Refuses to take gas?

[4runsport]

Hey guys,
Got a weird problem going on with my '02 sport. Basically when I get to the gas station with any level of fuel in the tank the truck kicks off the pump every couple of seconds. I literally have to stand there and hold the trigger on the pump slightly to get it to take any fuel. The fuel has to go in slow or it continuously pops. Any ideas? I thought at first it was a kinked line or bent tube but everything checks out fine. Toyota parts had no idea where the check ball assembly would be located on the truck because they are useless.
Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Please help me go back to when it didn't take 10 minutes to fill up me truck out: haha

 

[Robb235]

Are you going to the same gas station every time?

 

[Broker]

I had the same problem with mine. What happened to me is that i had used some sea-foam in the gas tank and apparently it melted the inner liner of the fuel filler line and then re-harded after collapsing thus blocking the flow to the gas tank. I ended up having to replace my fuel filler line.

Edit: i knew i had some pictures


The inner brown coating melted and collapsed blocking flow to the tank off. might be worth pulling that line off and checking it.

 

[snivilous]

There is a check valve at the base of the neck of the tank. Maybe it has goop in it so it's not opening fully/properly? If you just remove the filler hose, you can feel around for the valve and maybe push it down and see if it actuates right. The check valve has a pseudo screen on it, all it is is three tabs that connect in the middle of the tube, forming three triangles connected in the middle. The point is, watch out what you are pressing as it might be the screen ish thing and that won't move.

If everything seems lined up I don't know what else it could be, but I also don't know how the check valve would get messed up or how you would fix it.

 

[Willhickey]

On gms it's the vent valve it gets stuck closed and causes excessive pressure so it won't allow anything in

 

[Nelsonmd]

I don't think it was the seafoam that did that. I have used seafoam many times and not had anything like that, and I have never head of anyone else getting that from seafoam use despite tons of guys using it.

Regardless of the cause though, that sounds like a pretty plausible problem. My rubber filler tube was feeling pretty limp when I replaced my filler tube. It's only $30 from the dealer, so it's not too expensive to replace either.

You might also check that the vent tube is not clogged or anything. If it is clogged, the filler tube might be glugging a bit, triggering the fuel shutoff in the handle.

 

[Broker]

Yea I still have a hard time believing the seafoam did that, but after 160k miles I used one bottle and bam, no more gas intake on the first fill up after I put seafoam in the tank.

It could be valves stopping it. It's been awhile since I pulled the tank off but I don't remember any valves at the tank. The only check valve is at the fill neck where the cap goes on and if the gas hose is in the filler the valves are open, the vent tubes could be clogged, you could check that by unhooking one at the tank and see if it fills.

 

[4runsport]

Thanks for all the replies. I definitely tried different gas stations with the same effect. So just to understand completely my problem may lie in either the filler tube (rubber tube from fill to tank) or the check (vent) valve being stuck which is under the cap? Just want to make sure I check the right places when I tackle this project.

Does the tank need to be empty to pull off the rubber filler tube? I have about 3/4 a tank of gas in there. Also just to clarify no sea foam was used prior to. I get gas from pretty much the same station every time.

Thank you!

 

[Broker]

You can pull the filler/vent valve assembly off with gas in the tank. It's the highest part so it won't leak off when you take it off.