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fuel gauge not moving

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by spidey, Oct 14, 2008.

  1. spidey

    spidey Junior Member

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    Newbie here. My wife incorrectly read the gauge when we first got the car and we attempted to fill it up and the gas pump shutoff didnt work causing an overfill. Since than we have driven almost 200 miles and the fuel gauge still is registering full. Do I need to worry that the overfill caused some issue that the gauge isnt working or is it possible that the overfill just hasnt brunt enough gas off yet to worry?
     
    #1 spidey, Oct 14, 2008
  2. JimboK

    JimboK One owner, low mileage

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    You should be fine. I've run as much as 250 miles before the first pip goes. Your overfilling episode likely has caused no problems. If it had, the check engine light would likely come on.
     
    #2 JimboK, Oct 14, 2008
    1 person likes this.
  3. Prius_SGP

    Prius_SGP New Member

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    I agree with JimboK.

    If you run a search through this forum you'll see many reference's with regards to the fuel gauge being nothing more then a guess gauge.
     
    #3 Prius_SGP, Oct 15, 2008
  4. spidey

    spidey Junior Member

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    Thanx finally moved a pip and found all the threads about the Guess gauge. Now we need to practice the slow fill techniques.
     
    #4 spidey, Oct 15, 2008
  5. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    Spidey, just relax & enjoy the car. If you are close to Winston-Salem you should be able to get to Philadelphia on a tank of gas. Pay attention: when down to 2 pips consider buying gas. When down to 1 pip seriously consider buying gas. When the last pip flashes BUY GAS. If you push it to the point of a message on the MFD BUY GAS NOW.
     
    #5 JimN, Oct 15, 2008
  6. Celtic Blue

    Celtic Blue New Member

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    A very slow fill can prevent a pump from shutting off when it should. Happened to me once in another vehicle. The station was nearly out of gas and was dispensing incredibly slowly, slowest I've ever seen...the fill took forever so after however many minutes I became distracted doing something else at the front of the car. When I next looked back at the nozzle fuel was dripping out on the ground and it was still pumping. It was pumping so slowly that the nozzle's venturi check system couldn't function as designed.
     
    #6 Celtic Blue, Oct 16, 2008
  7. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    Classic, spidey. :)

    Yeah, it gets pretty good mileage, but not so good the gauge doesn't move. It doesn't seem to be as linear as it should be - the last two pips blink off much faster than the first two.

    It's a far cry from the days when I could literally watch the gas needle declining.
     
    #7 hyo silver, Oct 16, 2008
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