How Far would you driving on blinking pip, or Guess Gauge Part 2

After the last pip started blinking:

• 122.1 miles @56.6 MPG
• 2.1 gallons - 1.6 gallons per manual

The only indication of a problem was the "electronic steering error" icon came up. Nothing else so I pulled into a lot and put in a spare gallon of gas I carried around. When I started the car, the error icon was off.

I drove to a gas station that claims to sell straight gas:

• 11.287 gallons added from pump
• 0.81 gallons from spare can - 11.0 miles @57.5 MPG, 0.19 gallons burned
• 12.097 gallons added
• 580.9 miles per "B" trip meter with 11.097 burned, 52.34 MPG

The fuel tank is rated at 11.9 gallons so it looks like about .197 gallons somehow slipped in (or the gas pump needed calibration.) I sure hope none of my carbon canisters have been compromised.

The "electric steering error" icon, a circle with two lines angled down and the "!" was rather disappointing. I was expecting something at least as entertaining as my NHW11 ... really horrible looking codes that suggest "doomed, you are doomed!"

Since this is my tank, not the dealer's, I started auditing the usual suspects:

• tire pressures - 40/39 (front, left/right), 35/35 (rear), all now at 44 psi, max. sidewall pressure
• ICE oil - 0.25" over top pip, will correct in the morning. I do not remember ever seeing oil that looked that clean!

So it may take a couple of days for the car to learn the new trim. Meanwhile, I can start working on the instrumentation.

Bob Wilson

 

Uh, oh. Looks like the same person that spec'ed the oil fill capacity in the GenII's spec'ed the GenIII as well.

 

new member with 2012 prius type 2,I really thank you guys and girls posting your info-i'm a ride to empty guy and was really surprised by the fact thaat I could run of of gas and more surprised by what could happen-the 2012 has screen with a miles to empty beside the blinking bars,plz understand that I'm 70yo and this is my first hybrid,so I was plzedto see all the info gauges(miles to empty etc)but after reading the forum I'm going to fill up on the first time I see the last bar starting to blink regardless of what the miles to empty say-thank you so much for posting this info.geezer42.

 

Geezer, that is the smart thing to do. These cars can go well over 400miles on a tank. There is no real need to push it further. Well, for there is for the nutty adventurous type.

 

I will never know. The blinking low-fuel symbol is so small and so blended in color with the rest of the dashboard that it can be overlooked. And the audible alarm cannot be heard over the radio. So I always buy gas well before empty. I've know of no other vehicle that doesn't use the "standard" yellow light or yellow fuel pump icon.

 

Oh..yeah...way over 400 miles to a tank. Who says a 2011 Prius Five with 17" wheels can't get good mpg? Although I'll admit I'll be filling up right after work today!

 

I read in another post on this subject that someone calculated there would be two gallons left in the fuel tank when the last pip starts flashing. Still, I'd want to know how much of that is USABLE fuel. Some tanks - at least the way they work on light airplanes - will hold, for instance, 12 gallons of fuel, but only 11 gallons would be usable because of the way the tank is designed. Pilots calculate their fuel range based on how much is usable, which is a known quantity. Perhaps someone knows whether the Prius' tank contains an unusable amount of fuel.