip so it should have been around $40/$45 or so. After it shut off I tried a few more times to get it going and it kept clicking off. Remembering this thread I gave up and pulled the nozzle out.

When I started the car it "filled up" to full minus one pip. VERY OBVIOUSLY not accurate. I have since driven 75 miles and am now down to half a tank, in one day. Again obviously not accurate.

I think me somehow stopping the nozzle, pulling it out, and putting it back, created an air pocket or something making the the nozzle think the tank was full. Then when I started driving the air pockets dissipated and I lost the pips fast.

I am anxious to use up the rest of this half a tank and fill up again, this time without stopping, to see if it happens again. I hope not. My previous flawless fillups give me hope. I'm anxious though.

[9G-man]

Originally Posted by ranchogirl

I have had my car for about a month now and just had a problem with this yesterday. I think it was something I did, though. My first 2 or 3 fillups were fine, filled to the rim. This time, though, I had two gas gift cards from work, one $25 and one $50. I decided to use the $25 one first and discard it then the $50 one. So I filled up to $25, and at a few cents before it slowed down and stopped on it's own to $25. Then I couldn't figure out how to keep filling it up using a different form of payment, so I took the nozzle out, printed a receipt, then started over. When I put the nozzle back in and started to use the $50 card, it got to 94 cents then shut off. $25.94 nowhere nearly fills up my car at $4.11 a gallon. I had arrived at the station with one pip so it should have been around $40/$45 or so. After it shut off I tried a few more times to get it going and it kept clicking off. Remembering this thread I gave up and pulled the nozzle out.

When I started the car it "filled up" to full minus one pip. VERY OBVIOUSLY not accurate. I have since driven 75 miles and am now down to half a tank, in one day. Again obviously not accurate.


I think me somehow stopping the nozzle, pulling it out, and putting it back, created an air pocket or something making the the nozzle think the tank was full. Then when I started driving the air pockets dissipated and I lost the pips fast.

I am anxious to use up the rest of this half a tank and fill up again, this time without stopping, to see if it happens again. I hope not. My previous flawless fillups give me hope. I'm anxious though.

I have a few questions about your previous "flawless" fill-ups...

How many gallons did you pump during those fill-ups?
How many miles did you drive between those fill-ups?
How many miles did you drive between the last "flawless" fill-up and that recent problem fill-up.
If you simply note how many miles you drove since last fill-up and divide it by the average MPG since that fill-up, the result will be how may gallons you used, and thus, can expect to pump.

The exact amount of fuel goes into my tank, after the exact same amount of miles have been driven/ average MPG, every single time. And it will in your tank too. You gotta have a baseline and drive it down to the low-fuel warning at least once. The PIPs are not that accurate, but quantity and burn are.

Expressing gas pumped in Dollar figures is pointless. A statement like "$40-$45 or so" can be a variance of 1.4 gallons or so.
That's a big variance in a 10.5-11 gallon usable tank.

[9G-man]

Originally Posted by Hayduke

I have an 08 and I have started to have this problem too. Initially I was going over 100 miles before the first "blip" would disappear on my gas level. Now it changes much sooner. Today I was down to the last "blip" and decided to fill it before it began flashing. I had only gone 372 miles. I think I put 8.5 gal of gas in it.

I do not like the bladder tank and wish that is was a more reliable/traditional tank.

I think I might put a gal of gas in a small container in my trunk and try to run the tank dry in order to "start over." It would be nice to put something close to 10 gal of gas in the car so that I can accurately measure my total traveling distance. ANyone see a problem with this?

I know the car has the capacity to go 450-500 miles on a tank of gas-- I have an average mpg of 50-55 on each tank since I bought the car in April. Refilling at 400-450 should be conservative, shouldn't it?

Anyone routinely drive until the last blip starts flashing?

Yes, all the time, and by running the numbers I know the range of every tank. I suggest you run a tank down to at least the low fuel warning and try to start establishing a baseline like you suggest. It will fix the problem.

[CarmelPrius]

I just fueled up my 2008 Prius. The nozzle stopped 5-6 times. I pulled it further out and it seemed to fill ok, but when it finally did shut off, the gas boiled out all over the place. It took about 5 gallons. When I started up, the gas gauge was stuck on 1/2 full; same as when I started. After a few minutes it went to full. The mileage did not reset on the "consumption" screen.

[qbee42]

Originally Posted by CarmelPrius

I just fueled up my 2008 Prius. The nozzle stopped 5-6 times. I pulled it further out and it seemed to fill ok, but when it finally did shut off, the gas boiled out all over the place. It took about 5 gallons. When I started up, the gas gauge was stuck on 1/2 full; same as when I started. After a few minutes it went to full. The mileage did not reset on the "consumption" screen.

Lean in here a little closer. Still closer. Okay

The nozzle stopped because the tank was full. That's how they work. Pulling it out allowed you to overfill the tank, which is not something you want to do. The gas gauge was not "stuck" at 1/2 full - there is a time averaging function that slows down the gauge response to keep it from going up and down as you go around corners and change speeds. Slowly rising to full is how it is supposed to work. Lastly, the mileage does not automatically reset when you fill the tank. You have to press the reset button for that.

The owners manual is a great place to find this sort of information.

Tom

[Lola'05]

I have an "05 and if I put more than 6 gallons in the tank...the mileage atuomatically resets.

[cauzway]

It seems like everyone likes to fill up at two pips or two bars as I call it. Does the gas pump symbol come on in the 08. I have less than 1000 miles on my car.

[eddie27970]

Have you tried this? Bounce rear of car, hard, sloshing gas in bladder, with tank cap off, open to outside air? I had the same problem month ago. Tank gauge showed empty. No matter what, could only get 2.5-gallons in it. Handle clicked off. Drove about 50-miles to another gas station. Openned tank cap, pressed down on back of car to give a good up and down motion a few times. Got about 6-gallons in it. Day or two later, car filled up normally. Seems bouncing back of car, sloshing tank real good, with gas cap off, open to outside air, worked.

My problem happened to me when coming down out of the mountains, changing bearametric pressure, as in ears popping. Hard driving (fast) for about 4-hours straight. I gaffed it off to unequel pressures.

Now, I may have also jinxed myself. My next comment may be how it has happenned again, since I have now wrote that bouncing seemed to fix it. Wooeeessss Meeeee.

[JayCizzo]

I will add my story. I just bought a 2009 a couple of weeks ago. First fill up was with 3 pips left and I got a little over 7 gallons in the tank. Today I tried to fill up with 2 pips left and the pump shut off before I even hit 5 gallons. Each time I tried to resume pumping it immediately would cut off as if it was full. I got it to 5 gallons and gave up. As I drove away the fuel gage went up to full and a few seconds later it dropped down to one pip over half.

So, either the bladder really was full at the time (for whatever reason) and when I drove away the movement allowed it to expand or the pump was too sensitive and thought the tank was full before it really was. I'm sure there are other possibilites but those seem like the most probable causes.

Not looking for any help as I think pretty much everything has been covered in this thread already. Just wanted to say I share everyone's frustrations, especially as my wife was really looking forward to less frequent stops at the gas station.

[paul2102]

This just happened to me this week for the first time with my 08 Prius at around 9,200 miles on the odo.. Tried to fill up with 2 pips at a Shell station. With 2 pips, I can get at least 7.5 or 8 gallons in to fill it up. It stopped at 4 gallons, and I struggled to get 5 gallons in. I guess I wll just keep filling up at 2 pips to be safe.