Prius Gas Gauge

It's normal for my 2005.

The gauge is not linear, and the bladder inside the tank varies in size. Together these mean that you cannot reliably estimate how far you "ought" to be able to go after a fillup. The one thing you should rely on is that when the last pip on the gauge starts to flash, you are about to run out. And when you do run out, remember that you must put in at least three gallons, otherwise the gas tank computer will not let the car start.

An amazing number of people have run out of gas in a Prius because they

*just knew* they could go 500 miles on one tank, or that there just *had* to be another two gallons in there. Uh-uh. No.

Or they just *had* to see the biggest number they possibly could on the silly screen in the middle of the dash.

People do stupid things.

I have an Oct '04 delivered in Oct '03 - among the first of the new body style. The gas gauge has always been unreliable. I've seen the blinking bar with 200 miles left in the tank... and some reverse situations. It's probably the biggest fault of the car, but as soon as that became apparent I started driving by the odometer. I just take the dash average mileage times ten as my "time to get gas" point. So far, so good.

Toyota has offered a "fix", but friends who did it aren't particularly pleased with the result.

I think you meant to say, "the gauge won't reset but will continue to flash." In my gasoline studies, I've run out over two dozen times and used a 1 gallon spare can to put enough fuel in to reach a gas station.

I've also found the variable bladder problem seems to have disappeared after running the tank down:

I have no explanation, just how my vehicle has behaved.

Bob Wilson

"Bob & Holly Wilson" I've run out over two dozen times

How does one do that over and over again?

I've run out of fuel one time in my life and I'm 50.

G-Man

Bladder, this, bladder, that, bah humbug. I have only seen one model of car in my life that had anything close to an accurate fuel gauge: mid

70's Oldsmobile Cutlass. *I* ran out of gas in my 2007 because several times previously I had driven 30 to 70 miles on the flashing last bar. Then in spite of my best effort was only able to put less than 10 gallons in an 11.9 gallon tank. Convinced me the indicator was a guess gauge, not a gas gauge.

So I was out driving in the middle of nowhere (Arkansas) thinking the idiot light should be flashing the past 50 miles. Then it finally did. And just over a mile later the engine was dead. Batteries got me another mile or two down the road where fortunately I found the first open gas station in the past 20 miles. Car restarted as if nothing had happened.

This is when I realized it wasn't a guess gauge but a fool gauge as it made a fool of me.

As for "the bladder issue", I don't have any problem. When I fill my tank the calculated MPG is 0 to 4 MPG less than the indicated cumulative MPG since I reset it at the previous fill. I'm filling pretty darn consistently.

Oh, and when it ran out? 11.3 gallons after the nozzle kicked off and was repositioned several times.

Suggest that you start paying close attention to how many miles after topping off the tank before the first bar dims. This seems to provide an accurate indication as to exactly how full the tank was filled. Mine is pretty consistent at 120 to 140 miles. Except the time it ran out, the first bar didn't fall until 230 miles. Which demonstrates what happened to me when I got fooled. Apparently the gauge falls very slowly, slower even than the Prius drinks fuel. When it takes several days to burn 2.5 gallons it behaves one way. When driven continuously it falls slow enough that 4.5 gallons are gone before the first bar dims.

I drove over 400 miles the day I ran out of gas. Couple hundred before, couple hundred after. Appears when driven continuously the gauge can get a couple of gallons behind.

The whole point is that in every other car everyone else has driven, the gas gauge may have been off--but it was *reliably* off.

The bladder in the Prius tank means that you can't predict what the gauge actually means, and that's way different than people are used to.

Well, let's see. The flashing pip told you the engine would quit within

70 miles. Regardless of how much you put in vs. what the stated tank capacity is, I'd say the gas gauge was pretty damned accurate in predicting that you're an idiot.

Talking bladder...the first time I filled up my brand new Prius, I set the pump auto fill hook and somehow the bladder kicked back and gas was bubbling out of the tank AS IT WAS FILLING. So I got my first car wash, toot sweet. Bladders.

And every car I've ever had displays full until about a quarter of a tank is used up.

Look everyone. It's the "I don't wave" guy. He has awarded himself a better nickname: "The Flashing Pip."

We just fill it somewhere around the last two or three blocks. We know we could go further, but the owner's manual says it's best to fill it when you have about ¼ of a tank left. Why push it unless you're crossing the desert and there's no station for 200 more miles?

- Piper

Because the weirdos think they're driving a rolling video game, the goal of which is to show the highest numbers possible in the glowing screen that has capture their attention.

Driving? Nah. We're watching the glowing screen and THE NUMBERS!

I've been running some gasoline energy studies and running the tank 'dry' lets me change brands with a minimum amount of dilution from the earlier brand. It is deliberate and some of the results:

I've never run out of gas by accident. Just ask my wife.

Bob Wilson

Man, you just have to hate everything. How bitter and sad.

Hate everything? Nah.

Expose people for being stupid? Yeah.

Thanks Bob, I feel better now. Thinking your were running out on the highway over two dozen times made me want to get you an appointment at the clinic :-)

G-Man

Will you let us know if you burn up the fuel pump? That's a piece of fun to replace, tell-you-whut.

Since people aren't God, they are always going to be ignorant and wrong in all their opinions and actions, so you are wasting your time. For someone like you to take delight in exposing the obvious is as

*intelligent* as someone going to the ocean and "discovering" and "exposing" that the ocean is wet. Yet you would be marching up and down the shore, ranting, and actually believing that everyone looking at you and shaking their heads is admiring you. Ironic, stupidity.