I have a 2007 Prius with just under 83,000 miles on it. I've always gotten in the mid to low 40s in mpg, no matter how I drive. It's lower in the winter & higher in the summer. Over the past year or so, the gas tank seems to hold increasingly less gas. With one notch left on the fuel guage, it only takes about 6 gallons to 'fill' up. Most recent mpg shows about 45, but I was down to one notch after only 263 miles. I recently replaced both the hybrid and the auxilliary batteries. So, does anyone have any idea what my issue is?!?!?
The Gen 2 Prius has a rubber bladder in the gas tank. In the Winter cold it does not stretch out to it's full capacity. Age might also have something to do with it's flexibility. I imagine you will just have to live with the problem.
what he said ^^^ if your mpg's are good, there's nothing else wrong. you can try different gas pumps, pump very slowly, try turning the nozzle sideways and open the gas cap and let it breathe for a minute. did you get a new hybrid battery under warranty?
I would say like the other's above, 98% of the problem is the "aging" bladder. Gen II Prius is well known for it's issues with the bladder that worsens over time. FWIW, Gen III and Gen IV does not have the bladder. Gen III began with the 2010 year model. Gen IV was just released this year. I am referring to standard Prius and NOT the newer v series (station wagon) or the even newer C series (sort of compact Prius). The information in this paragraph is referring to your "volume" problem, whereas the following paragraph is suggestions on how to possibly raise your MPG. There are some other things you could do to possibly raise your MPG. Switch to synthetic oil, pump up your tires to the max on your sidewalls while maintaining a two pound higher pressure on the front tires(make sure they are LRR type), concentrate on P&G and make sure your Prius is aligned and that none of the brakes are dragging. Best of luck to you.
For the MPG issue only, fill out as much of this questionnaire as practical and post the reply here. That will give us more clues to help try to figure out any issues. Fuel economy complaints/queries? Please copy, paste & answer these questions, esp. if you're new | PriusChat The gas tank & bladder issues are separate from MPG.
I don't see this as an MPG issue. My mpg averages in the low to mid 40s & I'm ok with. My issue is that the tank seems to empty much faster than it used to. I used get about 400 miles before getting down to 1 notch on the fuel guage. Now I don't even get to 300 miles. I had both the 12v and the hybrid batteries replaced recently.
you can reset the fuel gauge calibration, see if that helps. there's a thread here somewhere. see posts #2, 3 and 4.
