I’m still only a week into figuring out my new Prius and have noticed my fuel gauge doesn’t work. It’s stuck on full. Did I miss something? Any suggestions today before I contact the dealer tomorrow?
First thing you need to do is to verify; if it's full, 3/4, 1/2, or 1/4 tank full - Otherwise your going to look stupid, when the technician tells you that your tank is indeed full. These cars will do 50+ mpg and will stay in EV mode if your really gentle on the accelerator pedal.
I've been able to go almost 50mi without it coming off full depending on conditions/mpg. How many have you driven and what's your tank mpg?
The dealer said they filled it up. The gauge showed full when I left. I have since put on 150 miles. Still says full.
The tank to empty number below the fuel gauge seems to be working it’s about at 495, I believe it was around 573 when I picked up the car.
Okay, that does seem odd for an XLE/LTD. I've found that I normally see 375-430 miles to empty after a fill up, depending on what the last tank mpg was. It doesn't calculate the extra 1.0-1.5 gal of reserve fuel, so the real miles to empty for me is roughly 400-500mi(AWD LTD). I guess I'd drive at least 300 miles on this tank(about half to two-thirds of a tank) and see what it does. Maybe it needs a cycle(burn most of a tank, then refuel) for some reason to "reboot" and that will sort it out. Or maybe there's a real problem that needs to be fixed. I will say that the first couple notches down on the gauge are so small that it's tough to see. You've probably already looked close, but if not, give it a close look to see if it's truly reading full or just reading almost full.
I routinely travel 800+ miles on a tank but mine's a plug-in and my round-trip to work is only 33 miles. I can usually go about a month without a refill. I would track miles per a tank using Trip A; until you get an idea of your average miles per tank. These cars has 1.5 gallons reserve when the orange low fuel indicator lights up - that equates to 75 miles range with the warning lamp lit. Hope this helps....
“ I guess I'd drive at least 300 miles on this tank(about half to two-thirds of a tank) and see what it does.” Yeah, that’s what I’m going to do. Just thought it was strange it hasn’t moved yet.
Another thing….I've put 150 miles on the car but the tank to empty number only shows about 80 miles less now than when I picked the car up. The 70 miles difference can’t be the electric motor? Can it?
Give it another 150 miles. I wonder if the dealer over-filled it, beyond the normal shut-off and closer to the lip. If you are getting better MPG than the default (fake) 'history' loaded into the calculation at the factory, or than the average of the previous few tanks (after it has been driven a while and records some real history), then the dispayed Distance To Empty will decline slower than the actual miles you have driven, especially when the tank is very full. This pattern will shrink as the tank fuel level falls. The electric motor itself can't cause anywhere near this much difference, the non-plugin batteries are not large enough to do this. While there could be a problem, it seems a bit early to be overly concerned about it. For the future, note that when you drive in conditions causing lower MPG than recent history, the Distance To Empty will drop faster than the actual miles you drive. Like the flip case, this is most noticeable when the tank is full, and shrinks as fuel level falls.
I'm on my third tank on an LE. I don't really look at the fuel gauge. Miles to go. Got 60 mpg last tank. Might be dropping 'cause I can drive like that all the time. As I recall the gas light came on at 30 miles to go, and I figure I'd have at least 50 miles left when it said zero. The gauge 'needle' range is pretty narrow. I imagine if you got some OBDC readings maybe it would be more exact, to the extent the car is level, fuel isn't sloshing around, etc. Maybe I'll see if OBD Fusion can do that, for laughs. edit: No can do with OBD Fusion on fuel tank level.
From observation of past cars, I expect the full point of the tank level sensor is below the tank's full point. Even when not overfilling.
Ok, I talked to the dealership this morning. The service guy said this is normal. They have had other Prius owners come in with the same problem. He said wait until after 300 miles and the gauge should adjust and work correctly. I’m still dubious.
that was true on gen 2 because of the bladder, but shouldn't be on gen 5. my gen 3 was completely linear.
Even on my Gen3s, the top of the gauge wasn't at the top of the actual tank, though both were closer than on any previous car ever I drove. And the bottom of the gauge was not at the bottom of the actual tank, just like every car I ever drove.
