Clarity Issues

That would be pretty funny if that's how it actually worked. "Here's your new tire, sir."

 

Been reading through all the pages to find if anyone else has this problem,

I am experiencing the exact same noise in the same area. I wonder if it can be fixed at all. Sounds like an air leak to me.

 

I might have missed this but I haven't seen it mentioned.

Since the HV fuel range is not very accurate, does the Clarity has low fuel warning light like regular gas car? If it does, how much gas is left in the fuel tank when the warning shows up?

 

Yes, and it's pretty close to empty (too close for me). Mine came on and I put 6.5 gallons in a 7 gallon tank.

 

Same experience here. This was fill up a few miles after low fuel light came on.

 

That's too close for comfort. Most of the gassers I've been in had 2 to 2.5 gallons left when the light came on. I wonder if someone can test by using Hold mode until you run out of gas and run on electric mode and fill up past the gas shut off. On my gasser, I can usually get a gallon in after the shut off.

 

The half-charged battery was my comfort. I would never have run gas down this low in gas car.

I hope the hybrid system tolerates running out of gas gracefully. The owners manual says to not run it without gas in tank.

 

That's in the regular Prius manual as well, but there is no EV range in a standard Prius. I think we live with my rule of thumb - either refill at 1/4 tank on gauge or count your actual odometer miles (HV) and refill by 250 miles.

 

Half a gallon of gas equates to around 20 miles until empty. That is about what my Prius had left when it started making the low gas warning sound. Half a gallon just seems low compared to traditional cars but it works out to about the same.

 

I agree! According to the manual, the light is supposed to come on when there's 1.1 gallons remaining in the tank.

 

That tells me it is a 7.5 gallon tank - now all we need to do is get a brave soul to run it dry!

 

Well, not necessarily! Manual says 7.0 gallon tank.

 

Running dry might not be a great idea. No telling what kinds of problems might occur to your fuel pump as a result. I wouldn't recommend doing this on purpose.

If the low-fuel warning comes on at 10% of total capacity, then that'd be about 0.7 gal. With what we've seen with HV/EV range algorithms…

 

I think that is whay everyone is recommending that someone else try it.

 

Yes, which is why it might be important to actually tell a random driver/reader not to do it. As always, YMMV…

 

Test drove clarity a month ago. Obvious air leak on driver's side. Salesman said it was the modern aerodynamics. Seriously. I laughed and said it was an air leak. They kept inside for 2 days in service area and admitted it was a leak. They had glue over the small window near the mirror and said it was leaking.
Drove it again and no leak; but did not buy.
My 2014 Accord had the same sound and it was the rubber around the driver's window and there was a tech bulletin. Hope this helps

 

So, I'm assuming you bought another Clarity without an air leak? My car has had it since purchase and could never figure out where it was coming from! I want to confirm that there are other Clarities without the air leak sound...maybe have the dealer seal it...

 

I have brought mins in and it has since been fixes.
The technician confirmed there was a problem with the seal. In my situation he said it was larger than the one found in the passenger side.

Take yours in and make honda aware of the issue

 

I wonder if you could simulate by pulling the fuel pump fuse? Even on HV mode idle stop start should work so it should shut off if you are stopped. I’m not sure if I want to try it... oh also the car would know the tank wants empty... hmmm... I know the Kia Niro and the Optima hybrids get quite vocal when they are close to running out “refill gas not to prevent damage to high voltage battery” or something like that. The optima even starts flashing the last segement for fuel remaining. I ran my 2013 Civic down to 0 miles remaining and drove it 2 more to the gas stations with no segments of the digital fuel gauge lit.

 

Thought I was CRAZY..Kept trying to roll my windows up thinking one was cracked open. Calling dealership today.