Tank Empty - Only 320 miles driven

the gen 2 has a rubber bladder in the gas tank, so you can never fill it accurately. best to average your mpg's over time. the more tanks, the more accurate the average.

 

One bar, not yet blinking, so you were not quite down to the last warning. Beware that at this point, some Gen2 Prii with funky or partially collapsed bladders are getting close to fuel starvation. But many others still have plenty of fuel range remaining. You won't know which you have until you actually run dry. :-(.

335 miles / 8.5 gallons = 39.4 MPG. But your MPG display said 49, suggesting that you burned only 6.8 gallons since purchase. Based on past discussions, I will guesstimate or swag that you burned roughly 7 gallons (the MPG display is not perfect, but less over-optimistic than 2010+ models), and the remainder of the difference was because the tank was not quite full at delivery, despite showing 10 bars.

But it will take at least one more refill, maybe several more, to really pin this down.

PS check your tire size, to make sure any replacements are the same or similar size as the OEM tires. A different size will throw off the MPG display.

 

yes, that is quite common. you can move along, these aren't the droids you're looking for.

 

You want to check the amount of oil in the ice, it should be 2/3rd's up to the full mark, to much and the maaf sensor get's gunked, but the sweet spot is 2/3rd's, cycle the emergency brake on and off and go 38-40 on the air, clean the cabin air filter, and trickle charge the 12v at 2 amps once every two months.

 

40 front 38 rear
Charging your 12 volt battery, slowly with a 2 amps trickle charger

 

That is because the gas tank is rated to hold 11.9 gallons of gas and a Gen2 Prius gets an average of 46 MPG (multiply it out). Some "hypermilers" have actually gotten 700-800 miles on a full tank.

The issue with the tank is that the "bladder" (not used outside the US or in Gen3 or later Prii) can get stiff and then the back pressure during a fill-up causes the pump to shut off prematurely.

JeffD

 

They are just that. Stories. Actual range will vary.The rest of us will be average and get 45 mpg with about 350 a tank.

 

Some Gen2s have well behaved bladders that allow longer distances, some have very finicky little bladders that can't go nearly as far. Sort of like many humans.

Gen3 owners can consistently go farther, both from higher MPG and from lack of bladder issues. And some have learned that they can go far beyond the very last low fuel warning without actually running dry. But numerous (not all) Gen2 owners have run into a nasty surprise when attempting the same.

 

bladders. bad for cars and humans.

 

Apart from the various tricks like taking the fuel cap off and letting it "breathe" for a couple of minutes, pumping slowly, holding the nozzle a certain way, holding your head to the left (or to the right), etc, no.

I believe the only way to replace the bladder is to fully replace the tank in its entirety. I'm not aware of hearing that anyone has successfully done this. I don't believe North American Market Gen II Prius can have a bladder-less tank fitted.

Sorry that there is not better news, but I do feel your pain.

If you get 42-49 MPG (US) without doing anything special then you are doing ok. If you want to get higher MPG than that, you need to learn some basic hypermiling techniques. The two best "bang for your buck" techniques are Driving without Brakes and Pulse & Glide (link in my sig). As well as these, don't accelerate slowly or try to drive in electric mode only.

 

How do you know you're only gonna get 320 miles on this tank? Lets see what happens before we make that assumption.

 

sounds like you need a new bladder. $$$$$ did you already have the gauge reset?

 

Before he tries to 'see what happens', he should be sure to select a convenient time and safe location with low traffic, and consider taking along a spare can of fuel.