Have a gas fill-up question

everything you're experiencing is perfectly normal. The fuel "guage" always takes forever to read off the first marker. Then it goes pretty normal. I usualy drive at least 100 miles before it starts counting down. As for filling up. There are a lot of stations that don't seem to like pumping gas. Not sure what causes it.. but they keep clicking off all the time. I would recommend ( for a station that actualy works) to pump the gas as slowly as possible. It stretches the blatter a little better while filling. I used to use the first (slowest) notch on the auto fill mechanism. but i don't anymore. I would rather hold it just above the point that it wants to click off. Usualy i put in 9.5 gallons when i fill up. One time i almost put 10 gallons in. It's nice to have a car that goes the distance, pollutes minimal, and cost less than 20.00 to fill up. :mrgreen:

 

Both the gasoline spit-back and the large available space above the "full" mark have been well documented on this and other discussion boards.

The spit-back appears to be caused because the nozzle forms a pretty fair seal at the entry to the tank, and the bladder stretches a bit, though some folks have also speculated about air bubbles.

Different prople have reported being able to get from a half a gallon to a gallon and a half (?) more gas in after the first click. I find that generally, after the first click, I cannot get any more in, no matter how gently I hold the pump handle.

But just be aware that if you add all the gas you possibly can, it WILL come back out at you.

Once, I filled up at a pump that just didn't shut off. I heard a slight gurgling noise, and before I could react, gas was coming out. I pulled out the nozzle and put the gas cap on as quickly as I could, losing maybe a cupful of gas onto the side of the car and the ground. I think I drove 177 miles before the first bar went out. (I cannot find my note.) I drove 501 miles on that tank, filling up with 9 gallons, 37 miles after the last bar started blinking. I'm convinced there was still room for another gallon, but even though I pulled the nozzle out and put it back in, the slightest touch of the handle made it click off again, and I was scared to risk it.

 

Simple lesson: DON'T top off the tank. It increases air pollution because it defeats the vapor recovery system, and it may spit gas back out at you.

I mean, c'mon people: we bought these things to *reduce air pollution*. They're not sports cars and they're not the world's least expensive cars. Isn't it enough to go 400 miles between fill-ups?

 

Without topping off, I've driven 486 miles, filled with 10.6 gallons (again, NOT topping off), so essentially had 1 gallon of useable fuel left. That translates into an additional 50 miles to the very very dire need to fuel up again. I've driven the blinking lastbar and 'add fuel' message to 45 miles, still only re-fueling with 10.6 gallons. Plus no spit-back, no clogging of the vapor/pollution control devices, no worries! Win, win, and win. Don't top off. Don't need to, doesn't make sense to defeat the anti-polution mechanisms that make this a great car. I've printed several of my own bumper stickers, one of which says 'Low emmisions are standard, 50 MPG is a bonus'.

 

I saw that "add fuel" message for the first time the other day. I only added 10 dollars though. Wish i would have filled it up to see how empy the tank really was.

 

Thinking ...... no. Round trip from home to Boston is about 450 miles. If things are going really well, I can probably make 425 in my Odyssey. The cheapest gas is ALMOST always one of the stations near my home. 100 miles from here to the N.H. border. Always end up getting gas in West Leb because I can't make it all the way home and the stations just off I/89 generally stick it to you because they can. I think 600 miles would be nice Plenty of cushion. Of course, IF you can hold 55 mpg for the tank and IF you could trust that there really ARE 11 useable gallons in the tank ...

 

I find it interesting that we are the only people trying to drain our cars down to the last drop. This is probably because we know we can run on electric if we have to. I remember in my old car, i would never let it get as low as i do in the prius. :mrgreen:

 

A correction to my above post: I drove 211 miles on the first bar after my over-fill (which as noted was NOT intentional). I found the correct number when someone bumped my old post up to the top.

 

lowest ive gone is 2 bars. and ive had 2 500+ mile tanks. so im happy with it. my Ford F-150 pickup with dual 18 gallon tanks had about the same range.

but that was about the only thing that was the same in that thing. i had to refinance my house to fill both tanks.

 

For the benefit of those that don't want to live close to the edge, this is what the "Add Fuel" warning looks like:

 

when i took my car to all star ford for the paint sealer and fabric protection, i was talking to a mechanic friend who does all the work on my truck and he said that overfilling might be getting the filter canister wet causing it to not work properly and therefore not allowing it to vent correctly.

it is a common problem in fords and should go away in minor cases after a few fillups. he said topping off the tanks is a huge mistake in any car and will eventually cause premature failure of the fuel pump. he said that is the #1 cause of failure in Ford truck with dual tanks, either failure of the fuel pump or the electronic module that controls the switching mechanism.

he said he wasnt sure how the toyota's work but he says that the ford fuel tank specs are mostly controlled by government regs and ca standards and that most new cars are all be built to ca vapor emission standards because soon all states will require it in new cars anyway.

 

I never over-fill on purpose. But on the occasion when the pump didn't shut off and gas came burbling out, I drove 211 miles (as reported above) before the first bar went out. On my present tank, I filled the usual way (slowest notch, stop at first click) and I went 80 miles before the first bar went out. That's a difference of 131 miles. Since I've been getting 45 mpg, that means there is a space of 2.9 gallons between the click and the overflow. That's an awfully big difference!

BTW, at the end of the last tank, I drove 37 miles after the last bar started blinking, for a total of 501 miles on the over-filled tank, and then added 9 gallons to the first click.

So I figure I'd be safe to add another gallon, but even if I remove the nozzle and put it back in, I cannot add any more gas. The nozzle clicks off immediately no matter how gently I pull it.

 

Just reading these old posts. They're almost painfully funny. I'm driving a borrowed Chrysler Conversion van (from my father-in-law) while I wait for my Prius to come in. It's got a 33-gallon tank. Costs me $60 to tank up! Gets about 11 miles to the gallon.


I REALLY can't wait for my Salsa Prius!

(mantra: 3 more weeks...3 more weeks...3 more weeks)