What is up with my Gas?!

You don't have a tank. You have a bladder. It has creases and folds, and will never hold the same amount after refills. Just drive until it says it needs gas (1pip) and then fill up. Pump slowly and if you have one of the vapour nozzles on your gas station pump, then twist or rotate the pump so that the seal is broken (i.e. pump "upside down").

Stop being paranoid and just drive it. Eventually it will equalize.

 

http://priuschat.com/forums/knowled...andard-optional-equipment-some-countries.html should help w/the package.

Each of pips on the "guess gauage" unfortunately doesn't represent a specific # of gallons. Gas gauges on all cars are NOT linear.

Unfortunately, as per the manual, the gas tank can vary in volume, due to temperature. How much you can put in can vary, depending on a lot of factors, such as how fast you fill it.

http://priuschat.com/forums/other-cars/94001-gas-gauge-says-full-but-thats-not-quite-true-npr.html might give you some insight, even though it's a Ford engineer speaking.

As for "supposed to get 40+ miles per gallon", it depends on your MANY factors (trip length, how you're driving, speeds, how much stop and go there is, weather, tire pressure, etc.). As background, since you seem to have some expectations about mileage, please read http://priuschat.com/forums/other-c...uth-about-epa-city-highway-mpg-estimates.html to learn about what goes into EPA estimates.

I would do manual calculations and track your mileage vs. what the MFD (touchscreen LCD) reads in a spreadsheet over time over several tanks. I also would recommend that to reduce the amount of error to run the car lower on gas and not do such small fills. Also, be consistent about when you stop pumping (e.g. always stop on the 1st click or whatever click you choose).

Do NOT assume that MFD indicated mileage * 11.9 is how far you'll be able to go. You will almost certainly run out of gas. There's not usually 11.9 usable gallons. I've owned my 06 since January 06. I've never put in more than 9.975 gallons at a time.

Once you've finished a "tank", if you're not satisfied w/the mileage, please fill out http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...-answer-these-questions-esp-if-youre-new.html. To get a head start, I'd confirm that cold pressure of your tires is at minimum no lower than the Toyota recommended pressures on the driver's door placard. Almost all of us think those are too low, but to be lower than that is definitely too low.

 

Correct. We generally refer to them as pips here.

I just stumbled across this TSB w/more info at http://priuschat.com/forums/toyota-...fuel-gauge-diagnostic-tips-tsb-0163-08-a.html. Probably more than you want to know, but http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-technical-discussion/30593-gas-bladder-exposed.html shows what the tank looks like. Yet even more info at http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/Hybrid13.pdf.

 

Yes a "pip" is a bar.

And I see now your location is California. You definitely have vapour nozzles like these:



That accordion thing on there. Whenever I am in California with the Prius, I pump upside down. You look really stupid, but it works. Since the necks are usually shaped so that they create a seal when inserted normally, the shape doesn't work when held upside down. You can also stick something in there like a pen to make a gap. That will help with the fillups. But you do not want to overfill the bladder. So when it stops, don't put too much more in there.

 

The Prius has a mileage computer to give you miles per gallon. On the Gen II Prius, like yours, this meter is pretty accurate. Use it for tank by tank mileage.

Your gas tank is indeed 11.9 gallons, but that is gross capacity. The usable capacity is closer to 10 gallons, but will vary with temperature, age, and other factors. If you want to manually calculate mileage, forget about the size of your tank. Write down the gallons pumped and miles driven for each fill. After a number of fills you can total the gallons and miles, divide it out, and have a fairly accurate calculated value. Using many fills averages out the uncertainty of tank capacity. After ten fills the figure approaches a steady value.

Tom

 

Not to steal from OP thread but now Im worried. Im 2 weeks into owning my gen 3 2011 prius and was not told about this. Do I have a bladder????

 

No, Toyota discontinued the bladder with the Gen 3.

 

Only NADM GenII (2004-2009) version have a bladder. Outside of North America, the GenII actually has a larger true tank. The GenI and GenIII have a tank everywhere in the world.

 

Thanks for messing up our air.

 

It is a system that works for 99.9% of vehicles out there, but it doesn't work for a flexible system plain and simple. The NADM GenII Prius is as far as I know the only vehicle sold with such a system.

 

Many of the replies have talked about gas, gas tank, gas gauge.

I'm going to suggest you look at Tires, max pressure rating, and check the pressure when the tires are cold.

Look on the side of the tire for the phrase max load or max pressure. If you see it as "max load xxxx lbs xx psi" it doesn't mean the max pounds are at that PSI just that the max pounds per tires is xxxx and the max PSI is xx. (unrelated trivia there)

Let the car sit overnight assuming you sleep at night or let it sit at least 4 hours when it hasn't been sitting in the sun then check the PSI in all four tires.

While you are there check the tread depth with a quarter (sticking a quarter in between the tread should hide the top of washingtons head). I'm sure you've read about this with a penny but that's not enough tread for some driving conditions on some tires. See Tire Tech Information - Measuring Tire Tread Depth with a Coin for pictures.

And look to make sure there is no obvious sign of uneven wear or damage.

The sticker on the car will tell you to put 35 PSI front and 33 PSI rear.

Assuming your tires look OK and have a 44 PSI max many on prisuchat will say 42 front and 40 rear. Some will say 40 front 38 rear. Even the most conservative will say 38 front, 36 rear.

If your tires have 51 PSI sidewall markings I'll say:

If I know I'm doing short commutes on a regular basis (like 2 miles each way to work) with no time for the tires to heat up I do 50/47.

If I don't know my average trip or know I'll be taking a longer trip I'll set it up for 48/45.

If I think it might snow I'll lower it to 45/42 (at 50 to 60 degrees in my garage) and let it shrink how ever much it will shrink when it gets below freezing but that's a rare occurrence where I live.

But then I don't live in the desert southwest or in the snowy north. You always have to prep your car for local conditions and driver ability. Then you have to drive safely based on road conditions and the behavior of your car.

Don't push the tire pressure above where you feel comfortable but know that you will get better gas mileage going higher than the mid 30s PSI the dealer will likely put in. And if nobody has put air in your tires they could be lower than that. When I bought my 2005 Prius as a used car one of the tires was at 18 PSI and all the tires were below 30!