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2013 Fuel tank capping out at 7.13 gallons

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by dram91801, Dec 17, 2020.

  1. dram91801

    dram91801 Junior Member

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    I recently purchased this 2013 Gen 3 and so far so good only 46k miles on it. I've only had it long enough to fill it up 3 times. I've noticed that every time I fill up from blinking light, the pump clicks and cuts off at just over 7 gallons. Today it was 7.13. I got 415 miles out of this last tank.

    I read that Gen 3 don't have bladders in tank so wondering what you all think may be the reason for not getting the whole 11 gallon capacity.
     
    #1 dram91801, Dec 17, 2020
  2. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    It’s likely the sending unit is giving an erroneous reading. Possibly due to a hole in the float, causing it to sink to the bottom of the tank. The previous owner could have “modified” the sending unit float to read empty a lot earlier. 415 mile and 7.1 to refill is around 58 mpg calculated. When you cycle thru the trip menu, does the DTE show 0? What is your indicated mpg showing? In your situation, if you are a DIY’er, you can pull the back seat and inspect the sending unit yourself.

    If you choose to look at the sender yourself, the float should be generally in line with the bottom of the pump housing, when the resistor on the side is at the bottom of its travel. And obviously, the float should not sink when exposed to gasoline.
     
    #2 cnc97, Dec 18, 2020
  3. dram91801

    dram91801 Junior Member

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    Thanks. I hope that's not the case.

    The DTE displays ~520 mile range when I fill up. The consumption is generally over fifty shortly after filling up but then drops to mid to high forties for the first half of tank. Once I drop down under half it only goes to over 50 if I hypermile. That seems fairly normal and as you calculated the actual consumption is great. Maybe I'll try running to all the way to real empty one of these days before popping out the sender unit. I take a small gas can with me just for the occasion.

    Anything else I can try?
     
    #3 dram91801, Dec 19, 2020
  4. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Advertised capacity is 11.9 gallons, but about 2 gallons of that are set aside as reserve, not showing on the gauge. And about another half gallon is used from when the last light starts blinking, until Distance To Empty runs down to 0 miles.

    So even when the gauging and warning works as expected, a refill from the initial blinking light should be only 9-something gallons, not 11+.
     
    #4 fuzzy1, Dec 19, 2020
  5. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    Personally, I wouldn't do a thing. You're getting more than 400 miles/tank as it is. Lots of people refill before the fuel gauge gets to empty -- in fact, it's a good habit to be in.
    You're clearly an attentive owner, or you wouldn't have noticed what you have already. Keep doing what you're doing, and rest easy knowing you have 2-3 gallons in reserve at all times. That's 150+ miles of reserve -- fantastic!
     
    #5 tvpierce, Dec 22, 2020
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