I have a 04' Prius (which, BTW is doing just great...although I did get a steering recall today). If you follow Prius on Facebook, you may have seen my car! Gas tank capacity is approx 11 gallons. If I'm getting 42-45 mpg, why does the add fuel light come on at 300 miles? Shouldn't my endurance be somewhere around 450?
Because your car has a flexible fuel bladder instead of a solid tank AND there is a reserve of fuel left in the tank even after the add fuel light comes on. Do a search on this forum or google. There are thousands of posts about the horrible bladder problem. It's one of the reasons I was happy to get rid of my GenII.
They discontinued the bladder design... It's way too problematic... Your gas gauge is actually a guess gauge. If you fill up all the way to full or only 3/4 of the way it will say your tank is full. If you run out of gas and keep driving you can damage your vehicle. It takes at least 3 gallons of gas after running out gas to make your car work again.
I went from 3 bars to none in a few minutes in 2010 in my 2005 Prius (sold). The bladder is great technology on paper, but in the real world not so. They pushed a software update that just drops the bars quicker so you won't run dry. The downside is that at least 25% of the rated tank capacity is left. My issue happened in the Winter in Northern NJ. I have read tech articles where it has been stated that the flexible shrinking can reduce the capacity to 8.9 gallons. Enjoy the 2004, but not the range unless you want to engage in some gambling...
has anyone found a way to remove the bladder to fix this problem? sure would be nice if the tank would work w/out it... apparently, if you try to top off it can damage the tank because of the stupid bladder.
Probably not cost effective. Sell it or live with the reduced usable range. I didn't buy a new Prius right away after selling my 2005 since I was pissed at Toyota. I contacted them and they would not cover anything. A recall would not be cheap so there you go...
All the components are sealed inside the gas tank... To remove the bladder you'd have to rip open and remove the bladder and a bunch of sensors and gauges inside the tank and then trick the car's computer into thinking that those sensors are still there and operating normally. I've read on here that only the US version of Prius has the bladder tank so I guess it's possible you could buy a European gas tank for your car, but again you'd have to figure out how to turn off all the systems that your US Prius will be expecting specific signals from... or possibly reprogram your car with european firmware...
You are correct the European version does not have the bladder and as such we do not have your problems. The gauge is still strange although reasonably reliable. The first pip on the gauge can take me 180 miles + or - the following pips drop faster as you go down the tank (non linear). I find I can regularly go 600 miles on a tank, though depending where I am going I may fill any time after 550 miles, being 10 miles to my nearest petrol station from home. John (Britprius).
Best part about a bladder gas tank is I've never been able to fit more than 8.99 gallons of gas in the car! So after 350-400 miles of driving I'm rolling away from the pump having spent only ~$30... If I get gas before the tanks is too empty I can sometimes fill the tank with just a $20 bill. Most everyone I know who doesn't have a Prius pays double that! Of course 'because it's a bladder tank I'm almost never certain that the bladder is actually full. I'm pretty sure it depends on the flow rate into the tank (slower is better) as well as the weather and how long the car has been operating prior to refuelling.
