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Just filled up for first time

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by nola_Prius, Aug 9, 2009.

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  1. nola_Prius

    nola_Prius New Member

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    Well... after running the gas gauge down several bars, I went and filled up again this evening. I used the slow pump speed setting this time, and now the fuel gauge says full! Yay!
     
    #21 nola_Prius, Aug 10, 2009
  2. LulzChicken

    LulzChicken Prius Enthusiast

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    Sweet! :cheer2: Glad things worked out for you.;)
     
    #22 LulzChicken, Aug 10, 2009
  3. LRKingII

    LRKingII New Member

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    Good for you but wow you ran that tank down fast. How many gal did it take? What the heck kinda miles you drive in a day?
    Next time see if you can let it get lower..down to 1 or 2 bars and try it again at SLOW setting and see what it does then.
     
    #23 LRKingII, Aug 10, 2009
  4. nola_Prius

    nola_Prius New Member

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    Why all the mystery?? Just tell me what you know!! ;)
    I've been doing a lot of joy riding lately :)

    I did notice that on the last fill, when it auto stopped but the car showed 1 bar from being full... I noticed while driving that the first few bars seemed to run down very quickly. I think I was only around 120 miles or so once I was within 2 bars from the middle.
     
    #24 nola_Prius, Aug 10, 2009
  5. LRKingII

    LRKingII New Member

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    Here's the way it was explained to me a long time ago.
    Have you ever watched a Nascar race and see how they fill a car? They use a gravity dump tank and a big vent line. I was told that when you pump gas at high speed it makes the gas foam and traps a large amount of air in the tank so it gets kinda pressurized and wont take as much gas unless you let it take time to bleed all the air out to make room for the gas. The Prius vent system is pretty small so doesnt bleed out the air very fast. That is why you want to fill slow so it has time to equalize. Does this make sense to you? I could tell you a story about filling the tank on my Corvette that isn't pretty.But that only happened once and i learned my lesson.
     
    #25 LRKingII, Aug 10, 2009
  6. nineinchnail1024

    nineinchnail1024 New Member

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    Both of my cars sometimes trigger the pump to shut off prematurely. I just reset the nozzle and squeeze again.
     
    #26 nineinchnail1024, Aug 10, 2009
  7. nola_Prius

    nola_Prius New Member

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    Yes that makes perfect sense. :)
    Thanks for the explanation.
    I figured it was something like that, even though I've never experienced it before. I guess it's whatever it is about the Prius tank or the tube leading to the tank... plus maybe that particular gas pump pumped a little faster than most, perhaps.
    My first reaction was to think that there was something wrong with my car. ;)
     
    #27 nola_Prius, Aug 10, 2009
  8. PracticalEfficiency

    PracticalEfficiency New Member

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    In my BMW if you stick the pump in too far it will auto shut off too soon. Additionally there are those random times which it will just refuse to work.

    Just try a different pump next time and I'm sure it'll work fine.
     
    #28 PracticalEfficiency, Aug 11, 2009
  9. nola_Prius

    nola_Prius New Member

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    It's just weird that I've never encountered that with my previous vehicle...
    and in the past year, I've used that same exact gas pump close to 100 times in the past year.

    On a side note, my MPG average is picking up.
    With my first tank, I only averaged around 47.
    So far I am averaging around 56 with this second tank. :)
     
    #29 nola_Prius, Aug 11, 2009
  10. jay_man2

    jay_man2 jay_man_also

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    Thanks for posting an update; nice to see that the situation resolved itself.
     
    #30 jay_man2, Aug 11, 2009
  11. Racedrvr

    Racedrvr Junior Member

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    LRKingII said: I could tell you a story about filling the tank on my Corvette that isn't pretty.But that only happened once and i learned my lesson.

    Yep...can't top off a C6 or you will wear gasoline!
     
    #31 Racedrvr, Aug 11, 2009
  12. BVISAILMAN

    BVISAILMAN Junior Member

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    Thes fuel tanks have flexible bladders in them. So they tend to spit back more often at higher fuel filling speeds.....next time when it shuts off then use the pump manually and it will take more fuel if you pump it slower.

    Also to keep in mind when the bladder is cold it will not flex as much as when it is warm so you may not get a FULL tank on ocassion. The tank is 11.9 gals. I know I ran out one day and drove two miles on batteries alone.
     
    #32 BVISAILMAN, Aug 11, 2009
  13. jay_man2

    jay_man2 jay_man_also

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    The GEN III does NOT have a bladder.
     
    #33 jay_man2, Aug 11, 2009
  14. wsrussell

    wsrussell New Member

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    no bladder in the 2010.
     
    #34 wsrussell, Aug 11, 2009
  15. SilentPanda

    SilentPanda New Member

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    I filled up for the first time yesterday (got mine ~2 weeks ago). Of course I drove quite a bit more than I normally did for a few days (gotta play with it!). The tank was full according to the dealer and if I remember right the odometer was at 150. I put gas in yesterday with the odometer at 498 (348 mile difference) and ended up putting 7.38 gallons in. The gauge shows all the pips on now.

    Having read this thread prior I was worried about filling up so I had 2-3 pips left when filling. Seems about right for the amount of gas I put in.

    Without trying I hit 47.154 MPG. Yay!

    Now I'm trying different routes to work to see which gets the best fuel economy vs time to get to work... :)
     
    #35 SilentPanda, Aug 11, 2009
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