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Car ran out of gas, won't start

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by GreenCleaner, Aug 11, 2010.

  1. rabbit99

    rabbit99 New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2012
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    Location:
    Sebastopol, California
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    The disconnect of the negative cable worked great for me. Thanks so much for that tip.
     
  2. pc1985

    pc1985 New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2016
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    Location:
    Philadelphia PA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I know it's an old thread but I came across it recently and would like to weigh in. I've run out gas several times and this issue has happened to me at least once, maybe twice. The car ran out of gas (gauge wasn't functioning correctly and had switched to 1 blinking bar only a few minutes earlier) and I tried to turn the car back on hoping to eek out a mile or two towards a nearby gas station (I didn't realize the potential repercussions of that for the car) or at least better place to park. AAA guy came and added about 2 gallons of gas, which didn't appear to be enough for the car to recognize it wasn't empty, then got towed to a gas station by where I filled up, but still no luck: the car would only go from park into neutral and would not go into drive or reverse. I got on the internet there and was reading on this and other forums that I would have to bring it in to a dealer to have the computer reset, which would have been $500+ proposition before the repair itself based on where I was.

    A few posts I came across insisted that all I likely had to do was 'reset' the rear 12V battery and that no visit to dealer was necessary. I did that and it worked. All I did was turn the car off, remove the key, remove the negative lead from the rear battery (don't try to reach in because it's very tight space and easy to drop the nut; remove the lower cargo basket and plastic housing around the battery), wait about 10 minutes (10 seconds might have been enough, who knows) then reattach and tighten the lead. I turned the car on and it worked normally (the ! in triangle warning light came on, but didn't appear again the next time I started the car), drove on for 1-2 hours while it recharged, and it's worked normally ever since.
     
    #42 pc1985, Sep 8, 2016
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2016
    RebL likes this.
  3. Technician.matt

    Technician.matt New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 16, 2018
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    Location:
    Missouri
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Use scan tool to clear all codes. Should start with fuel in it. Had this happen to me.. I know your post is old however this may help anyone for future reference.
     
    bisco likes this.