Out of Gas!

Am I understanding this correctly that you did run out of gas and then drove it on battery until it wouldn't go anymore and then pushed it the last 1000 yds.

• How far did you drive it on battery after it ran out of gas? At what speed? Do you know what the charge level of the battery was when you ran out of gas?

PA P

 

My "Out of Gas!" story is probably similar. It was with a 2006.

After 24 miles of a blinking pip, and unlike a 2005 that can go at least twice as far, sitting at a light the dash lit up and the car was out of gas. There used to be a gas station right around the corner and 500 feet down the road, but that one was gone. So I tried for the one straight down the road. Unfortunately I was at about four bars on the battery, and made it about four-tenths of a mile. With a full charge battery I think I might have made it the other half mile.

But yes, at some point it stopped powering the car, and shifted into N and coasted to a stop on the side of the road. It is definitely impressive that Southern Dad could push the car 1000 feet, about a fifth of a mile. Cars get extremely heavy after pushing them just 10 feet.

Where the 2006 stopped, it was not possible to push, since there was a slight uphill coming up and there was heavy traffic too. So I had to wait, in the sweltering heat, with my two young children, for my father-in-law (I'm very thankful that he's a great guy) to come the four miles from his house with a gas can. And of course, not just an ordinary gas can, I needed a 5-gallon can, since you have to add at least three gallons to register in the Prius. I had turned the car off while waiting to conserve the battery, but after the gas was put in I had to turn the car on-off three times to get it to start. I guess Southern Dad never turned the car off during his adventure.

Which brings up another topic. I believe that if you try to start the car again three times before putting in the required three gallons that it will then not start and require the 12V battery to be disconnected to reset the computers. I found that out at dusk one day, 40 miles from home and at the only business around for 15 miles either way, using a small pair of pliers to remove the ground strap bolt back in the trunk. But that's another story.

 

As you read these tales, your 'takeaway' should be 'Don't drive with a single blinking Pip, it is blinking for a reason'

I once had a Gen2 Prius blink for only 7 miles before I was on battery power.

 

Over 158,000 miles and this still baffles me. We aim to fill about ten miles after the tenth pip blinks and consistently can only add 7.2 gallons to fill. I have not and am not interested in running it to empty.

PA P

 

i ran my 08 out of gas last year. had around 6 bars on the battery. drove about a mile til it quit on me. called aaa and it started right up after they refueled it.

 

Your Insight would have been easier to push

 

I have never ran out of gas but when my last pip is blinking and I fill it immediately, I can usually get about 8.5 gallons in. I always refer to the mileage on the tank to figure out how much fuel is remaining. One time I took on 10.5 gallons but that was after driving on the last pip for close to 75 miles or more. I think the tank holds almost 12 gallons but I doubt that it is ALL usable. There has to be a point where some fuel remains but it is not able to be sucked in by the fuel pump.

 

So, how many gallons did it take?

 

Honey I ruined the car BUT I got 600 Miles on a tank of gas! (Stupid)

 

Praise the Lord our son was able to refuel despite is dastardly sins!!..

oh wait, you told us not to do that... sorry i got carried away.


as for the gas gauge, the best thing to do is dont look at it. it just confuses the issues. you know how big the tank is, and you reset the Trip meter every time you fill up (right??) so use it. figure on using 10 gallons as a max so start looking for gas when you calculate 9.5+ gallons used.

you will never go wrong this way and you will never get an 8 gallon fillup either

 

That would mean I should drive 150 miles on the blinking pip every tank, not sure I want to do that.

PA P

 

This story is a good illustration of what to do: Leave the car in Ready, put it in Park, and add 3+ gallons. It will restart on its own. I have heard that others will turn the car off and on again to try to get a little bit farther on the flagging HV battery, but that is really pushing your luck.

 

ahh but my advice is for people who run out of gas. would you be in that category? if not, the post is not for you.

FYI; the bar starts to blink with approximately 12.5% of a tank left plus a small reserve (i once drove for more than 10 miles when CANVIEW stated i had zero % left) so at 50 mpg, i would not go more than 75 miles after the blink.

but remember these are all simply guidelines that all should be weighed against the ample visual clues your Prius provides you

 

As I said in an earlier post in this thread-- I consistently am full at 7.2 gallons after running about 10 miles on the blinking pip. That would be 12.5% and a large reserve.

PA P

 

well to further address the issue we have to look at differences between cars. i have a 2010, you do not. you have a gas tank bladder, i do not.

i can reliably fill to a greater percentage of my tank's true capacity in all weather conditions, you cannot.

you have a much tougher job on your tank fillups and it sounds like you have adjusted to it just fine.

also, the fact that you can only put in 7½ gallons of gas DOES NOT mean you have some sort of monster reserve. it simply means you did not start with a full tank so the option for you to add 10 gallons is simply not there. this issue will be worse in winter since the bladder when cold, seems to be less flexible making fillups harder.

when i had my 04 and 06 i predetermined how much gas i should be able to get in and that is what i shot for. i frequently stopped at least a gallon short of the target. but sometimes i would fill 5-6 gallons then pause for 2-3 minutes than restart. i had mixed success on this.

 

I've almost run out of gas before.. Think I made it to 640 miles in our Gen III when it started losing steam and surging on fumes. Luckily I made it to a gas station. Never done that since though, and fill up at 500-525 miles now. I think we are all tempted at one point or another to see how far we can take our cars on a single tank. It is a mistake that is not repeated. That sucks though that when your last pip blinks you don't have much range left? On my Gen III when that last pip blinks it still has another 100-150 miles left as it usually starts blinking at 450 miles or so. Glad to hear you made it safely to a station at least. Battery should be fine as long as this is your only event.

 

God doesn't need gas.

 

Draining the battery probably shortened its life by some small fraction, but what's done is done. Go and sin no more :_>