Blog de Humpty

What year Prius Humpty? Do the other services of the car go out? Power steering, power brakes, etc?

I just went through the experience of "running out" of gas. Scare quotes because it took only 10.8 gals in an 11.9 gal tank.

Anyway, after the red triangle warning came on, the accelerator didn't have any effect--it would lock in the speed and you could only slow down. I stopped to drop someone off, and that was the end. There was plenty of battery left.

Putting in one gallon didn't help at all. The dealer later told me you need at least 5 to get it going again.

AND the computer goes into some kind of total shutdown mode. The dealer said he had to reset "all 15" internal computers, although I read elsewhere that after filling up and driving 50 miles they reset themselves.

After he had reset everything it took only 9.8 gallons more and I really squeezed every drop in, so I don't think you can actually use the last gallon of gas.

This just happened to me last night with my 2008 (2,000 miles) After the low fuel light went on the past few tanks I filled up and topped off at 8 - 9 gallons. So a rational man would conclude that with a 11.9 gallon tank (and according to the manual) there is about 3 gallons left when the light comes on. Multiply 45 * 3 and you get 135 miles left... I died at 40 miles.

I did get it going with 1.5 gallons and all things reset ok. When I filled up at the next exit it took only 9 gallons more.. So it took 10.5 gallons out of 11.9 gallons.

Also the warning lights were not very helpful. Master Warning, check engine and even VSC were on.

Called Toyota national - got some silly answer that the 4 sensors are in different places.. fine but it does not explain why the tank does not hold 11.9 gallons or if it does why you can only get to 10+ gallons of it.

I just ran out of gas on the highway and it was not pretty!  I still had one bar on the gas meter and no low fuel warnings at all.  The batteries got me over the short bridge and to the shoulder.  After that it was all over.  One of those motorist assist came by and put some gas in but it still would not start.  I had to get towed and Toyota had to reset all the computers that had errors and warnings to get it working again.  What a pain in the butt.  It will not happen again!

I ran out of gas on the highway and my 2008 progressively drove slower and slower until I knew I couldn't reach a gas station.  All of the red lights were on but I was certain that I had about 1.5 gallons of gas left in the tank. ( I had driven about 30 miles with the light blinking but when I filled up previously it would only take 9.5.  The dealer said it sounded like it was out of gas and I would need to have the computers reset but filled it with 3 gallons of gas and it started right up and took a total of 10.3 gallons and not a drop more! I guess I will now fill up when it hits two bars.

2008 prius, Just got it Aug-8th

Stuffed bladder gas tank FULL, 13 gallons.

Drove 745 miles. It ran out, and no big deal at all. Drove the last mile, no gas, no problem, Stuffed in another 13 gallons in a 11.9 gallon bladder, and off I go to do it again.

Getting about 58 mpg or so, can average 62. It is not hard at all. Coast to stop, Dont speed up fast, speed up before a hill and slow down going up, not a lot, just about 5 mph or so. drive ahead of the game so you dont have to stop or take off fast.

2008 Prius - Ran out today, all the dash lights came on, coasted on battery to a gas station. Put in 9.7 gallons. I guess my bladder needs to be stretched.

I have a 2008 Prius and the low fuel light goes on after only 8 gallons.  I have almost 4 left, and the light goes on.  What is up with that?  

My wife ran out of gas and had the similar experience of having to be towed to a dealer who charged for 2 hours of labor to reset the computers.  I don't understand why it isn't a crime for the dealerships not to warm owners.  What if she was traveling out of town, at night, or a Sunday when no dealers are open?  Seems like a pretty extreme penalty to have to fort out $45 for towing, $165 labor charge, plus loss of time just for running out of gas.  

My wife has corrected me - it was $80 for the tow and Toyota wants $315 to start the car.  I have placed a call to Toyota's customer service and they have opened a case on my behalf.  I'll let everyone know the results.

I ran out of gas in the 2007 I purchased 2 months ago. I filled a 1 gallon gas can 3 times to get my car to start. Drove all day with 1 flashing bar. Then lights went on and I did not stop. I was unable to put my car in gear and it would only go from park to neutral. After 3 cans it started on 2nd set of trials. I had to carry gas with my Civic Hybrid I was going to take to a resale private party fair. I ad detailed both cars. Now my cars both smell like gas and i will have to wait to sell the Civic If it was not for this site, i would not have known how much gas it takes to restart the Prius.                                                    

Well, I must add my recent(today) experience with my 2010 Prius running out of gas. Yes it's dumb to let it occur, but after calling the dealer to find out the solution; they said maybe putting in gas and unplugging the car start battery it would activate the motor. Well they were wrong. All the postings online said after 5 restarts on empty you would need to be towed to the dealer for them to reset the onboaard computer. So I called AAA club. I decided to take 4 more gallons of fuel to refill the tank. Sure enough 6 gallons did the trick. I cancelled AAA, and went to the gas pump after she restarted. It just seems wrong to be tethered to the dealer to solve this age old mistake. Maybe I got lucky, but for anyone else who needs some help, I feel better posting.

John

This was my experience just today with my wife's 2009 Prius. We were driving back from a vacation in the  Black Hills of South Dakota.  The temp was 95 out. We were in Illinois and I was driving 70 or so. I was on two bars and was looking for a gas station. I assumed I was safe. Car dropped to one bar and then I heard a beep and then a big red triangle appeared and the engine shut down. I continued for a couple of miles on battery hoping to get to the exit and gas. Almost made it, but not quite and had to pull over on the shoulder. The car was now on an incline.  Felt like an idiot for pressing my luck, but also didn't understand why 1 bar didn't give me any cushion.  Perhaps because my wife was stunned she didn't comment, but simply handed me our AAA card.  While I was on the phone with them I hit the Power button and the car started back up. I was able to drive to a gas station and fill up.  Initially the master warning light and the hybrid system malfunction light both appeared after we started the car.  The nearest Toyota dealer was 15 miles away, so we decided to take a chance and drive there and find out what had happened.  However after  just a few miles both warning lights went out and we continued to drive without incident for another 327 miles to our home in Indiana.