I was filling up at Costco and for some reason it was taking forever for the pump to stop. There was an attendant right next to me so I asked her if the pump has auto stop and she said yeah of course. I began telling her that it usually doesn’t take this long to fill up and the next thing I know the pump started spitting out gas. so after I put the nozzle back on the pump I took out my camera and recorded the spill... after about 20 seconds I’m just holding the camera so it is pointed towards the ground, but you can hear a conversation I had with the attendant. I know what you’re not supposed to top off the car so to me the spill is much worse than topping off with the prius's bladder system. I was afraid to turn on my car and afraid of any damage that may happen. So after that I got in my car and called Toyota and they said that the car will be fine and to make sure the gas cap clicks to ensure that it is closed. He also said to wash the area with some soapy water which I did when I got home. Does anyone know if there is any concern about damage to the gas tank? Here’s what the aftermath looked like.
Driving it was the right thing to do. You want to burn off some of the excess gas. The real danger is overfilling, closing the cap, and letting everything expand in the heat. Your car should be fine. Tom
If no warning lights then no worries. If the car will be sitting and getting warm in the sun then one may consider loosening the gas cap and then tightening it later after driving some distance. Good luck!
It wont do any damge, the best thing to do is to drive it straight away. Like qbee said, drive about 5 or 6 miles and it will use about a pint, and that's enough space to handle any expansion that may later occur. You know ajbdiaz, that almost exactly mirrors an experience I had late last year. The pump was running super slow and it was taking ages to fill. Same as per your situation, the pump never cut out and fuel filled right over the top and went everywhere. My theory was that the pumps filter was probably clogged, which is the most common cause of a very pump slow. The problem is that the cut off mechanism works on back-pressure, and the slower it's pumping the less is the back pressure.
It happen to me too recently with my 2013 gen 3 prius and when it does. I notice my prius fuel level got stuck at full and the gas spilled out from the bottom.
