My 2008 Prius with 225K miles does not fill up completely anymore. For the last 10 fill-ups the tank only takes 3 or less gallons. The first time it happened, the gas attendant (in NJ) tried to overfill before I could stop him. I don't see any error codes in my ScanGuageII and I have tried filling at different gas stations, but the problem persists. I have also replaced the fuel cap hoping that the cap may have been an issue. At less than 3 gallons the gas station pump stops, and the fuel gauge registers full. The gauge hardly moves a pip or two down for about 150 miles. Then the gauge quickly drops to 3 pips. And within the next 20 miles or so of driving, the gauge goes down to 1 pip. I always try to fill up when I am down to 2 pips and normally, I would range 300 miles or so between fill ups. The tank would take 5 ~ 6 gallons before this problem started. I searched this forum for posts related to my issue, but I don't seem to find a fix that I could try. Any suggestions/recommendations are greatly appreciated.
It sounds like the fuel level sensor might need to be recalculated. That's guessing that the tank is not empty or nearly empty when it says it is, but is full when it says it is. There's a chicken dance involved. Here are the perfectly intuitive steps the Toyota engineers came up with: Do on level surface If car is on, turn it off Turn it on Put it on trip A Turn it off Keep foot off the brake Press & hold trip button Press power button twice Release & press trip 3 time and hold on the 3rd Wait till odo displays series of six letters & numbers Release trip & press & hold it again ODO will change to 5 letters & numbers 3rd digit quickly change to a 1 Release trip button
I must be doing something incorrectly in this dance. I parked the car on a level street since my driveway is inclined slightly. I made sure the Trip was on A and turned the engine off. With my foot off the brake I held the trip button; pressed the power button twice and waited for the display to turn on. Next, I released both buttons and pressed the trip button 3 times holding it on the 3rd for more than a minute. Nothing happened - the 5+1 set did not appear. Appreciate the tip though and I'll try it a few more times until I get it right, Thanks !!
The way this is described, it seems like the internal volume really has been reduced to around 3 gallons; that's what would explain that not only does the filling nozzle shut off at that point, but the car's fuel gauge really does run the gamut from empty to full with that amount of fuel being added. Because Gen 2 has the tank with a bladder inside, one way to reduce its effective volume like that is for the bladder to be unable to expand the way it is meant to. In order for the bladder to expand as it is filled, and contract again as it is used up, the fresh air in the tank outside the bladder (blue in this drawing) has to be able to freely exit the tank as the bladder expands, and reenter the tank as the bladder contracts. If that air is trapped in the tank outside the bladder, then the bladder is effectively stuck at one size. So the valves and other components shown on the blue air paths here are things I would be looking at early in the investigation.
If the evap cannister is contaminated or malfunctioning, would it not throw an error code? I don't see any codes in my scangauge. The fuel level sensor reset appears to have worked as ODO changed to the numbers jerrymildred indicated. However, the fuel gauge shows 9 bars. My last fill-up was 3 gallons and I have driven 40 miles since. I am inclined to believe that the bladder isn't expanding. Should I be taking it to a dealer? I don't know if my friendly neighborhood mechanic can trouble shoot the issue. The last I checked he suggested some additive to the gas tank that I was unwilling to try. Is it worth considering a tank replacement and if so, is it a DIY job? I am electrically challenged but have managed to replace the brakes, shocks, water pumps, belt etc. myself.
As some of the components that might be at fault aren't part of the tank, jumping to tank replacement before properly diagnosing the issue could turn out to be an expensive no-op. While evap and ORVR systems are among the trickier systems mechanics train to diagnose, mechanics do train to diagnose them. Somewhere, you ought to be able to find someone who can. Or, poke around the technical library; Toyota Service Information and Where To Find It | PriusChat and bone up on doing it yourself. People mostly sign in there for access to the repair manual (which you should definitely have). But once you are there, don't overlook the Technical Library tab. In there, you will find a bunch of other stuff, including the course materials for the "University of Toyota" technician training courses. The ones for evap and ORVR diagnosis will give you a much better grounding in that than you'll get just from the repair manual.
If the chicken dance didn't work, it's probably something to do with the bladder or the evap system as already mentioned. Seem to me that it's more likely the bladder for the reasons @ChapmanF detailed. Like him, I prefer to make sure as possible of the cause before possibly buying something that won't fix it.
ChapmanF and jerrymildred, thank you! I will look up the technical library and see if I can diagnose/isolate the issue. Meanwhile. I can live with a reduced capacity tank if it just means more frequent visits to the gas station.