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Bars on the fuel gauge

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by rpickoff, Apr 22, 2011.

  1. rpickoff

    rpickoff Bob P

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    i was heading to the gas station with one bar on the fuel gauge. When I got there to fill up I had two bars, same Miles To Empty (45). What would cause that?
     
    #1 rpickoff, Apr 22, 2011
  2. theodosia

    theodosia New Member

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    Had it just dropped down to one bar? On my first tank, I noticed it would sometimes drop down a bar, then go back up again, before dropping down and staying at the lower bar. Not sure why, but it did. I'm only on my second tank, so I don't know if that's common.
     
    #2 theodosia, Apr 22, 2011
  3. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    Difference in grade... Difference in temperature affecting expansion/contraction... It happens.
     
    #3 Paradox, Apr 22, 2011
  4. Roadburner440

    Roadburner440 Member

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    You will sometimes see the bars on the fuel gauge fluctuate. In my 2 months of ownership I have seen this happen as described above with changing grades and all.. I usually just use the trip meter and whenever I get over 500 miles I fill up (usually between 9.8 & 10.2 gallons).. Then again it does depend on what type of mileage you are getting whether you use this method or not, and adjust the mileage accordingly.
     
    #4 Roadburner440, Apr 22, 2011
  5. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Program a ScanGauge to show instant fuel level (0.1 gallon increments), and it will betray several gallons worth of sloshing around in the tank. While the dashboard fuel display filters out most of this variation, it isn't perfect. Slope changes, speed changes, and corners can cause it to drop a bar prematurely, or rise 1 or even 2 bars.

    This is no different than the analog gauges on my past cars.
     
    #5 fuzzy1, Apr 23, 2011
  6. Dweezil

    Dweezil Cat Juggler

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    OK...I'm going to portray slight (maybe not so slight) ignorance here. I have a Scangauge II, and after looking through the manual, I'm more than a little confused as to how to program my SG to do this. Granted, it's early and I'm operating with a little sleep depravity and not enough caffiene. I'm sure programming the SG to do this is something that my gray matter wishes to make much more complicated that it actually is. Any help is greatly appreciated!
     
    #6 Dweezil, Apr 26, 2011
  7. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    While the manual tells you how to program XGauges into the ScanGauge, it doesn't include most of the known Prius gauge codes, or any of the special Gen3 codes.

    Look here for Flv: Current Gen III XGUAGE list for SGII
     
    #7 fuzzy1, Apr 26, 2011
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