problems refueling

[FrankM83]

well the first trip of my finished van was at the petrol station to fill the tank up! unfortunately it proved very hard to fill, it kept spitting fuel back at me unless I fueled it really slowly! anyone else had this problem, the van has a whole new fuel system, that including tank, sender units filler tubes etc!

[Dean]

Sounds like an air block, is your filling pipe a twin tube type, one for the fuel to go in the other to let air out?

[FrankM83]

yes it seems to be 2 tubes in each other sort of! at least if I remember well, infact I cleaned tine space between the tubes so air will pass so I don't know y it's doing so

[PSL184]

I have the same problem Frank - I have to fill very slowly compared to my modern car. I think its just that modern filling stations pump fuel much quicker than they used too....

[bmcecosse]

I don't have much problem - but then I can only afford one gallon at any one time.............

[alanworland]

Trouble is - the longer it takes for the fuel to go in - the more expensive it gets!

[moggyadventurer]

Hi,

I get this in my modern car too, dependent on petrol station. Try a different petrol station.

Might not help but will eliminate the possibility

Agree with bmce - I use to fill the tank 20years ago on 20pound, now I don't get 4 gallons.

[ASL642]

I have the same problem. Have to fill slowly for the first gallon, then can speed up

[M25VAN]

I noticed this at a local station when they changed over to a new style nozzle. It seemed narrower and to have a distinct kink in it. I guess the fuel is now firing onto the side of the filler pipe instead of straight down it. If you don't put the nozzle in fully so the first part is pointing straight down the filler it seems to work ok so would indicate that this is the problem.
Just find a station where it works ok 'cos if you mention it to the staff you might not get the response you expect.

[MarkyB]

There is no path for the air to come out as the petrol goes in.
There is no separate connection between the top of the tank and the "airway" built into the filler pipe.

I've improved mine a bit with a length of copper calor gas pipe jammed between the two bits of the filler pipe and bent to end up near the top of the tank.
It's noticeably better but still isn't big enough to work really well.

This is the set up on my modern car;[frame][/frame]
I can put fuel in this as fast as the pump will go and the cut-out works perfectly.

Petrol going into a closed area like a tank is going to displace air, it has to go somewhere or it pressurises and the incoming fuel is spat back out, onto your shoes if you aren't careful

[FrankM83]

Thanks for explaining, this used to happen to me on most old 60s and some 70s cars thought it was cause their breather pipe got dirty but then my van has all the pipes new, so I guess as you say it's cause of the pump

[ferret76]

Trouble is - the longer it takes for the fuel to go in - the more expensive it gets!

[Matt Tomkins]

i have a slightly different problem
-
when i re-fill to a full tank, the cut-off never seems to work on the hose - it simply comes out the top before it cuts off.
- i haven't topped it fully very often since i bought the car, but each time, the same problem occurs.
is there a knack?

Matt

[alex_holden]

Do you always use the same petrol station? Some pumps are worse than others for this behaviour. The other common problem is when they keep constantly cutting out even when the tank is nowhere near full.

A redesigned filler neck that works well with modern petrol pumps would be a very useful modification IMO.