TWO out of fuel tow-ins in one week...

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Oddly enough, both Toyota's. First up: 2008 Scion xD, towed in after dying in flight. At first, it cranked like it was flooded. I pulled the plugs, they were soaked. After replacement, it ran briefly before stalling again. Further diagnostics revealed no fuel pressure at the rail, with the digital fuel gauge indicating 2 "bars".

While attempting to remove the LR seat to access the fuel pump for testing, one of the E10 Torx bolts stripped. I tried twist sockets, welding a nut to the stub, everything. I gave up and chose to drop the tank, which I discovered was DRY! All that work and it was out of fuel...

Second subject: whatever year Prius V. Towed in with engine noise and a no start. HV battery showing 1 bar on the dash, fuel gauge showing one bar, and 2 quarts low on oil. Again, out of gas. After throwing in a couple gallons, changing the oil, and idling to allow the HV battery to charge it was fine.

Mistakes such as these give me pause, given the ease with which one can apply and be approved to drive a vehicle.
 
I've learned to always put in a little bit of fuel if you can hear the pump but no fuel being delivered. not full though, just makes a mess if you end up needing to replace the pump

I couldn't agree with you more, but I have to admit: I've more or less been running a 7 bay, $2m/yr shop on my own for the last 2 weeks. Tis the season. That being said, I've found myself missing some simple diagnostic tricks purely due to my brain being 6 places at once.

If I had been thinking clearly, I'd have listened for the fuel pump and done exactly what you do in my situation. Unfortunately, I made the ultimate mechanic mistake: taking the customers word.

For those in the business that get it: I'm reminded of one of my favorite "mechanic" jokes. The one where the customer comes in stating "My brakes JUST started making noise" only to find a caliper piston blown out due to one or both of the brake pads falling out of the bracket. Bonus points if the rotor is ground through to the cooling vanes.
 
I couldn't agree with you more, but I have to admit: I've more or less been running a 7 bay, $2m/yr shop on my own for the last 2 weeks. Tis the season. That being said, I've found myself missing some simple diagnostic tricks purely due to my brain being 6 places at once.

If I had been thinking clearly, I'd have listened for the fuel pump and done exactly what you do in my situation. Unfortunately, I made the ultimate mechanic mistake: taking the customers word.
I get it. I once ran a 4-bay garage one summer for an old boss while he went to Italy to see his dying mother. He hired a helper, that honestly, it would have been better if I had worked alone. I worked my tail off (paid by salary) as if the shop was mine, that's who I am. He told the jobber's salesman that the summer I was there, the shop had record sales. I too, can only do six things at once.
 
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Oddly enough, both Toyota's. First up: 2008 Scion xD, towed in after dying in flight. At first, it cranked like it was flooded. I pulled the plugs, they were soaked. After replacement, it ran briefly before stalling again. Further diagnostics revealed no fuel pressure at the rail, with the digital fuel gauge indicating 2 "bars".

While attempting to remove the LR seat to access the fuel pump for testing, one of the E10 Torx bolts stripped. I tried twist sockets, welding a nut to the stub, everything. I gave up and chose to drop the tank, which I discovered was DRY! All that work and it was out of fuel...

Second subject: whatever year Prius V. Towed in with engine noise and a no start. HV battery showing 1 bar on the dash, fuel gauge showing one bar, and 2 quarts low on oil. Again, out of gas. After throwing in a couple gallons, changing the oil, and idling to allow the HV battery to charge it was fine.

Mistakes such as these give me pause, given the ease with which one can apply and be approved to drive a vehicle.

Some days are better than others brotha! Put it behind you and don't look back.
 
You men remind me of when I worked at an industrial electronics engineering company. I sometimes would turn to some of the other people working there and mime a juggler juggling items in the air. They totally got what I meant.
 
My brother has a rav4 hybrid, maybe two years old. He has complained since new that the fuel gauge is inaccurate. Apparently some software flash was done to no avail. So maybe there is some other issue that occasionally happens on the parts used in these digital gauge Toyotas.
 
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