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Gas tank suddenly won't fill all the way

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by MattFL, Dec 5, 2016.

  1. MattFL

    MattFL Member

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    The gas tank in my 2008 Prius suddenly won't fill all the way, on random occasion, about 50% of the time. Has anyone else seen this?

    I bought the car new in 2008 and I live in S. FL, temps lately have been between about 70F and 85F. As of a couple weeks ago, the car will randomly not fill all the way with gas. The pump clicks off, and by the miles driven I know that there is room for several more gallons. Sometimes the gauge shows full (but drops very rapidly while driving), and sometimes it shows accurate readings. Just this weekend we took a road trip, and at 20 minutes in when I stopped for gas the tank filled right to the top. 20 minutes into the return trip I filled up and it stopped almost 2 gallons short. This is a brand new problem. Has anyone else seen this?
     
    #1 MattFL, Dec 5, 2016
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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    there are thousands of complaints about refueling the gen 2 because of the bladder. not sure what might cause it to pop up after 8 years. try a different pump, try opening the gas cap and waiting a couple minutes, try pumping as slowly as possible, try rotating the pump handle to the 90 or 180 degree position.
     
    #2 bisco, Dec 5, 2016
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  3. les.warden

    les.warden Junior Member

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    What bisco said. Bought ours new in 2008. Even had the bladder/tank replaced because of this very issue. Always kept doing it (clicking handle off like full). My solution, forever, has been to turn the gas pump handle upside down when filling. Fills correctly 99.9% of the time. A sensitive handle still gives me grief so then I just slow the flow rate way down. Still a great car!
     
    #3 les.warden, Dec 5, 2016
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  4. MattFL

    MattFL Member

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    Thanks for the replies. We fill up all over town, it's so odd that the problem just started after 8 years of no problems. When it did fill all the way before the trip, I did have to go very slowly for the final 3 or so gallons. On the return trip I tried going very slow, but it wouldn't take another drop no matter what I did.. This whole thing is odd because I've never had this problem before.. something must have changed on the car, I wonder what it is....
     
    #4 MattFL, Dec 5, 2016
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  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    maybe the carbon canister is saturated.
     
    #5 bisco, Dec 5, 2016
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  6. Neohybrid

    Neohybrid Not-so-junior member

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    When we first got our 08 (new) it took a while to get used to filling it slowly. It seemed worse in the winter - I assume the bladder isn't as pliable or something. I have found a few pumps that give me more grief than others, but I've been able to deal with it for more than 8 years now. Filled up today and thought it should have taken more (5.8 gallons when I was showing three pips), but it showed full a couple of seconds after I started it up. Sometimes I can go 125 miles before it drops a pip, but usually around 80 - goes down faster after that first pip. I guess that is why it is called a "guess gauge" and not a "gas gauge" in the 2nd gen.
     
    #6 Neohybrid, Dec 8, 2016
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