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Car ran out of gas, won't start

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by GreenCleaner, Aug 11, 2010.

  1. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Page 5-8, near the bottom of the page:

    "The software logic on the '04 Prius has changed to help prevent customers from running the HV battery low enough to where the charger is needed. The vehicle simply will not crank after the customer has tried several times after running out of gas for example."
     
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  2. vertex

    vertex Active Member

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    I never ran out of gas in my Prius. However, I did have the ICE quit on me when my dealer had the car, and forgot to tighten the TPS ( I could write a story about this, but not here). I was less then 1 mile from home, so I tried to limp home on the battery. I got 1/2 way there, and the car died. The battery was on the last bar. I towed the car the rest of the way with my van. When I looked under the hood, I found & fixed the problem. The car then started right up. Based on this experience, it seems that the Prius is designed to have enough charge to start after it shuts down from being drained to the limit.
     
  3. sub3marathonman

    sub3marathonman Active Member

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    That wasn't the case with my 2006, and I was working at it on more than one occasion. :embarassed:

    The first one I will try to blame Toyota for. :D With the 2005 Prius, you could go 50, 80 or so miles before it DIDN'T run out of gas. So when it started blinking on the 2006, that's what I thought. Well, exactly 25 miles later, the dreaded triangle. Now, I was probably a mile away from a gas station, and would have been just a few hundred feet if they hadn't closed another one. But unfortunately the battery was only on 4 bars. I had no choice but to go for it, and ended up getting about half way there. I would have kept going, but the Prius shifted into neutral down at one bar, and coasted to a disappointing stop alongside the road. It was burning hot, and I had to call my father-in-law, tell him his beloved grandchildren were in the car that was heating up fast, and that no, he couldn't just bring one gallon of gas, he had to bring at least three gallons. That time, I put the gas in, pushed the starter three times, and the Prius started back up.

    Now, the other time I suppose it could be considered my fault, but who would know that in Florida there was a spot where it was 45 miles between gas stations? The Prius binged and blinked just 100 yards past a gas station, but I didn't want to turn around and go back, I only wanted to keep going forward. And besides, there must be another gas station within 20 miles. But NO. And at 10 miles I wondered if I should turn around and go back, but that would have been really admitting I was wrong. And besides, there must be another gas station by 10 miles up the road. But NO. Now this time, 22 miles after the blinking pip, when it died I pulled right into a business that was right there, and knew enough not to turn it off. I explained that yes, I had a Prius, one of the most fuel-efficient cars around, and yes, it was out of gas. They were good sports, and he said he knew a guy THREE MILES down the road who would have some gas. Now, this would have been impossible the previous day, but as luck would have it, I had just had the Hymotion kit installed that day and had turned it off early in order to go easy on the new battery.

    I turned the Hymotion back on and drove at 25 mph down the road, much to the chagrin of the other drivers, but I even pulled over once so everybody could pass, and once again I couldn't destroy the hybrid battery, it shifted into neutral just as I was pulling in to his place. Now he was beyond a good-summaritan. He stopped his work, got the gas and put it in. It was in a big can, so I wasn't sure how much he put in. I offered to pay him for it, but he wouldn't hear of it. I tried to start it the three times, and nothing. So I then had to tell him that the Prius is not your ordinary car, if it runs out of gas you can't just do the logical thing and put gas back in, you have to put at least three gallons back in, and that while his generosity was appreciated, it wasn't enough to get the car going again. Once again I offered to pay for the gas, but he wouldn't hear of it even after adding another five gallons. So now I was set, just push the button three times and get going. I said thanks, and he got back to work. Unfortunately, after three and then six pushes of the button, there was still nothing. So by now the sun was setting, and there seemed to be no chance the Prius was going to start. I was thinking then too that the hybrid battery could be wrecked, maybe even because of the Hymotion kit that was just installed. But then I thought, disconnect the battery and give it a fresh restart. So now, for a third time, I had to bother him again, not for more gasoline but for a tool set. This he didn't have. So I was stuck. Then he said he did have a pair of pliers, if I could use them. I was desperate, so I opened the back and got to the negative cable's 10mm attaching bolt. I don't know how I did it, but I finally reached in there as the final rays of the sun disappeared below the horizon and got it loosened. With a spark or two I took it out, waited a minute, and put it back in. Once installed tight enough with the pliers I then pushed the button, and the Prius was alive again. :whoo:I handed his pliers back and drove home.

    And the moral of the story is ... One pip is really the blinking pip to me now. I wish I could reprogram the gas guage to actually do that.
     
  4. GreenCleaner

    GreenCleaner Junior Member

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    Whining? Maybe you've never heard of sarcasm but I wasn't whining. If you can't offer advice, don't say anything at all!
     
  5. GreenCleaner

    GreenCleaner Junior Member

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    I returned to this thread because low and behold.... my car won't start again and I didn't run out of gas. Every since this incident I don't go under 2 bars.

    Currently I have 4 bars. I was sitting in a parking lot on a call with the car off, an hour later when I restarted to let the window up and I noticed the check engine light on and it wouldn't completely turn on. I restarted a few times and doors won't lock (after manually locking each door one by one, it unlocks all while locking the last door).

    Now I'm not sure if this is an issue but a few days after I picked up my car from the last situation, I noticed that the driver window wasn't completely going up. When I would raise it, it would automatically come back down a few inches. I took it to another dealership (closer to me), explained the situation and they recommended that I go back to the original dealership (which is in another state, an hour away) or they were going to charge me to fix it. The original dealership stated they would fix it for free but they're never open when I'm off work. Now I'm wondering if the window had something to do with why it won't start and if so, should I attempt to take it to the other dealership or any Toyota.
     
  6. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Since you've noticed some strange behavior from your car, I think you should start by replacing the 12V battery.
     
  7. GreenCleaner

    GreenCleaner Junior Member

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    I did, about a year ago.
     
  8. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Guess what. Your gonna have to replace it again. You deep drained it and it got sulfated and pretty much ruined that 1 year old battery. It will be unreliable from here on out hence Patricks suggestion to replace it.
     
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  9. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    +1
     
  10. GreenCleaner

    GreenCleaner Junior Member

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    Strangely the car started on its on last night. Originally the dealership that fixed it stated they probably forgot to reset something related to a computer which is why the window keeps coming down. I'm on my way now to discuss what happened last night and to get the window fixed. I'll have them check the battery.

    Thanks guys!
     
  11. Bob64

    Bob64 Sapphire of the Blue Sky

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    you can reprogram the window yourself by holding up for like 10 extra seconds after it hits the top.

    This window setting is lost if the 12v battery dies.
     
  12. GuamKelly

    GuamKelly Member

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    I've always wondered -- just what does one have to be thinking about to run ANY car out of gas (never mind one that will go 300+ miles on a tank)?
     
  13. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    And doing it once is bad, but running out 2 or 3 times is asking for trouble.
     
  14. GreenCleaner

    GreenCleaner Junior Member

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    Geez, a person runs out of gas for multiple reasons aside from the obvious fact that they didn't stop for gas. Until you're in someone else's situation (shoes), you can't question or judge the next by what you think is the obvious (being lazy to get gas, too stupid to remember or notice, etc). Just like I can't question why people find the time to be rude, snarky or overly judgmental on a forum instead of moving along and being constructive with their opinions elsewhere.

    UPDATE about the battery, there was nothing wrong with it. No battery needed to replace. They had no idea why my car did what it did.
     
  15. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Let's all take a few breaths here.
    I've run out of gas before. Some people up above have admitted to running out of gas. A coworker told me just two days ago that she's run out of gas.

    It happens. I lose my keys; some people don't. I forget important dates; some people don't. I rock at Word, Excel and Powerpoint; some people don't.

    We all have our strengths and we all have those things that just happen. Get over it.
     
  16. ronhowell

    ronhowell Active Member

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    A few breaths taken.

    Running out of gas in a Prius is not excusable. You don't get warned you're going to lose your keys; you can get forewarned about important dates; "rocking" at Word,Excel or Powerpoint is irrelevant.

    You DO get warned by the Prius well ahead of actually running out of fuel. Choosing to ignore the implications can have serious and costly consequences.
     
  17. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Mostly I agree, but not all parts of the country are well served by gas stations. In this area, many of them keep short hours outside of tourist season. I've never run out, but I've cut it close when the only station turns out to be closed.

    Likewise some parts of the west have very long distances between services. I was taken by surprise the first time I drove through Wyoming. You need to buy gas there every time it is available. Once again, I didn't run out, but I spent some tense time on the highway wishing for a fuel stop.

    Tom
     
  18. krg03

    krg03 Not expert, just experienced

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    I had one of my kids run out of gas. Payday friday. It's thursday. Thought they could make it. It was a Bi+ch to restart and didn't run correctly until it got into the dealer which meant towing it and damage from the tow which meant it was in the shop. A good lesson overall.
     
  19. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    What was the lesson: not to have kids, not to be financially responsible for the kids' cars, or ?? :cool:
     
  20. krg03

    krg03 Not expert, just experienced

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    Kid paid for it all.....:cheer2:
    They get a car and the boot.
    It was their lesson.:cool: