Out of gas!

Disconnecting the 12 VDC battery ground cable for about 5-10 minutes will do it every time. As for warranty, there are rumors that this can happen. Since my warranty is long gone, I don't care.

Can you share any details about what happened after all the lights came on?

Bob Wilson

 

::Creepy voice:: We can tell when you run out of gas......:heh:

Seriously, disconnecting the 12v battery will NOT clear the codes from the ECU memory. It may turn off any warning lights, but the information will remain in memory for quite a long time. I don't have the specs in front of me for how long the ECU will store the info, but I do know that the lights will turn off by themselves if the "problem" is not seen for 40 consecutive starts of the ignition.

I would expect to see codes of :

"Engine failed to start" and "Fuel ran out"

Yes, there really is a code that tells us specifically that the car ran out of fuel. However, I have not heard of any cars having warranty denial due to having been run empty. Usually, if a car comes in with the warning lights on and I see the codes for "Fuel ran out" I simply clear the codes, test drive the vehicle, and flip a coin as to whether or not I will request a half hour's pay for doing so. A good customer who comes to me for all their maintenance will usually get a free pass. Same thing goes for those who leave their gas caps loose and get a check engine light from it.

 

Cue thousands of prius owners turning their car on and off hundreds of times in the vain attempt to clear the "fuel ran out" code.

I could have sworn I read something here that had someone run out of gas and needing a new battery pack as a result... out of warranty.

 

Yes, there is a warranty risk. Your wife really needs to learn not to run out, or if she does run out, not to drive the car any distance until enough gas has been added to show up on the fuel gauge.

 

Hokay... Putting on my bragging hat here... Outside of five or six dealers in Cali, my dealership sells more Prius than any other in the neation. My boss was smart enough to look ahead and when most other dealers in south Fla were passing on their allocations of Prius, he called SET and said "Bring 'em on!" The result is that we see stacks of Prius in our shop for maint and warranty. We have NEVER replaced an HV battery that was not covered under warranty. We have seen a couple that failed after going 110k - 125k, but Toyota stepped up and covered them.

As a tech who has been working on Prius since they first hit the shores, I have full trust and respect for them. Once I have finished wearing out my 97 Tacoma (only 175K miles so far) my next car will be a Prius. Fully loaded. Hopefully with the Lithium Ion battery and plug in. Consistantly rated as one of the most trouble free cars. BTW mine will be blue....

 

Should we read that as suggesting that 110 to 125,000 miles is likely typical life? Or do you have lots of cars in for service at that level which are still going strong, and this "couple" failed earlier than is likely to be typical?

I'm very interested in this point. We keep our cars a long time, 12 to 21 years so far, with retirement mileage ranging from 90,000 to over 200,000 and still counting (that would be the 1987 325i, still running for my daughter, and old enough to drink in September 2008). Only exception was a 1980 Diesel Rabbit--Westmoreland made, which just would not stay out of the shop for a significant non-scheduled repair.

 

The FEW that we have replaced, are, IMO, a very small minority. I have seen far many more Prius with much higher mileage. I would have no problem trusting a Prius to last over 200K miles. After all, I fully expect to see at least 250K out of my Tacoma and I invite you to remember that a tech's vehicle is the last to be worked on. After spending 8-10 hours working on cars, my own vehicles get the necessary care only when I can scrape up the motivation.

 

Great news. Thanks for this information, and the considerable body of other useful information you post to this forum.