I work for a company that has 20+ Prius ranging from 2004-2007--we regularly have issues with filling the gas tank. We too often have to hold the nozzle at its lowest flow position to prevent it from auto-stopping. It seems to happen more often in the cold and at particular gas stations...but not consistantly enough to nail down the problem.

 

Sounds like the vent tube is plugged!

 

I have been searching for help with the aptly described problem of filling the gas tank. To my amazement, I found on another forum that the Prius has a flexible bladder and not a tank! This explains a lot of problems with erratic fills. If it is cold, you can squeeze less into it. Also the "fuel gauge" is rather unreliable given the nature of the "tank". The message seems to be fill it as much as you can when one or two bars show, don't trust the gauge very much, and don't run out of gas. I learned this the expensive way as others here have! Colleen in Wisconsin

 

Welcome to GreenHybrid.com.

Yes, the North American Prius have a flexible bladder in the fuel tank. This helps reduce the gas fume emissions. However, it can result in substantial differences in fill volume. But as a result of my gas studies, it seems to have taken out a lot of the variability (click on my signature to see the record.)

I hope you find useful information here and would be interested in a synopsis of other forums. I've been trying to keep the Prius FAQ current but other than PriusChat and the YahooGroup "Prius_Technical_Stuff," I don't get much.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

I have a 3-months-old 2008 Prius and have encountered the same problem several times, usually on gas pumps with high-flow rate. I've noticed that the filler hole is quite tight and hugs the nozzle a bit too snugly which, perhaps, doesn't let the filler tube vent properly.

Last week's Sunday, I filled up the tank at a station with a high-flow pump and the pump kept shutting down every couple of seconds making the fill up quite lengthy, and to top it off, I had an eruption at the end of the fill. It may very well have been a pump problem because gas leaked through the nozzle's handle mechanism, however, I had an eruption a couple of months ago at another gas station.

 

I had this exact same problem: the pump wouldn't go 5 seconds without shutting itself off. I finally read online somewhere about the flexible bladder tank that others have mentioned on here. It also said to put the nozzle in, and then wait a bit before you start pumping. I suppose this equalizes the pressure, or something like that. But now I always put the nozzle in, wait just a bit, and then pump, and I haven't had this problem since.

 

I'm having the same problem. Almost impossible to fill the tank because the nozzle keeps shutting off. Same problem with four tanks. Also had the 'eruption' problems stated by other drivers.

 

I've owned my '06 since Feb. '06, have around 32K. On my last fill-up, on auto and filling slow - it did over fill. I attributed to a bad pump. So, I guess my answer is, no problem.

 

You might try bringing the nozzle out a little bit instead of seating as far as it will go. Also, sometimes twisty, a little to the left or right helps. I don't really have a problem with my Prius but from time to time, out of town, I've had problems with pumps.

Bob Wilson

 

What a trip.... Took the car in to the dealer today for my radio. Prior to going to the dealer I wanted to be sure that my gas filling problem still existed so I went to a gas station and attempted to put gas in the car. Gas still failed to fill like before. Note that this is a different pump that I haven't used before. I then took the car back after work to get a loaner for dealer to work on the radio. Returned to gas station for sales rep to see what I was talking about. Guess what. D!#!@## thing filled ok without shutoffs. Tried another pump that I hadn't used before.

I told the sales guy that I will wait alittle longer and try some other pumps and see if we can rule the cause as being the actual fueling station pumps.


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