I know the fuel indicator squares are not accurate but yesterday a single fuel gauge light blinked on my 05 when almost 4 gallons of gas was in the tank according to the consumption screen, 50 mpg for some 400 miles. Anyone else so surprised? Which computer chip is way off? George
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(george6233 @ Aug 9 2006, 06:44 AM) [snapback]300101[/snapback]</div> I'll say two explicitly here: You do not know how much fuel is in your tank and Fill up now! You may think you know because you think that you know the size of your tank and how much fuel you have burned. However, because of the fuel tank bladder, you really have no idea how much gas you have left. When you filled the tank, you almost certainly did not get 11.9 gallons in. While the consumption screen is pretty close to correct, the fuel gauge is fairly close to correct, too (in telling you that you're almost out of gas). This is a noted "issue" (understatement of the year) with the Prius. Two problems conspire to try to make you run out of gas: First, the gas gauge is highly non-linear and (infinately more annoyingly) highly inconsistent (i.e. "2 bars" apparently don't always mean the same amount of gas). Secondly, the gas tank bladder system means that the amount of gasoline in the tank that causes the gas pump to "click off" is HIGHLY variable, so you never know exactly how much gas is in the tank. I'll say it again, Fill up now!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(george6233 @ Aug 9 2006, 05:44 AM) [snapback]300101[/snapback]</div> You could keep driving another 200 miles and see where the error is at. My guess, you'd driving on electric only within 30 miles once the gauge is blinking...
I just make it a habit of filling up when I get to 1 or 2 fuel pips remaining on my "guess gage", regardless of what my mpgs or tank mileage is at that point. Like Betelgeuse stated, you do not know exactly how much gas is left in the tank if you're calculating how much is left based on miles driven/mpgs.
Many previous posters on this board have run out of gas because they were sure their calculations were more accurate than the fuel gauge.
Yep. Trust the car and when it says it's low, it's low. It doesn't matter if you only put in 8,9 or 10 gallons at the end of the day, the computer will run out with 1,2 or even 3 gallons. For whatever reason, that fuel won't make it into the system so it's telling you that you have to refuel when it says so.
Blinking Light = Buy Gas The actual amount of fuel in the bladder may vary. You can not ever know how much gas is 'actually' left. If the car tells you it's about to run out of gas, believe it. Or don't, but make sure you've packed your walking shoes.
Okay I'm going to disagree with most of the previos posts. I have driven my car with the blinking light on several times 75,78 and 110 miles and on all three I have had fuel remaining every time. Just thought I would share btw on each time I did this I was getting >50mpg. I have never made it 600 yet but I will its just a matter of time. Maybe when I try I'll carry a little gas just in case
I have driven as far as 30 miles with it blinking, I have run out in as few as 7 miles once I noticed it blinking. I now use this plan: Alone, get gas when I see 1 pip With Wife, get gas when I see2 pips With mother in law, get gas when I see 3 pips Some risks just should not be taken.
If Clint Eastwood drove a Prius: "I know what you're thinking... did he fill up with 6 gallons or only 5? To tell you the truth, in all the excitement, I lost track myself. So you have to ask yourself just one question: "Am I feeling lucky today?" Well do you? DO YOU, PUNK?!"
I routinely drive 40-50 miles past when the last pip starts flashing, and I generally add about 9.5 gallons. That means there are theoretically approx. 2 gallons left, give or take. I truly wish the gauge was accurate. Instead of just looking at the gauge, I always have to try to figure out how much further I can drive (or buy gas 20-30% more frequently than I would otherwise need to).
I am having the same problem. I did fill it and then drove about 10 miles and parked, did about an hour of shopping, and came out to a single blinking square. Thinking I might have been siphoned I refilled at a close station and it took 51 cents. Still blinking with just the last pip. What now???
The bladder completely throws things off. Just yesterday I watched the guess gauge drop 2 pips inside of 10 minutes. And no, I wasn't flooring it all the way. My theory is that the bladder is relaxing due to the rising temperatures around here...
After you had initially refueled, did the fuel gauge show 10 bars? If so, and it only shows one blinking bar now, then consider the possibility that your 12V battery may be near dead. When battery voltage drops low enough, the fuel gauge will lose its memory of the actual fuel level and will show one blinking bar until the car is on long enough for the correct fuel level to be restored.
