Search failed so here goes nothing... Why the one-click fuel cap? I thought clicking was a means to avoid over tightening the cap. Now you can still do that. The manual mentions one-click so I don't think I have a malfunctioning cap.
My understanding is that the click (one or multi) was to avoid under-tightening the cap. One click ensures it is sealed, so that the tank pressure (actually vacuum) sensors won't light your "check engine" light. According to my dealer, that's the single most frequent cause of the check engine light - people not "clicking" their caps. I actually have never heard of anyone over-tightening a gas cap - except maybe the old metal ones from years ago. But I suppose it has happened...
I was also wondering how you could over-tighten a clicking cap too. Once it clicks, you stop and it's tight. For what it's worth, Fords now have no gas cap!
No gas cap? How does that work? Hmmm...I'm sure in my past life I must have had gas caps I couldn't get off. Certainly tight enough so it seals is a minimum. I thought with only one click gas attendants in Oregon, where you legally cannot pump your own gas, would be trying to get more clicks on the cap then just one and that would over-tighten it. I'll simply advise them to click one and stop. Actually, I liked to listen to the clicking from the drivers seat to know that it was tightened and not left loose.
I kind of don't like the thought of it (Especially on a Ford of all manufacturers) but here's a press release about it: FORD’S EASY FUEL SYSTEM SIMPLIFIES FILL UPS, HELPS ENVIRONMEN ... - Press Release - Ford
Interesting. I'm not sure I like it either. What happens if you roll the car, damage the body so the cap/cover pops open, and end up on the roof? Does something else prevent gas from dripping out/running out? I guess on the Prius I would have preferred one or two clicks and then the cap spins free for 340 degrees.
You ask too many questions, Susan! Just be glad you live in Oregon, and don't have to pump gas... Is there anywhere else, beside New Jersey, where this happens?
That little sealing flap would probably work at least as well as a broken gas cap, which from the way you describe the crash would be the result. If you roll the car, you should probably vacate the premises anyway, and besides, in Oregon isn't it always raining?
Don't worry the questions will taper off and I'll disappear soon enough so you can all get back to whatever you enjoy about frequenting Prius Chat for. No, Oregon and New Jersey are the only states, and it doesn't make any sense to me. We pay more for gas in Central Oregon then Portland or the Valley but less then San Francisco or Los Angeles so who is paying the attendants? To late to change laws once passed.
I didn't mean to suggest I would stay put inside the car if I was conscious and could get out. No doubt Ford put a lot of work and reason into this new caping method too and would be checking how well it works through all the crash tests. More rain along the coast and I5 valley corridor. Then going east you have the Cascades and further east come to Central Oregon and high desert country where where we still get some rain and snow but it has been pretty mild so far this season. Where I live is in a 'rain shadow' and I don't think we've had but a few inches of rain or snow all season.
