Fuel spill this morning

[dawudih]

I was fueling my stock 2015 Trail up today at a Valero station & had about 1/4 gallon of fuel gush out (about 2-3 seconds worth at half click). The pump did not stop on its own, instead I had to stop the gas manually. I always lock the gas handle at the slow speed. 1st time this happened to my Toyota, however seems to happen once every 3-4 months in my wifes Honda CRV. The only thing different today was I let the fuel run down to about 1/8th tank, which I've never done before & I've never used that pump before. Any help would be appreciated...

 

[jasonv]

if you put the nozzle in upside down, the usual mechanism to stop the floe won't work, is that what you're doing? I see people stretch the line across the vehicle and do that some times. otherwise I can't imagine how that happens, poorly maintained equipment at the gas station? they should always shut off.

 

[dawudih]

if you put the nozzle in upside down, the usual mechanism to stop the floe won't work, is that what you're doing? I see people stretch the line across the vehicle and do that some times. otherwise I can't imagine how that happens, poorly maintained equipment at the gas station? they should always shut off.

No stretching or upside down nizzle. I didn't see any complaints on the forum so I'm thinking it was the pump.

 

[cjacob316]

I only get overflow at pumps that are slow. The pump is what stops itself, not the vehicle. It uses a venturi effect to determine when when the gas gets too high, a hole at the end will suck up fluid/fumes and it flows up into the pump handle increasing the pressure and forcing air out of a diaphragm that shuts the pump off. The faster the gas flows out, the faster it pulls air/fluid in. The air/fluid will flow back up at a slower rate though. If you fill it quickly, then the foaming/fumes will cause the pump to stop before the gas gets high enough to over flow. If you are filling slowly, the pump has to wait for the gas to get high enough to get sucked up, which is already close to the opening, and the gas flowing out is moving faster than the gas getting sucked back up, so before the diaphragm can lose pressure to stop the pump, the gas has already started flowing out of the top.

 

[Antman]

.... however seems to happen once every 3-4 months in my wifes Honda CRV. The only thing different today was I let the fuel run down to about 1/8th tank, which I've never done before & I've never used that pump before. Any help would be appreciated...

How about holding the handle? Seriously, it's pretty damn dangerous spilling fuel all over the ground.

Just hold the handle, that's all the help you need.

 

[rigtec]

"I was fueling my stock 2015 Trail up today at a Valero station & had about 1/4 gallon of fuel gush out (about 2-3 seconds worth at half click). The pump did not stop on its own, instead I had to stop the gas manually..."

Hi dawudih,

The "Auto-stop pump" safety feature is a function of the fuel pump device... NOT the customer's vehicle! It's good that you were watching; "as we all should" or this could have turned out a different way! Service stations Must have regular/periodic inspections by the State, e.g., for safety, 'proper fuel grade partitioning', pump calibration accuracy... but if this pump is malfunctioning in this way then perhaps you need to bring this issue to the attendant's attention... may be an oversight! Rgds!

 

[4Moore]

be sure to wash your paint

 

[BlackWorksInc]

How about holding the handle? Seriously, it's pretty damn dangerous spilling fuel all over the ground.

Just hold the handle, that's all the help you need.

Piff! Don't be a wet blanket!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e2MfsMmki5U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[dawudih]

How about holding the handle? Seriously, it's pretty damn dangerous spilling fuel all over the ground.

Just hold the handle, that's all the help you need.

Not sure how holding the trigger would've prevented the spill since we still rely on the "click" to stop the fuel supply. If you're suggesting it's damn dangerous to use the auto lock on the fuel nozzle, I'd have to respectfully disagree.

 

[Jhalko]

Service stations Must have regular/periodic inspections by the State, e.g., for safety, 'proper fuel grade partitioning', pump calibration accuracy... but if this pump is malfunctioning in this way then perhaps you need to bring this issue to the attendant's attention... may be an oversight! Rgds!

I saw some TV special talking about these inspections, something about they only get inspected about every other year. Not sure if that was Colorado or nationwide.

 

[rigtec]

I saw some TV special talking about these inspections, something about they only get inspected about every other year. Not sure if that was Colorado or nationwide.

That's not good... You'd think that even a 'Random spot check' (Audit) would materialize more often then that... :noidea:

 

[dawudih]

I only get overflow at pumps that are slow. The pump is what stops itself, not the vehicle. It uses a venturi effect to determine when when the gas gets too high, a hole at the end will suck up fluid/fumes and it flows up into the pump handle increasing the pressure and forcing air out of a diaphragm that shuts the pump off. The faster the gas flows out, the faster it pulls air/fluid in. The air/fluid will flow back up at a slower rate though. If you fill it quickly, then the foaming/fumes will cause the pump to stop before the gas gets high enough to over flow. If you are filling slowly, the pump has to wait for the gas to get high enough to get sucked up, which is already close to the opening, and the gas flowing out is moving faster than the gas getting sucked back up, so before the diaphragm can lose pressure to stop the pump, the gas has already started flowing out of the top.

This is great, thanks. Maybe it was a combination of slow flow rate and the nozzle not being inserted completely??? Never happened before & was just curious.

 

[grumpy514]

Pumps faulty nozzle

 

[4Surfin]

No stretching or upside down nizzle.

Fo shizzle ma nizzle! anyway, hold the damn handle... if you are gonna lock the handle then at least smoke a cigarette close by.

 

[dawudih]

Click & Clack explain it all

https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AAIBAJ&sjid=PU8KAAAAIBAJ&pg=2066,690819&hl=en

 

[cjacob316]

Yes the shut off could be faulty. That is highly likely. I tend to use the same Gas station every time I fill up and usually the same pump every time. On occasion the pump will run very slowly for some reason. On one occasion, it took nearly a half hour for pump 20 gallons of gas. That was the only time that pump in that gas station has ever over filled my vehicle. I mentioned the slow flow of the gasoline because you mentioned that you intentionally fill it slowly so I wanted to mention that it could be a cause for future reference.

 

[Armiger]

Hi dawudih,

The "Auto-stop pump" safety feature is a function of the fuel pump device... NOT the customer's vehicle!

This is true, but there have been a few cases where a vehicle design or manufacturing flaw can cause an overflow. On my wife's '06 Durango, the fuel filler "riser" (tube that leads back from the tank to the fill point) had a faulty design. After a couple years of use, the plastic tube degraded due to gasoline exposure causing the internal structure to be slightly deformed. The result was two possible failures: the pump would not properly shut off (safety functions weren't triggered, as described above in this thread), or a "burp" of gasoline a second or two after the pump had shut off...sort of like the Durango had one too many drinks and couldn't hold its beer.

All that said, your case sounds like a fuel pump issue.

(By the way -- hello, all! New forum member here. We're planning to replace the aforementioned Durango in the next year or so. I'll probably hold out for the 6th gen 4Runner, but may get angry enough at the @$%*& Durango and buy a 2015/2016 Runner...)

 

[jasonv]

the pumps run slower when there are many users pulling on the same tank. if you ever go to a Costco gas station with about 30 people filling at once you'll notice it takes literally twice as long to fill.