It can't possibly explain the fuel gauge not working. What's not entirely clear from your first post is whether the engine is actually cranking but not starting, or is it not even cranking?
I put a small amount of diesel in my Prius and now it won't start
- Thread starter kissenger
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It can't possibly explain the fuel gauge not working. What's not entirely clear from your first post is whether the engine is actually cranking but not starting, or is it not even cranking?
I don't believe at 06 they had that on fuel fillers though I may be wrong,
You will find a company online that will come to you and flush it for you
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I always thought petrol in a diesel was really bad.
But diesel (small amount) in a petrol was not so bad.
I personally dont think the disel and petrol would seperate. I would have thought the petrol would act like a solvent and water down or thin out the disel. Could understand it being a bit smoky.
2 litres in a 50 lite tank isn't much. A quick look at the spark plugs might tell you if the issue is the diesel.. they might be a bit on the wet side/ too wet to get a spark.
But diesel (small amount) in a petrol was not so bad.
I personally dont think the disel and petrol would seperate. I would have thought the petrol would act like a solvent and water down or thin out the disel. Could understand it being a bit smoky.
2 litres in a 50 lite tank isn't much. A quick look at the spark plugs might tell you if the issue is the diesel.. they might be a bit on the wet side/ too wet to get a spark.
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It came in in the mid-to late 1990s.
The OP has not filled in the gaps such as what does he mean as dead, why would the guage show empty when it is full.
They've had it since the mid 90s at least. You have to really ram a diesel nozzle into an unleaded car to get it to fit.
Almost right. The electrics turned on in the morning but the engine didn't kick in. Then every time I turned it off and on again there was less and less juice until now, when I go to start it, I get nothing.
Not even cranking. Almost as if a sensor was detecting no petrol and so not even trying to start the engine.
Any error messages showing? Could possibly be the 12v starter battery is dead, worth sticking a meter on if if you have one.
Yep definitely sounds electrical, it'll no longer be even trying to crank because you'll have totally flattened the battery with repeated tries. Starting up an engine or attempting to takes a lot out of a battery.
I don't know about cars but on bikes when the battery/charging system goes funny then it can cause strange instrument readings such as your empty fuel gauge.
I don't know about cars but on bikes when the battery/charging system goes funny then it can cause strange instrument readings such as your empty fuel gauge.
The prius uses a small auxiliary battery to turn on the car electrics then engage the large main battery that in turn switches on the engine if i recall correctly from when I had mine. Did you get the red large triangle of death on startup as the battery was getting lower? When the 12v aux battery on a prius gets low it causes all sorts of insane warnings and electical gremlins eg. mine wouldn't lock then would lock and then did and sound the alarm randomly. Try getting the 12v battery charged or replaced but it does need a diff battery than normal due to the breather tube being needed.
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It's hard to remember what the dash was showing because I didn't get a good look before the car went properly dead but there were definitely warning lights. I think the big red triangle and the red circle with the exclamation mark inside.
So maybe it's a case of a failed battery rather than the misfueling? Might actually save me some money. I am with the RAC so I will call them out in the morning (didn't have a chance today). Are they likely to be able to charge the battery for me? I don't even know if that's a 'fix' or if I'll still need to buy a new battery.
Surely there must be some protection to stop the 12v battery going low, i.e run the engine to charge it? Like stop/start wont kick in if the 12v battery is low.
The RAC will try and jump it and then will tell you to take it for a drive. Thats if its the issue...
Update. Turns out it was a dodgy 12v battery, not anything to do with the diesel mishap. RAC came out and tested the battery and it read 6v instead of 12 
The guy charged me £80 to replace it there and then and now it drives like a dream (or, at least, as well as a Prius can 
). I probably could have got it done cheaper at my mechanic's but that would have taken half a day would have required putting the car on a flatbed and all that faffing.
The guy charged me £80 to replace it there and then and now it drives like a dream (or, at least, as well as a Prius can ). I probably could have got it done cheaper at my mechanic's but that would have taken half a day would have required putting the car on a flatbed and all that faffing.