Is anybody left out there?
Created May 27, 2009, at 1:08 am by gschaut
So, this board has been a little short on postings lately.
How about a roll call? Are there any Prius owners stilll reading this board?
Somehow, all the new postings seem to disappear, around January 20th?
Kind of like every posting was a "bash Prius" posting coming from some
people with an ax to grind? Who might be now out of a job?
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I'm still here. I don't post much anyway, but anytime I see people just bashing each other I avoid posting altogether. I don't see many mature discussions here.
Some how, it seems that all the Prius bashers have left. It's time for the real Prius owners to take back this forum.
The only trouble is, I love my Prius. And aside from the gas tank issue that's been beaten to death, I have no complaints about my car.
Last fill up was 52.7 mpg.
Hey gschaut, please elaborate on the gas tank issue. I come around here from time to time and we have had issues with my wife's Prius gas tank in colder temps. I just want to see if this is the same issue you're talking about.
Hey Folks,
Thanks for keeping things alive in this forum. By mid-summer, HybridCars.com will launch a number of new features in the forums, such as enhanced profiles, with Facebook-style "wall," photo gallery uploads, etc. Stay tuned.
Prius is using a flexible fuel bladder, enclosed in a metal shell. the idea is that if there is no vapor space in the bladder, then no vapor recovery problems. Because engine does not run all the time. Regular cars suck the fuel vapors from the tank into the engine air intake to recycle the fuel vapors (vapor recovery system).
BUT... Pruis apparently got CHEAP on the fuel bladder. It gets stiff in the winter, and does not expand fully when you fill up at the gas pump.
In sub-freezing conditions, you may only be able to fit 7 or 8 gallons in what should be a 12 gallon fuel tank.
Prius has been on a long campaign to deny the problem but it appears to be universal and endemic.
The good news is that 7 gallons in a Prius gives me MORE mileage range than 15 gallons in my last SUV. So Prius owners just learn to live with it.
Toyota claims that ALL fuel bladders get stiff in the winter.
@#$%^&- Military aircraft, and alot of civilian aircraft use fuel bladders in their wings. AND these bladders normally operate at 50 below zero (ambient temps at 40,000' altitude) without getting "stiff" or loosing capacity.
Thanks for elaborating. That's the exact problem we've had in the winter. Our local dealer actually replaced the gas "tank" on my wife's car, but it still has the issues so that's all explained by your post above. Not a huge issue as I've become pretty good at filling the tank very slowly in the winter months to let the gas "warm up" the tank to it expands a bit. The most irritating thing is that if you just go for it with the pump full on it just keeps clicking like it's full pretty much right off the bat.
The nice thing, as you mentioned, is that even if you can only get 7 or so gallons in the tank, you can still drive a lot farther than you can in any other car or SUV.
I haven't experienced the cold tank issue yet. But I have noticed I can squeeze an extra 0.5 to 0.75 gallons after the pump clicks off.
My dealer told me he has as many problems with the tank in the late summer when temps are reaching 100F here.
Mr. Bear: You will probably start to see fuel tank "shrinkage" at about 50 deg ambient, and when temps get down below freezing you will only get about 2/3 normal tank capacity. It does not get much worse between freezing and sub-zero temps, even in Canadian Arctic.
But your average mileage will go WAY down if you just make short trips in the winter. Engine gets very poor mpg until it warms up.
there have been MANY people who ran out of gas because they thought that they could go XXX miles between fillups, without watching the fuel gauge.
Second caution: The fuel gauge is only approximate, because of the flexible nature of the fuel bladder.
NEVER try to run the tank down to E, always fill up when there are two bars left on the fuel display. The fuel gauge on the Prius is nicknamed "The Guess Gauge".
I just wanted to make a brand new topic to introduce myself. My name is Mary and I came across this place through a fast Google and needed to just say how-do-you-do. I would enjoy engaging in future day discussions and look onward to talking with everyone.
My best past time is http://www.squidoo.com/onlinecomputerrepair101 - computer repair
Hi Mary. So what's your story? Prius owner? Shopping around? Just interested? What do you drive, and how satisfied are you. Lots of tech geeks hanging out here if you have questions on the Prius, including LOTS of information Toyota will not tell you.
Looks like somebody has been doing too much drugs. Hey Carey, turn the keyboard around - right side up. I think you are typing on an upside down keyboard!!!
Can't sleep tonight. I'm finally fully recovered from a bad bout of food poisioning. Just in time for work tomorrow.
Looks like I'm on the verge of experiencing the incredible shrinking gas tank. This week temps will stop dropping below 50F at night.
Is it best not to let it drop below half, to make sure the shrinkage isn't too bad?
How full or empty the tank is, does not seem to affect the shrinkage of the tank in winter.
You should however, NEVER go below the last two bars. That's when the tank can run dry without warning.
I just keep track of the consumption display. If I am averaging 53mpg, and have traveled 300 miles since fillup, I figure I've used about 6 gallons.
For me, at least, the consumption display seems to be EXTREMELY accurate. I can predict +/- half gallon, how much fuel the tank will take at the gas station.
Only exception is if the temperature changes suddenly, then the tank capacity increases or decreases, and I put in a couple extra gallons on fillup, or a couple gallons short.
And that tells me if my tank is at full summer capacity (12 gal) or shrinking down to it's winter (8 gal) capacity.
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