Incidence of ICE Shutdowns Understated

I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. Mine quit in city traffic last November. Since the reflash it has been fine.

At the same time, every other car and pickup out there has sophisticated software and hardware controlling the fuel injection, ignition, transmission, emissions, etc. A quick search of NHTSA will uncover a lot of overall problems with stalling among all the makes.

For example with the Ford 6.0 V8 PowerStroke turbodiesel their stalling is so bad they had to recall all of them to reprogram.

Before my 2004 Prius, I special ordered a 2000 GMC Sierra. Within 2 months of delivery, it developed such a lopey idle the entire truck would shake. If you've ever been in a hotrod with a high duration solid lifter cam, that is how it felt.

I also had numerous software and hardware problems with their AutoTrak automatic transfer case.

 

18 months of driving, and no unexpected shutdown. Now I'm wondering if I'm exempt or just overdue...

 

This TSB EGO47-04 bulletin mentioned, I wonder which years this covers? 04- early 05? How do we know if we should call and get this done to our vehicles? I have a 05.

 

:idea: As to "20 reprogramming incidents..." - bear in mind that many may have been done as preventive maintenance NOT NECESSARILY due to an unintended shutdown.

One thing... This serves as a reminder to me to take my Prius in and request a review of which TSBs have been done and which may yet need to be done.

 

We had an unintended shutdown on the highway for an '05 Prius that Toyota says doesn't fit their profile of cars with the problem. No codes triggered, no VIN number recall. We're just supposed to assume it will never happen again, since they have no evidence of the problem and can't replicate it.

Has this haapened to anyone else?

 

Purchased my new '05 Seaside AM at the end of Nov. I sell them and a few clients have had the ICE shutoff sporadically at most.

So yesterday my new '05 stalled out with the triangle of death on the way to work. I was pushing the envelope on the gas usage since the bottom bar had been blinking for about 30 miles. Thus I guessed that I may have run out of gas. I was able to turn around and go back a mile on battery alone and get gas but it took only 10.1 gal so there was some fuel still in the tank.

I wonder if mine was this sporadic glitch or is there a flow sensor discrepancy on the fuel tank. The computed fuel usage and expected remainder in the tank all were accurate. ~450 mi @ 44.9 mi/gal. So the 10.1 gal I put in was what I would have expected.

Anyway after filling up the triangle of death disappeared as if nothing had happened. Have others had the shutoffs occur randomly without regard to the level of fuel in the tank or have others also had it occur when the last bar was blinking?

 

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that the amount of gas that I can put in when my tank is "empty" is variable...So I'd say, given the above, that you well may have run out of gas. You don't just have a classic gas tank with a fixed capacity, you have a bladder that acts differently given different weather. The rate that you put gas into the bladder also affects the apparent capacity, if you fill it slower, you seem to be able to put more gas into it (giving it time to expand more fully).

-Roger

 

"Without regard to the level of fuel in the tank"? That was not your situation; you ran out of gas.

The flexible bladder inside the tank means that you can't judge or estimate how much gas you have left based on how far you've driven. The sensor, in contrast, has a very good idea of how much gas is left because it is measuring the level. When the last bar blinks it means "buy gas right now". A cautious driver will buy gas before the bar starts to blink.

 

You ran out of gas, but it makes one wonder how many other ICE cut outs and red triangle represent people who pushed it ran out of gas and then got a short fill and assumed that they had a computer issue rather than driver error. I have been tempted on several occasions when getting a particularly good tank and push it up over 600 just to see the numbers. Good sense prevailed and I filled up. You really can't trust single tank mpg even though we all do (me too ) but I understand nothing less than a 3 or 4 tank average has much real meaning. Don't push it fill up. BTW it has been almost 60 the past 2 days and I have a great tank going. My daughter home for the holidays wanted to borrow my car last night and I said with a 55 mpg tank in winter going for me... No WAY B)

 

Yes, it has happened to those who didn't believe their fuel gauge and ran out of gas. I noticed that you failed to mention the fuel gauge reading when your problem occured?

 

Yes it happened to me. Lost power in fast lane, plenty of gas, no error codes, energy display showed wheels moving but no power arrows from ICE or from Battery. Had to coast to side of road. Once shut down and powered up able to continue on uneventfully. Dealer could find no problems.

 

My wife was just moments ago stuck on the freeway w/ the triangle of death & lots of other indicators on. After reading this forum for the 1st time, it seems like she probably ran out of gas, but she could barely make it to the off-ramp & had it towed to a dealership. Her low gas indicator came on about 19 miles earlier. Is it really that abrupt. We have a 2005 w/ 40,000 miles & have loved the car up to this point.

 

Yes it's that abrupt. It's just the same as running out of gas in a normal car. You are driving and then you are not. Why would you expect it to be different?

The total capacity of the fuel tank in N.A. models is a bit uncertain, but the gas gauge is pretty good at telling you when to add more. When it gets down to two pips, start thinking about filling up. When it gets down to one, get gas right away.

Tom

 

Not to sound stupider than already, but in all likelihood all we have to do is fill the car w/ gas & it will work?

 

If she only ran out of gas and stopped it should be okay. But if she tried to drive on the battery after running out of gas she may have totally discharged the battery which is not good.