Prius died - low fuel + CEL

Hello everyone - this is my first post after 'lurking' for about a year. This forum has saved me a ton of money and hassle from my purchase decision to routine maintenance and driving habits. Now, I have a moderate crisis on my hands and I'm looking for opinions.

My 2008, bought new last March, already has 35k and change on it. I commute 130 miles round trip 4 days a week, about 80% Interstate and parkway, the other 20% NYC traffic. On the drive in to work 2 days ago the Check Engine light appeared. I had one more day of work and resolved to get the CEL checked out after that.

Driving home that one more night (it was 1am, as I work second shift) I went down to one square on the fuel gauge and got the Add Fuel indication. I drive to that warning once a week and I've always been fine if I stop for gas within about 20 miles.

This time I got the "Triangle of Death" and the MFD Hybrid System Warning light (the car with an exclamation point) no more than 5 minutes after the Add Fuel warning. I got off at the next exit and walked for gas; put in two gallons.

Tried starting the car a couple of times and the engine would spin up slowly for a few seconds, then quit. All of the orange warning lights stayed on in the car and it would not go into D or R or give the READY light. After the third try, the engine didn't even spin up, I just got the orange warning lights (VSC, etc.).

I called for a tow; at the tow driver's suggestion we went to a gas station and filled the tank completely full because he suspected a fuel flow issue with only the two gallons having been put in. Filled the tank, same result; the gas engine would not even spin up, no READY light, car would only go into P or N.

Today (Sunday) the car is sitting at the tow lot, waiting for the nearby Toyota dealership to open Monday morning, and I'm trying to piece together what happened. I have two theories after doing some searching and thinking, and I was hoping for some feedback from this knowledgeable community.

Theory #1: I ran out of gas, then somehow depleted the 12v battery while trying to start the car with only the 2 gallons from the gas can. If this could be the case I may get a ride back to the tow lot (40 miles away from home) and try a jump start.

Theory #2: There is some issue in the hybrid system that triggered the CEL the day before and manifested itself last night when the fuel quantity was fairly low.

A little more supporting info: I filled the tank 440 miles ago at about 10.1 gallons. The MFD said the average MPG was 47.9. The Add Fuel indication lit up at 436 miles. After we towed the car to the gas station, it only took about 7.3 gallons (on top of the 2 gallons from the gas can.) Those signs would seem to indicate that perhaps some gas was still in the tank at the time I seemingly ran out of fuel.

So, with all that wordy description out there - should we make the 40-mile drive out to where the car is and try a jump start? I only want to do that if it's likely to get the car running so I can drive it to my local dealership and have it fixed close to home.

Thanks in advance for any help you all can offer.

 

Thanks for the tips so far, everyone. We opted not to pack up the family and make the road trip to try a jump start tonight - we'll have it towed to the dealership tomorrow and see what they think, instead. Of course I'll post what the dealer finds.

galaxee - after I filled the tank, the gauge did show a full tank. Would there still be an sensor indicating out of fuel if this is the case?

Regarding the fuel gauge issue alluded to by patsparks, that's the single biggest beef I have with the car. Sometimes, it sits on two bars for 50 miles. Others, it drops to one bar and "Add Fuel" very quickly. It seems like a step backward from every other car I've had, where the gauge and trip odometer gave me a VERY clear idea of how much range I had left on a given tank, and it's odd to be a problem on a car that is all about managing fuel consumption.

As it is, for someone who puts on 500+ miles per week, artificially limiting my range to 300-350 miles would be quite an inconvenience. I'd never had a problem in the 35k miles prior to this event, probably 80-85 tanks. If the mechanic concludes the tank ran dry, I'll have to reconsider my approach to this.

I'm sure a few people out there have run out of fuel (and you always feel doubly embarrassed about it when people see it's a Prius that's out of gas). Has anyone else had it happen so quickly after the "Add Fuel" warning?

 

Well, not much to update yet. The dealership at which the car ended up has some of the worst customer service I've ever encountered. It took me 7 phone calls and 6 hours to get someone's name... lots of transfers to dead phone lines, anonymous voice mail boxes with no outgoing messages, etc. They told me a few hours ago it was in the bay, now I finally got a service advisor who said they never looked at it today, they were too busy with scheduled appointments, and they will "hopefully" get a look at it tomorrow afternoon.

I tried to call Toyota to see if they could help hasten the process, but the Customer Experience Hotline is closed for Presidents' Day.

So, no joy yet. The car's at a dealer I don't know who has little interest in helping me out and has already lied to me once about it today. Unfortunately my local dealer, whom I know and strongly prefer, is 45 miles away from this one and across a state line, so a tow is basically out of the question.

 

I didn't really want to mention them, but the dealer is Toyota of New Rochelle. None of the towing companies I contacted would tow across the state line from NY into CT, so I'm not sure I could get that done even through AAA. (We let our AAA membership lapse a few years ago, unfortunately.)

 

Well, I got it back today. According to the dealership, it was a defective mass air flow sensor. The car never ran out of fuel or had any other problems.

Nonetheless, the dealer balked at reimbursing me for the tow. Looks like I'll have a fight on my hands.

JimN, I've considered purchasing a scan tool and the Bentley book for the car; I've done so in the past. This incident will probably push me over the ledge to do so.

EDIT: According to the invoice, the diagnostic code was "PO 101,3190." For what that's worth.

 

Thanks for the additional info. All oil changes have been done by my regular dealer, but at 30k I did change my own engine air filter, though I was conscious of letting anything fall into the intake there. Has anyone heard of the mass airflow sensor just quitting outright? They didn't mention any contamination on the sensor, just that it was (in their words) 'defective.'