Fuel Tank Size degrading over time?

The bladder is less flexible at low temp. Nothing to worry about.

Oh, sure, it *may* become inherently less flexible as it ages, regardless of temperature, but what are you gonna do? Spend $1500 to replace the fuel tank so that you can drive another 12% between fill-ups? At the very least wait for warmer weather and see what happens. And no matter what happens, do not top-off. Topping off can damage the fuel tank and compel an expensive repair, as has been described in multiple places. And even if it does not cause damage, topping off greatly increases hydrocarbon emissions from the car, which counters one big reason for buying a Prius in the first place.

 

Sounds about normal to me.

I seldom can get more than 8.5 gallons in my 04.

Toyota issued a TSB for VIN numbers JTDKB2#U#40000001 –JTDKB2#U#40057579 and JTDKB2#U#40057580 – JTDKB2#U#40078361 that was supposed to take care of the problem.

 

Do you remember the exact conditions when the gauge started blinking?

Were you perhaps accelerating up a long incline, or perhaps slowing on a long (what's the opposite of an incline?)

I've noticed that when my gauge starts blinking while I'm on an incline for longer than usual, I usually get less fuel in the tank when I fill it up. I suspect that the fuel pools to one side of the gauge or the other causing the float to drop and the gauge registers "low fuel" sooner while there is more fuel still left in the tank than usual. This doesn't seem to affect the gauge when it happens for short periods of time. I assume that the programming averages multiple readings of the fuel level, but if extended time is spent on the hill (especially if accelerating or decelerating) eventually the average drops low enough to fool the gauge.

Of course this is all wild speculation on my part, but since you asked.

 

8½ gallons? should be enough to get ya around a bit... if you are that worried, park in garage, crank on space heater for a few hours, then wait till the "heat" of midday, buzz on down to gas station and refill...

actually, to be honest with ya, i do fillups in that range all the time and i betcha it aint nowhere near as cold here as it is there. lately we have had much colder than normal weather so now i understand what most of the country goes thru every winter. my last tank was an alltime low... like 43 mpg... tank was like 390 miles (estimating here, you can see this in my sig and i too lazy to look... and now this was only about 10 miles into the blinker, but i get gas when its convenient so it was time... but heck, prev tank was 430 miles and had 2 bars left@!!

 

I typically refuel when the last pip starts blinking. If you click the CleanMPG or GreenHybrid banners in my sig, you'll see several fillups in the 8-9 gallon range. Most are in cold weather. So I agree with the others that it's normal cold-weather behavior.

 

Could be a faulty nozzle on the gas pump. Try a different station, or at least a different pump next time you fill up.

p caillouet

 

been getting same syptom too but weather was 15 degrees C and can only pump the same amount in first click (always chevron same gas pump too!) 30 liters to be exact! can drive over 650 km before the last blip keeps barking at me!

191000 km for me nwh20

 

hm at 420 something km and then managed to pump 22 liters in with 4 blips left on the gas gauge 15 degrees C (27-29 bucks and then click!), i think its normal if you fill 1/4 tank rather than near empty... the bladder doesn't expand as much if it were to have gas in the tank.

my 2 centz