This weekend, I had a strange event happen with the fuel gauge on my silver Prius with just over 2000 miles. On Sunday morning down in Eugene, with something just under 475 miles on the tank, the gauge showed just over a quarter full, just the last three bars. The morning drive was short, less than 10 miles. In the afternoon we got in the car to return to Portland and noticed that the gauge was showing just over half full, or six bars. It was very consistent, and removing the fuel cap to possibly release pressure in the tank did nothing. It did drop one bar in about 30 miles, but still showed nearly a half a tank.<br><br>Knowing that we then had over 500 miles on the tank, we stopped for gas and it took 11.1 gallons. I've never gone that far before, it previously has started complaining about 9.6 gallons (well, with only 2K miles, this is only the fourth tank of gas). Haven't got enough miles on this new tank to know what will happen when it gets low.<br><br>My only guess is a fuel sensor gone bad. Anyone ever seen anything like this?<br><br>Larry M. in PDX

I haven't had the fuel gauge suddenly jump from 3 to 6 bars w/o fill up, but I have occasionally had it only read 5 bars after a fill up, then show full the next morning. It happened frequently last fall, but not at all in the winter. It's started happening again with the last two fillups, so may be warm weather related.<br><br>Wrinkles in the bladder?<br><br>Robert Snyder<br>NJ-PIKACHU

My first out-of-gas yielded 3 bars when I dumped in 3/4 gallon to get going again--was 1 flashing bar.<br><br>Yesterday, with 1 bar flashing, I put in exactly 1 gallon before my trek up to Trenton.<br><br>The gauge still remained on 1 bar flashing even<br>40 miles later. <br><br>With 540 miles since fillup (except for that 1 gallon), she took 10.34 gallons. (49 mpg on display for 540 miles)<br><br>I've gone from 3 bars to one bar flashing in as little as 20 miles.<br><br>Jeff (around 3/4 gallon unusable remains in bladder when out of gas, gauge is worthless below 1/4 tank)

I had a similar experience when I rented a Prius for the day. The dealer rep handed it over to me with three bars showing and asked me to return it with the same amount when I was through. I drove 86 miles and lost one bar on the display. The computer told me that I had averaged 50.1 mpg so I did the math and put three gallons in for good measure (I was so happy with the driving experience!) I was quite surprised to see the guage show the same two bars! I put another four gallons in with the same result. I thought this is screwy so I started the car up and drove it for a couple of feet, stopped and restarted and the display read 3/4 full and continued to show that when I returned the car. A little unsettling. Mark

A few months ago my fuel gague indicated "empty" when the tank was more than half full. The problem disappeared as soon as I filled the tank.

Two weeks ago I went from 2 bars to the "low fuel" warning in just a few miles. Thinking I could make the 15 miles I had left on the PA Turnpike (we do get 50 MPG you know) I kept going. Then the big, nasty red light came on that said, "go directly to Toyota, do not pass go, do not collect $200. You blew it now!" I never did get the official out of fuel warning. I only missed my exit by 2 miles. Toyota Roadside Assistance is pretty useless at noon on a Sunday. Actually I found it interesting that they expected me to know where the nearest Toyota dealer was. So I called the turnpike guys (AAA affiliated)and got 3 or 4 gallons of gas for $5 (quite a steal in PA right now)and still got to play 18 holes (par 3 of course). So when the owner's manual recommends keeping more than 1/4 tank, it's probably for good reason.<br> And in a slightly related note, I drove to Philly twice this weekend - Friday night and Saturday night. Friday night my per tank mileage increased from 47 to 49 MPG. Saturday, same trip, it decreased to 44 MPG. Maybe I was toting heavier people or something - maybe it was colder, but Saturday and Sunday my mileage was drastically worse than ever before. I'm hoping to come out of the slump this week (I've been driving conservatively, and mileage has been picking up), but it was worrisome. Aside from that my first 2K has been worry free. I don't relish the idea of having to go to my dealer with problems.<br>Scott

the only thing Ive noted about my TRAC Prius is that the gauge is a little too conservative for my tastes. I fill it when the last bar has been blinking for several miles and the shut off hits at no more than 9.5 to 9.75 gallons. I figure the bladder must skewer the readings enough to warrant a little extra care on the gauge. Oh well- I guess there are worse things that could happen.

What is a "TRAC" Prius?

TRAC=Toyota Rent-A-Car.<br><br>It means he got a car that the dealer had been using as a customer demo car for a few months, so he did not have to wait, but it did have a few miles on it.<br><br>Burns

Actually, I take it back slightly. I did not notice initially that the original person who said "TRAC" was Toyobri, who IS a dealer. In that case, he means that he has noticed this in the Prius his dealership has for a demo vehicle.<br><br>Burns

actually Im the Prius specialist at mcgeorge toyota in richmond va

When I parked the car one night, there were 3 bars showing. The next morning when I turned the car on, the gauge showed one flashing bar. Tried turning the car on and off, starting and stopping, parking on a hill, etc. but nothing would stop the flashing one bar. Mileage only was 200-300 miles since last fill up. <br>Filled the tank as soon as possible and it only took 7 or 8 gallons (don't remember exactly). Gauge went to full and never had any trouble since.

_T_oyta _R_ent _A_ _C_ar<br><br>TRAC

In Message 5387 larrympdx asked:<br>&gt; This weekend, I had a strange event happen with <br>&gt; the fuel gauge on my silver Prius<br>&lt;snip&gt;<br>&gt; My only guess is a fuel sensor gone bad. Anyone <br>&gt; ever seen anything like this?<br>Sure - we all do. We'd be better off with a wooden "dip-stick".<br>It's not a "bad" sensor - it's that high power computer dedicated specifically to running the 56 Buick fuel-gauge emulation code.<br><br>The engineers that "did" the cupholders? Guess what THEY did for an encore?<br>&lt;smirk&gt;<br><br>Still in love at 12,000+ miles,<br>Bill Powell - NJ HALFGAS<br>(Prius: Just Drive It!)