Hi, mastem,

Welcome! You did nothing wrong. Two things are probably happen'g. #1, when the car is new, the seal in the filler neck is tight & doesn't allow for even the slightest relief of pressure build-up as the gas is being pumped into the tank (you probably had trouble getting the nozzle out of the tank, didn't you) & that pressure kept trigger'g the nozzle shut-off. And #2, the pressure sensor for the auto shut-off in that nozzle was too sensitive, so even if your car was older & the seal was worn in some, you would still probably have had the same trouble. Next time this happens to you, you don't have to leave the station. Just try one or two of the other pumps at the same place & remember either which one did work or didn't work for next time you go there. Chances are that only one is too sensitive & that any of the others will fill your tank fine. Happy touring!!

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

Be careful of over-filling. You can put in more than the bladder can expand and hold, and when you remove the nozzle, it spits a half quart back out, all over your car.

 

The best way to avoid the spit-back is only do .2 gallons at a time after you got your first REAL shutoff.

 

The easiest thing to do is fill tank until it stops, pull nozzel and if guage still reads 1/2 try filling up at a different pump the next day.
And don't forget to give the left front tire a kick.

 

The easiest thing to do is fill tank until it stops, pull nozzel and if guage still reads 1/2 try filling up at a different pump the next day.
And don't forget to give the left front tire a kick.

Hey, we haven't kicked that tire in a long time! :lol:

I fill at various stations in the area, and about every 5th time I hit a pump with a hair trigger that gives me trouble filling the car. My usual BP gives me no trouble at all.

 

I understand that the bladder in cold weather may prevent fill-ups to the full 12 gallons, but here in N. Idaho, with temps ~ 30, I cannot get more than 8.5 gallons in--even after the last bar was flashing. Any ideas? Thanks.
Rob

 

I understand that the bladder in cold weather may prevent fill-ups to the full 12 gallons, but here in N. Idaho, with temps ~ 30, I cannot get more than 8.5 gallons in--even after the last bar was flashing. Any ideas? Thanks.
Rob

That's always where my last bar blinks. 8.5 gallons. That's also where I fill up. Drive a hundred miles on the blinking bar and you could put in more gas. Of course you could also run out of gas. Your call.

 

Hep-

You mean when the last bar flashes, there's 3 1/2 gallons left?

Rob

 

Anybodies guess. They all seem to be different.

 

OK here's my dilemma: I run the tank down to the last bar which is flashing. I fill up to 8 gallons (it won't take any more). Now the questions is whether there were 4 gallons left when the last bar flashed, or whether the tank was nearly empty and after I "fill" it, there are only 8 gallons of fuel on board. This becomes important if I try to use my odometer to calculate when I need to refill. After I refill the 8 gallons, the gauge shows 10 bars, which might indicate that the tank has 4 gallons when the last bar flashes, or does the same factor which shuts off the fuel nozzle also cause the gauge to read full?
Thanks for any thoughts and help.
Rob

 

Get in habit of always filling tank at no more than 400 miles. I use three hundred.
Remember the object is not seeing how far you can drive on a tank of gas in any car!

 

The only way to know for sure is to run it dry under safe conditions (within a couple miles of a gas station, and/or carrying a few gallons of spare gas in a can).

For me, I used to get at least 70 miles after start of blink, and would fill close to 12 gallons. Lately though, I've used 50 miles after blink, and could only fill 11 gallons. So either the tank 'shrunk' in which I can only get a little over 11 gallons right now, or my guage shifted and now it starts blinking early, so I still have at least one gallon and at least another 50 miles left. Again the only way I could know for sure is to run it dry.

I did unintentionally and absent-mindedly run out of gas, and I think I got 83 miles from start of blink, at about 52 MPG average, and I think the tank took something like 12.3 gallons, accounting for the 3 gallons the roadservice provided.

 

But with the bladder in the tank and the change in temperatures continually influencing this, you will "never" get the same amount of gas in at "any" fill-up. Stick to the odometer! (of course this is excluding Florida in the summer.)
You can be pretty sure of at least squeezing nine gallons in regardless of temperature changes.
Reading the posts here for quite a while indicates that the blinking light is also a variable condition, indicating anything from one to three gallons.

 

I look at it like this:

My strategy is to refill at 3 pips on the gauge, 2 pips at the latest. I only go until the fuel pump shuts off and so far I haven't been able to put more than 6.8 gallons in at any one time. So I'm only able to go about 300mi between fillups until the weather gets a little nicer.

On the bright side, I'm going 300 miles on 6 gallons of fuel and I have yet to spend more than $17 on a tank of gas. Fair trade IMO. (A bladder-less tank would be better but I can deal with what we have.)

 

:roll: I have *NEVER* run my Prius-s out of fuel - and earnestly hope that I never will. Running on the traction battery alone is risky and the range is very limited. I'm on my 2nd Prius [new 2007 Touring Edition Pkg 6] preceded by a 2004 Pkg 8 in ~2½ years.

I admit to some fascination in Prius drivers who seem to be determined to pump the maximum possible gallons and are upset if they can't pump over 10 gallons. My procedure, I fill at my convenience but most often avoid the blinking last pip, so at one unblinking pip I fill without concern regarding how many gallons.

 

Hep-

You mean when the last bar flashes, there's 3 1/2 gallons left?

Rob

Yep. Try as I might, it is full at 8 gallons. I am convinced my car blinks when there is still 3.5-4 gallons remaining. I consider that my "life boat" for emergencies only. Our Camry has, I think a 17 gallon tank. I fill when it gets below a quarter and rarely put in more than 13 gallons. Same thing.

 

On the 4th fillup, while away from home, on my new 07 Touring, I could not get the tank filled...the pump just continued to shut off over and over again at about five gallons, even though I was on blinking one bar (for the first time and nervous about it). What did I do wrong? Today, I drove over to my local station and filled it up the rest of the way with no problem.
Any ideas?

I used to work at a gas station and saw the problem where it would keep clicking off on someone. I went out to check it and inside the nozzle there is a small hole and a lever inside the nozzle. I looked at each pump next to it(the Premium and Mid grade) and noticed that they were in the hole. The regular was out. This would make the pump think it's full when it's not. When the tank is full, that lever will push the button out to prevent overflow.

In an issue I had with a truck, I needed to replace a fuel tank because it was leaking. Good thing was it had dual tanks. Even worse.... BOTH tanks were leaking. I decided to use 1 tank and never the other. and never get the 2nd fixed. When I did get it fixed, fuel would not go in unless i slowly put it in. It would click off and spew fuel out the tank with the nozzle in. VERY frustrating. I added some fuel additives to it and it helped.

Anyways, I think it was the pump you used, musta been an expensive station, but they don't take care of the equipment. Them cheapskates saving a buck