How much is in the reserve? - GreenHybrid

CeoStatus0 · #1 (**permalink**) 07-12-2006, 01:36 PM

I was looking at the Toyota Iguide and the manuel online... they say you should always keep the gas tank a 1/4 full... But i'm curious on if you're driving on a flat level road, how many gallons is left in the tank before the fuel light starts to come on

Bumzyman · #2 (**permalink**) 07-12-2006, 01:43 PM

I drove about 30 miles past 0mi crusing range with the light on and took 14.372gal at the station.

nash · #3 (**permalink**) 07-12-2006, 01:45 PM

My TCH low fuel light came on at 30 miles to empty while driving on a flat section of freeway. I filled up about 31 miles later and put 14.4 gallons in the car. I'd estimate you have very close to 3 gallons in reserve when the light comes on.

I did have the light come on briefly when going over some hills at about 70 miles to empty, but it went back out.

MFLetou · #4 (**permalink**) 07-12-2006, 03:13 PM

If you run out, what happens? Can the battery power you?

Orcrone · #5 (**permalink**) 07-12-2006, 04:33 PM

NO!!! Toyota specifically recommends not doing that. As it is you wouldn't have more than a couple of miles.

spiff72 · #6 (**permalink**) 07-12-2006, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MFLetou

If you run out, what happens? Can the battery power you?

You DO NOT want to continue driving if it runs out of gas. This will discharge the battery, since the gas engine isn't available to recharge it. This can couse major damage to the system - I think there are warnings telling you about this in the manual.

Bumzyman · #7 (**permalink**) 07-12-2006, 06:36 PM

You will also void your warranty if you drive it without gas. I believe both the VDIM and OBD systems record those types of events so the dealer will know even if your hybrid system doesn't get hosed. I'm sure they wont be to happy when you eventually bring it in for service.

cookone · #8 (**permalink**) 07-13-2006, 09:52 PM

I ran my tank down below the empty mark just to see what warnings/how many miles I could drive before I really was running on battery/imagination and when I filled up it held 14.5 gallons. This surprised me because the brochure and dealership stated 17.2 fuel capacity. Any tank capacity confirmations out there?

john312 · #9 (**permalink**) 07-14-2006, 10:38 AM

Over at Edmunds' TCH fourm (message 2194) Hybridriver said this:

Quote:

TCH Fuel Tank Capacity Experiment --- RESULTS by hybridriver Jun 15, 2006 (7:46 pm)
Reply | E-mail Msg
As you may recall, after letting the needle touch E on my first tank of gas and noticing that the ensuing fill up only required about 14.2 gallons, I decided to put a gallon of gas in my trunk to allow me to run my TCH out of fuel, and hence get a true reading on the fuel tank capacity. I was also curious as to how accurate the "Tank Mileage" readout would prove to be.

Several days ago, the needle again touched E. Odo A (which I had reset when filling the tank) showed 515 miles traveled, and the Tank Mileage was 37.0 mpg. Doing a long division shows that roughly 14 gallons (13.92) were consumed before the needle centered on E, again consistent with what most people are reporting.

During the last several days, I've been doing only short hop city driving, and the Tank Mileage had dropped to 36.0 mpg. If the tank actually did hold 17.1 gallons, that would imply that I should run out of gas after 615.6 miles. As Odo A passed the 600 mile mark, I started paying very close attention to signs that the gas had run out. I did not want to drive the car at all when that happened, due to the dire warning about the Prius that was posted here recently.

Anyway, today the car ran out of gas at 613 miles. I tried to accelerate, and the engine did not kick in. Fortuitously, I was a few hundred feet from a gas station at that moment, and just glided in with the electric motor to the pump. As I was filling up, I mused at how accurately the gauges had worked in forecasting that moment. But, then the pump blew through the 17.1 gallon mark, and it ended up taking 17.82. Soooo, either the gas companies are even greedier than we thought (is that possible? ), or Toyota underspec'ed the tank capacity, or there was some fuel in the lines that isn't officially tank capacity.

I got back in the car, pumped the accelerator a couple times to prime the fuel pump (unsure if that actually does that on the TCH), hit start, pulled away, and voila, the engine started. Drove home, as normal, feeling happy that the whole thing had been relatively painless (to both me and the car), and secure in the knowledge that I had performed a huge service for [a very small percentage of] the human race...

Final note: 613 miles/17.82 gallons = 34.4 mpg. As stated, the Tank Average read out at 36.0 mpg.