The Bladder "suques"!!!!

How are the emissions on the European Prius (without bladder) compared to the North American model?? I'm betting that they're not significantly different, and they're still better than just about anything else on the road today..

I think it's a reasonably expectation that when I go to fill up my car, that I do get it filled: on a 45L tank, I would expect that a fill would be in the 43-44L (11.3 Gal) range, or in other words, a 95% fill.. The typical 80-85% achieved with the bladder is just not acceptable.. Even less acceptable are the cases where some form of vapor lock occurs and the filler stops after dispensing barely a gallon of fuel into an "empty" tank or the cases where the filler appears to stop normally and then gas gushes out a few seconds later- again, probably due to trapped vapor in the bladder.. Then there's the linkage of the bladder to the fuel gauge inaccuracy problem.. This all points to a fundamental design flaw in the fuel tank system.

If fuel system emissions are an issue, I'd vote for a bladderless pressurized fuel system such as used in other vehicles.. You still get the low emissions, but filling works normally and the fuel gauge is accurate..

 

Is this a problem only with the newer cars, or only on certain individual cars. When I fill my '02 it generally takes just about or slightly more than what I calculate from taking the MFD miles divided by the MFD mpg. Never had a short fill like discussed here.

 

My car always clicks off early. I generally get 2 gal more in by just clicking and clicking,
with like 0.05 gal going in each time. Every so often I removed the nozzle to make
sure it wouldn't spill, but it never got to full most of the time.

Last time I changed techinque to just puttiing in the very tip of the nozzle, so the fume holes
just suck air. They really aren't serving any purpose with bladder! So that made the
clicking stop almost entirely and I could fill slow to the gurgle point.

Also makes it irrelevent whether the fume side is clogged or not.

 

I have also found that this technique works well. I refuel with one or two bars remaining and consistently fill to 9 - 10 gallons. Only once has the gurgling actually resulted in a minor overflow. There was perhaps a teaspoon of gas that spilled over the filler neck before the gurgle stopped.

 

Why is there such an obsession with getting the most miles out of a tank? Is getting 60 MPG from 11 gallons resulting in 660 miles per tank really any better than getting 60 MPG from 9 gallons resulting in 540 miles per tank?

Come on people, 60 MPG is 60 MPG regardless as to whether you go for 7, 9, or 11 gallons between fill-ups.

What does it really prove to foolishly drive until you run out of gas in order to brag that you got the most miles on a tank? Does that really make you a better driver than someone who got the exact same MPG as you, but didn't feel like running out of gas on the highway?

Just fill it up when you get down to 1 or 2 bars and be done with it. It's the miles per gallon that matters, not the miles per tank.

 

Well said Marlin!!!

 

Please, all that have an issue with their Prius, sell it. Period. There are others who would love to enjoy this car. It seems silly to complain about gas capacity.

No, really just sell/trade the damn car if all you have are complaints. Sheesh, get over it and get on with life. Get something you enjoy, don't be 'stuck' with such a device that causes so much anguish. Don't be the person who's in therapy because 10.5 gallons (or even 9.3) is not 11.9.

 

Once I had the fuel tank fix done mine seemed to perform lots better. I usually pump the amount of gas that I figured I would need based on the gauge and mileage. A couple of times I have had the last bar flash and once got the add fuel notice. I usually try to fill at two bars but sometimes it does drop from two to one very fast. I did notice that it takes a lot longer to get to half a tank than it takes to drop the remaining bars. Before the fix I was putting in around 6 gallons and now put in 9 or more every time.

 

Did you see the note in here somewhere to put the cap on quick once you hear the gurgle?
I think it was in one of Ray's posts?

 

No, I hadn't seen that suggestion.

 

Sorry, but the fuel tank itself has nothing to do with this. If it did, you would get misfires, not lean burn. The lean fuel mixture is most likely caused by a fuel delivery problem associated with the fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator, oxygen sensor, EGR valve, fuel injector(s), or the engine computer (either bad electronics or poor software calibration for the lean mixture diagnostic). Based on your stated fuel economy I have ruled out a vacuum leak or other potential cylinder problems. Bottom line is the engine controller is not able to adjust the fuel injection flow (not enough fuel is being provided) to properly mix the gas with air. Or so the computer thinks based on sensor readings.

 

Actually, I had it start gurgling when I tried to pull the nozzle back out. I had forgotten to pull the nozzle out every 1/4 gal. after first clickoff.
I was able to put the NOZZLE back in and slowly bleed the air out a bit at a time by moving the nozzle.

9 gallons versus 12 gallons at 60MPG is 180 miles!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DanMan32\";p=\"115712)</div>

Ive never averaged that high (51.1 is my best to date) but a few gallons does make a difference. Especially for those of us that have long commutes.

One or two extra gallons can make the difference between making it all the way home (or to work) or having to fill up before I leave. Where I live Gas is a lot more expensive than near my work. Its because of that I'd rather wait until Im getting off of work to put gas than before I go to work.

 

I have noted, in my short time here, that there is an obsesive like deal with how many miles you can squeeze out of a tankful.

I come from the land of VW, where gas mileage sucks. If I got more then 25 MPG in my nB, I was happy. And, at the end of my time with my SCION (rollin' on 18' rims), I was barely getting 22-25 MPG. First fill up with the PRIUS? I got 60 MPG. I almost danced right there.

I have said to friends, that I would have been just happy to have more then 30 MPG.

I drive in the city almost all the time. So gas stations are very close. I am not going to drive my tank to the minium for bragging rights.

That is my ¢.02 on it.