I have been experienceing a speratic problem. When I fill up, I fill it to the max. After sitting overnight, I will drive less than 10 miles and my engine will stumble and almost die. The stumbling only lasts about 10-20 seconds and then won't do it again for the rest of the tank of gas. It has only done this 5 times so far, but always the same senario. I went in today for my 5000 mile oil change and had the service dept. check out my problem. An error code was in the computer, even though no check engine light had come on. It showed an engine rich condition. The charcoal cannister had gas in it. They felt it was because I was filling the tank so full that it was covering the vent line that goes to the cannister. They said it is a $400 item out of warrenty. Thought this was a little food for thought.

 

I think that a bunch of BS. Unless its not overflowing on to your foot, its not overfull. I would fight this if I were you. I dont see how they could pin that on you.

 

I have the 7 year 100,000 mile warrenty. So it is covered. I just wanted everyone to know what to look for if they have the same problem.

 

Moved to Maintenance & Car Care

 

wagonbldr

what does this mean exactly? you "top off" by squeezing the trigger a few more times for that extra 1/2gallon or something?

 

that is a bunch of bull. go to another dealer. oh and plus you dont need to top it off like crazy. just to the next .50 cent amount. and if you miss, it should be fine. dont overfill it can and will cause problems. and make sure you hear your gas cap click!

-Paul

 

Yes I was filling the tank till I could see gas in the filler neck. I did this to make sure the tank was full so I could keep accurate gas mileage records. I looked for the vent line and I saw 2 lines that are connected towards the top of the filler neck. They would indeed be submerged when I filled up. I am now taking a more cautious approach, and not filling it so much.

 

thats a very unsafe way to fill up your car bro. im sorry to say but thats just bad once the nozzle clicks off its full. nuff said.

 

By filling it that far you are not getting accurate mileage readings. It is in the over full state when you fill it up into the neck. Just run it till it clicks and then to the next 50 cents if you want an even amount.

 

You might actually be covering the breather for your gas tank. At very least, you are almost certainly saturating your charcoal canister.

I'm just about to take delivery on my xB so I don't have this in writing, but unless the owner's manual neglects this important point, you are screwed:

DON'T OVERFILL THE GASOLINE TANK! If you do, it's your bad. The charcoal canister is there for a reason, and saturating it with liquid gasoline will likely kill it. If that's the case, then it's your fault; do not pass go, do not collect $$.

My wife's '99 Passat was very clear about this: DON'T overfill the gas tank. Warranty is at risk if you do!

 

well with any car that pre-dates the emissions bull plop your fine with my old car the filler was behind my plates and it clicked off when it splashed out / over flowed and gas was all on the ground

 

Yeah, I fill my current car to near the top of the filler neck. But it seriously pre-dates the "emissions bull plop" too. It's a diesel, so vapor lock hasn't been a problem either.

 

To accurately gauge how much gas you are consuming it only takes 3 fill-ups. Just write down how many gallons you put in, how many miles you have driven and do the math. If you do this with every fill-up it will not matter if you put in 5 gallons or 8 or 11.

 

Actually it depends on each individual pump and nozzle. If the fuel is pumped really fast (high pump line pressure) it will click very soon due to the fact that these cars have a very small filler hose leading to the tank. When I fill mine I only set it on the very first click and even then sometimes it clicks prematurely. Sometimes it will take another couple gallons and still not be coming up to the top of the neck. The only way to accuratly calculate fuel milage is to keep track of the gallons after a few tankfulls.

 

uh, if you want to keep accurate mileage, write down how much gas you put into your car using the gas pump's receipt it spits out at you?

 

NO, I AM THE HAWK.... you are just a wolf in hawk's cloths--and no chicks gonna fall for that.
I can not see how full my tank neck is, the pump nozzel is in the way. I can tell the differance by listening to the sound as my tank fills. The sound changes as gas fills the neck. You need a quiet station to hear it.
Yes, use slowest setting, don't go much farther than that, $.50.
Average three tanks of gas for acurate milage reading.

 

yeah if you go beyond when the nozzle clicks off and it's full, you'll push gasoline into the charcoal canister and it will be saturated with fuel. so just stop when it clicks off..

and i'm talking the clicking off when you know it has a lot of gas in the tank, not when you just put the nozzle in and it clicks off (because of the smaller filler neck)..

 

I used to work for a company that made fuel takes for cars, and yes, topping off that much is VERY bad for the vent system on the vehicle. I can see where it would be out of warranty if you admitted you did this, because there are warnings at the gas stations and I bet in your manual that say DO NOT DO THIS.

You can get good fuel mileage numbers by always stopping on the first click. One filler may differ slightly from the next, but not enough to knock your numbers out of whack. And if you track every tank, it will average out over the long haul. When I bought a new car a while back I tracked every tankful, calculated mileage, etc. I found that if I calculated a running 5-tank average, it settled down and varied almost not at all unless I took a long trip or something.

 

i had vapor lock in my car last time i filled up for some reason and i wasn't paying attention and i pumped it till it overflowed. I will never do that again. But it didn't do anything to my car. I was scared crapless.

 

Last few tanks, I have filled till I see gas in the neck for the first time. The level then settles below the vent lines. Have had no problems since doing this. The local stations all fill at different rates around here. So if I filled till it clicked off, it can vary a gallon or more because of the different filling rate. This is the first vehicle I have had problems with when filling the tank completely. But I have adjusted to compensate. Using the first click off method, my calculations varied between 31 and 38 mpg. But using my modified fill method, it averages 33 to 34 mpg. I run my tank down to less than an 1/8 tank for greatest accuracy.