[FredB]

Hi all. We have a 2002 Prius and have had absolutely no problems with it at all except for replacing the original tires at 27,000 miles.

Recently, we moved from Kentucky to Reno, NV. With the new tires, we were averaging 52 mpg (which is more than I was expecting from the new tires).

Whene we arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, we had three bars on the indicator and decided to fill up before traveling through Wyoming. I can't remember now how much we put in but it was consistent with the indicator. When we got back in and turned the car on, the indicator never registered the full tank - it only had three bars!!! Knowing that we had a full tank we headed out across Wyoming.

Throughout the trip across Wyoming, the indicator stayed at three bars. After several hours we arrived at Little America and filled up again. This time the indicator showed a full tank - strange - really strange.

I made a note and decided to have a Toyota dealer look at it some time after we got settled.

As you can guess, in the chaos of getting unpacked, I forgot about indicator incident until last weekend when we took a small day trip down the east side of the Sierras to Mono Lake. The same thing happened.

I took it into the dealer the next day for an oil change and to diagnose the problem. The techician called me later and said that Toyota released an service bulletin in May about this problem. Apparently the fuel inclination sensor gets out of whack on very long trips and needs to be reset. He also told me that it was not covered under the warranty and it would cost me $40.

Now I know $40 is not that much dough, but I balked and told him not to fix it and I would complain to Toyota. Later when I went to pick the car up, the technician said he had them reset the sensor any way and did not charge me.

My question is - will this need to be done every time I take it on a long distance trip? If so, Toyota needs to create a permanent fix for this.

Regardless, I am still in love with this car!!!

Thanks for listening

 

[Phoenix]

Fuel Gauge Problem

I also have a 2002 and have 35,000 miles on odometer. Our family has taken several long driving trips (1,500-2,500 miles) and never experienced the problem you describe.

I am interested in whether others have had this problem...

 

[RSnyder]

Pikachu (a 2001 Prius) did this once, long ago. I filled up after driving home from work with 3 bars showing. The gauge did not change from 3 bars. I drove the final 1/2 mile home with a full tank and only 3 bars on the gauge. But when I started the next morning, the gauge showed full.
So it only happened to Pikachu once in 3 1/2 years.

 

[stevewa]

I can't believe they have the gall to charge you $40 for this. The process of resetting the inclination sensors takes literally 5 minutes.

 

[FredB]

The technician showed me the Toyota service bulletin that explained what the problem was, how to fix it, and it stated it was an issue not covered under the warranty.

The bulletin was issued in May 2004.

The technician told me the $40 was the cost of hooking it up to a scanner.

Nevertheless, when I picked up the car at the service department, the technician said he had them reset it at no charge.

He agreed with me that it seemed kinda strange that Toyota would not cover it in the warranty. I guess I just lucked out!