Gas tank took 11 gallons!!! Then puked it back out

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by F8L, Jul 3, 2008.

  1. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Yeah so I have no joined the ranks of those who have had gas overflows. :(

    I was on 1 pip when I went to fill up at a new pump and I just put the pump at the middle setting and went to wash my windows and get a drink from inside the store. While washing the windshield I smelled fuel and chalked it up to the nasty old Suburban next to me. I finished up and walked around the car and noticed the pump read 11.1 gallons! I freaked out thinking wow, that's a first. Then I realized what I was smelling was the gallons of fuel that were puked out of the filler neck. :(

    It just kept trickling out for 15min or so. The filler neck just wouldn't empty. I was afraid to close the cap for fear of it going into the evap system. I figured I lost at least 1.5 gallons on the ground. :( I took a pic of it pouring out with my cell phone camera but I'm not sure how to get the pic from my phone to the computer without a cable.

    What a way to start the day feeling ultra-guilty for something that should never have occured. Grrr
     
    #1 F8L, Jul 3, 2008
  2. KayakerNC

    KayakerNC Member

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    Go to the picture you took, in the "options" you should be able to send the picture to your email address.
     
    #2 KayakerNC, Jul 3, 2008
  3. wsmac

    wsmac Junior Member

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    I've seen this mentioned before.
    I had this same thing, albeit with less fuel loss, at one particular pump.
    I was blaming the pump until I realized it must have been the bladder.

    Did you notify the people working at the pumps?
    I believe they are responsible for getting out there and cleaning the mess up ... EPA reg's and all that. They are required to have spill cleanup kits available.

    Also, did you clean off the side of your car?
    I have no idea if the finish/paint on modern cars holds up well against gasoline, but I always grab paper towels or the window squeegee and clean off gas spills on my car.
     
    #3 wsmac, Jul 3, 2008
  4. McDonald

    McDonald New Member

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    Yesterday when I filled up at 2 pips, I got 9.56 gallons in there no problem. Hmm!
     
    #4 McDonald, Jul 3, 2008
  5. sdtundra

    sdtundra Senior Member

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    wow, i fill at 2 pips and can only get in 6.9-7.6 gallons
     
    #5 sdtundra, Jul 3, 2008
  6. McDonald

    McDonald New Member

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    Yeah I was standing there wide-eyed waiting for it to erupt like a volcano at me, but nope! You better believe I didn't try "topping up", and screwed on that gas cap as fast as I could. Ha!
     
    #6 McDonald, Jul 3, 2008
  7. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    My phone is lame and won't do that or else I'm lame and cannot figure it out. I've tried a few times over the year I've owned it. It's a Samsung Sync.
     
    #7 F8L, Jul 3, 2008
  8. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    They came out to inspect the mess and I left (had a meeting I was already late for). I didn't see if they brought anything out to clean it or not though in hindsight I should have. Grr where is my brain today?

    I did clean the fuel off the paint. I always carry a microfiber towel and a bottle of quick detailer with me.
     
    #8 F8L, Jul 3, 2008
  9. judymcfarland

    judymcfarland Queen of Moral Indignation

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    And this is the reason that I stand there & hold the pump handle while I'm fueling up. In previous cars I could hear the pitch of the gurgle change to let me know that it was almost full, but no gurgling from Fiona & her bladder. I figure it doesn't take that long to fill up a Prius, so I stand right there with my hand on the pump & use a slow/medium speed. Even if I set the pump to run automatically, I never leave Fiona's side until the auto shut-off.
    Result: no "puking", no wasted gas, and sometimes (in the dead of winter) cold hands, but always worth it.
     
    #9 judymcfarland, Jul 3, 2008
  10. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I'm going to follow your lead here Judy. I feel bad enough for spilling all the fuel and I do not wish to repeat the problem. :)
     
    #10 F8L, Jul 3, 2008
  11. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    I never trust the automatic shut off enough to walk away. I stay with the car to monitor the fill.
     
    #11 Godiva, Jul 3, 2008
  12. brick

    brick Active Member

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    I find it irritating that a feature designed to improve air quality has, in many cases, resulted in a fuel spill that defeats its purpose many times over. Even if the pump should have cut off, fuel wouldn't dribble, stream, or gush out of the tank under pressure if not for the bladder. I really hope Toyota ditches it in the next model because it seems worse than useless.

    Watching the pump would be a good call, though. I never leave mine partially because I've read so many stories just like this.
     
    #12 brick, Jul 3, 2008
  13. rigormortis

    rigormortis Active Member

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    ive posted before my opinions about the fuel bladder.

    i want to go to a wrecker yard and get a real prius bladder to see how much liquid that bladder actually holds.

    i believe when toyota says the fuel capacity is 11.9 gallons what they really mean
    is 10.71 gallons at 90 % ullage and 1.19 gallons of vapor

    its hard to imagine the prius holds 1.19 gallons of gasoline vapor "in the system" outside the bladder, and i dont think gasoline vapor really burns anyway it just goes
    back to the gas stations tank to be picked up by the truck, hense "vapor recovery system"

    run dry the most ive ever been able to put in the tank and not take a chance of overfilling or damaging the charcoal canister is coicidently 10.75 gallons
     
    #13 rigormortis, Jul 4, 2008
  14. rigormortis

    rigormortis Active Member

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    and also the prius manual says:
    the given fuel tank capacity is measured on EPA/CARB orvr testing conditions which is approved for nominal capacity measurement condition

    on page 9228 of http://www.epa.gov/otaq/url-fr/fr24fr98.pdf it says something about either 85% ullage or 95% ullage of the tank, and unless your in -10c or 14 degrees f) i think were risking a lot of damage to this car by following all that "stretching the bladder to restore capacity" advice.
     
    #14 rigormortis, Jul 4, 2008
  15. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    This was a fault with the auto-shutoff on the pump, which is why it's illegal in most areas to walk away from the pump while refueling. It's not much fun, and shouldn't happen with good equipment, but ultimately you can only blame yourself for leaving the pump unattended.

    Tom
     
    #15 qbee42, Jul 4, 2008
  16. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I cannot argue that Tom. I am not placing ultimate blame on anyone but myself. Yes it would be nice for all of the associated systems to work correctly but the world is not perfect.

    I do however wonder if I would have had a leakage problem even had I been attending the fuel pump like a good citizen. If the auto-shutoff did not activate and it kept pumping to say 10 gallons (which I doubt my car could have held at that given time) and I decided to stop pumping would the fuel tank have decided to "purge" the excess fuel out anyway? What I'm saying is, the fuel pump was not running when I walked back to the car, it had stopped at 11 gallons yet fuel continued to leak out of the filler neck for the next 15min or so.
     
    #16 F8L, Jul 4, 2008
  17. brick

    brick Active Member

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    F8L- The exact situation you are describing happened to me, and a spill was averted. I'm used to getting maybe 9 gallons in when it's on the last pip and I decided at 10 gallons that the pump was misbehaving. I left the nozzle in for a few seconds for things to settle and carefully removed it.
     
    #17 brick, Jul 4, 2008
  18. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Good to hear you didn't have an issue. For the sake of future problems I will just stay with the pump and once if it hits 9.5ga (I've never put more than that in the tank that I recall) I'm callin it quits. lol
     
    #18 F8L, Jul 4, 2008
  19. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Keeping your hand on the nozzle also removes the possibility of static discharge starting a fire.
     
    #19 richard schumacher, Jul 4, 2008
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