I’ve got a new car which is even worse then my old one in one regard - it won’t accept gas fast enough to avoid the shutoff long before the tank is filled even at the slowest rates I can make most pumps pump it at. It is truly obnoxious to have to put the last 4 gallons or so in in little squirts while seeming to advertise to the world around you that you’re a scofflaw ignoring the “do not top off” sign. I continually picture getting arrested by the pump police and having to argue, “Look it wasn’t anywhere NEAR the top … 15 gallon tank, at most 2 gallons left in it, I’ve pumped 8, see?”.
In CA, we have these “vapor recovery” gadgets on the gas nozzles that may be exacerbating the problem.
Basically, is there any little trick or technique I can do to make the consarned car willing to accept gas at a speed faster than a dribble?
In Washington State we also have the vapor recovery system. My car is also sensitive to these devices however I have found that if I pull the rubber “vapor recovery shield” about an inch back from the gas intake on my car, they pump much more efficiently.
[hijack] When I read your tag, I thought you were writing about extremely slow gas pumps or the even more irritating pre-pay system which slows the pump to a trickle when you get within .50 of your pre-pay amount. It has always been my theory that certain gas stations rig their pumps to purposely make customers wait for gas with the hope that impatience will run amok and the customer will leave without fully pumping the pre-paid amount. Of course I am happy to stand there like a dork and wait simply because nobody is gonna steal .50 from me! [/hijack]
I thought he was talking about cars with reeeeally small gas tanks.
Anyways, in Delaware we have those “vapor recovery” doo hickies too. (Cecil might disagree, but I would argue that there is no vapor recovery;only vapor limiting going on).
I find that if you don’t push the nozzle all the way in and leave a gap for air to flow around the plastic thingy it works better. 'course there are different designs of these things and your mileage may vary.
Norm
I used to own an old truck that did this. I found that if I turned the hose end of the nozzle to a 2 o’clock position this phenomenon stopped. I think though, that my troubles were coming from the shaped of my fuel filler tube and not from escaping air, or the lack thereof, as I think you are implying. But try it and see. (or move it around and see if another position allows speedier fueling.)
The ambulance that I work in every day is based on a Ford F250 cab/chassis imported to Australia from Canada. It is fitted with dual 70 litre tanks, each of which is connected to its filler cap by piping which is damn near horizontal.
This makes the truck extremely frustrating to fill with fuel, unless you are lucky enough to find an older fuel bowser that does not have a vapour recovery system fitted.
The only relief appears to achieved by parking the vehicle on a slope with the filler caps uppermost - a situation thatis highly unlikely alongside a bowser.
Anyone else have similar hassles with F-series trucks?
I used to drive one in my delivery days. WOnderful truck, great acceleration, ran like hell, 5 speed, great truck.
Until you had to fill it up. Most places down here don’t have the vapor recovery system. Trucks problem was the hose going from the outlet to the take was messed up. I found I literally had to park on a slight slope to get it to fill.
Check that first, otherwise you may be having a problem with the vapor thingy.
Some but not all fuel pumps in Maryland have these vapor recovery nozzles, and I usually can’t make them work in my car. I have to pull the rubber boot back and not put the nozzle in to far, but even then somethimes it won’t fill. The other day I spilled about a gallon of gas trying to make one work before I gave up and went on to the next gas station. I wonder what a gallon of gas on the pavement does for minimizing vapor emissions?
I had similar problems all the time with a vehicle I had owned, basically the trick is that you don’t jam the nozzle all the way into the fill pipe. This way when you angle the handle downward after inserting it, the angle created puts more distance between the fuel in the fill pipe and the auto-shutoff.
People always ask me why I moved from Masschusetts to New York. 2 Reasons, MTBE and Vapor Recovery Fueling nozzles.
