[drunkbus]

I bought a Rene. Trailhawk yesterday and filled her up for the first time last night. A couple minutes into fueling I noticed a puddle forming under my new car. I ducked down to take a look and sure enough saw some liquid (almost certainly the gas I was pumping) dripping down somewhere in the wheel well.

After that I noticed some strange instructions on the gas tank door involving holding the pump for 10 seconds. I definitely did not hold the pump handle in place for 10 seconds, but I am doubtful that my lack of holding the pump resulted in a gas leak.

I've only noticed that leak one time so I'm guessing it's a bad seal on the hose/pipe going from the fuel door to the tank, but I'm not too happy about going back to the dealer the day after I bought the thing.

 

[Indiana Jones]

Please keep us up to date!

 

[bwbike]

The hold for 10 seconds is the time after you stop filling and before you pull out the hose nozzle. The idea is that no gas will splash out.

For your car, have the dealer check out the car. Maybe the filler hose wasn't properly fastened. They should look at it right away if you tell them it is a fire hazard (which it is if gasoline is leaking).

 

[raz-0]

was the nozzle inserted fully? Was the tank very full?

Even with a vapor recovery system, there is still an overflow vent in newer cars because it's better to cover the ground with gasoline than cover the person operating the pump with gasoline if it is overfilled or if the nozzle isn't inserted fully. Also apparently based on the ford capless filler, they can get kind of stuck thus facilitating incomplete insertion.

 

[drunkbus]

Oh don't worry I'll keep you guys in the loop.

 

[drunkbus]

It felt like it was inserted fully, but I could be wrong. After noticing the leak I held the nozzle firmly in place and attempted to fuel more. The pump kept stopping indicating that the tank was either full, or was being pumped into too fast (the latter I've only experienced refueling large diesel vehicles). When I got in to drive away the fuel gauge read at exactly 7/8ths full.

I've detected no leak since fueling. So my plan is to drive it down to almost empty and try to refuel again paying a little more attention to what I'm doing with the nozzle. If it leaks again I'll obviously take it to the dealer.

 

[drunkbus]

I should also note that I didn't detect any leaking after I held the nozzle more firmly, but I barely pumped any gas while i was holding the nozzle more firmly.

 

[Foobar]

Did you stop as soon as the automatic shutoff clicked or did you try to squeeze more in after that? I know a lot of people want to get as much fuel as they can but with modern fuel systems, you really want to stop as soon as it shuts off.

 

[drunkbus]

I tried to squeeze a bit more in, but the leaking started before that (a stupid move on my part, but my first ever brand new car was leaking and my head wasn't in the right place.)

Since this incident I have refilled my Renegade twice with no issues. I took special care in placing the pump and waiting for a few seconds before removing the pump. I'm going to assume I overfilled it until it happens again.

 

[fmunk]

I tried to squeeze a bit more in, but the leaking started before that (a stupid move on my part, but my first ever brand new car was leaking and my head wasn't in the right place.)

Since this incident I have refilled my Renegade twice with no issues. I took special care in placing the pump and waiting for a few seconds before removing the pump. I'm going to assume I overfilled it until it happens again.

FYI, you're not suppose to top off your tank after the pump has clicked to a stop. In some states, it's actually illegal to do so.

 

[twospirits]

FYI, you're not suppose to top off your tank after the pump has clicked to a stop. In some states, it's actually illegal to do so.

Really! I never knew that. Why is that? I know that New Jersey you can pump your own gas.
Speaking of which. I read that instead of placing the nozzle on self mode with the clip or holding it yourself squeezing it all the way, that it is better to pump with the trigger half way so that there is less air going into the tank thus giving you more gas before the trigger clicks.
Now I don't know how true that is, but I tried it a few times but I couldn't tell if I got more gas in the tank.

TS

 

[Indiana Jones]

Really! I never knew that. Why is that? I know that New Jersey you can pump your own gas.
Speaking of which. I read that instead of placing the nozzle on self mode with the clip or holding it yourself squeezing it all the way, that it is better to pump with the trigger half way so that there is less air going into the tank thus giving you more gas before the trigger clicks.
Now I don't know how true that is, but I tried it a few times but I couldn't tell if I got more gas in the tank.

TS

Has to do with environmental laws. Also, every gas tank has a vent to allow air to escape as you fill up and to let air back in as the tank empties to avoid creating a vacuum. So holding the handle halfway won't do anything to increase volume. If you start to overflow the tank or fuel to fast it will back up the fuel pipe and force the handle to click off.

 

[Foobar]

Acording to the EPA:

While you may be tempted to add a little more gas to your car to round off your dollar sale- even at the risk of overfilling the tank-this is one instance when you shouldn't go with the flow.

Topping off the gas tank isn't just bad for the environment, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it's also detrimental for your wallet. Because the gas nozzle automatically clicks off when your tank is full, topping off can result in your paying for gasoline that is fed back into the station's tanks via the pump's vapor-recovery system, which prevents gas vapors from escaping into the air and contributing to air pollution. In fact, topping off might even foul up the mechanism and cause not only a gas-pump failure, but also a potential air-pollution problem.

Plus, evaporation from the spillage of gas from overfilling-which you've paid for, by the way-contributes to bad-ozone days, is harmful to breathe, and is a source of toxic pollutants such as benzene.

You also need some wriggle room in your gas tank to allow the gasoline to expand, otherwise the additional gas could evaporate into your car's vapor-collection system and damage it, leading to a vehicle that runs poorly and has high gas emissions.

 

[twospirits]

Yikes. That's good to know. Thanks for the info.

TS

 

[aardvark]

Also experienced the gas leak when pumping

I gassed up today in preparation for a long trip tonight but that's in question now. Like another person here, I had some gas drip out of the wheel well. I did not try to squeeze any extra into the tank after it autostopped. I did not wait 10 seconds to pull out the pump, but either way it seems like gas should not be coming out of the vehicle.


EDIT: Called the dealer about this and this is expected behavior with the capless tank and that you should try to leave the nozzle in a bit longer so it drains out, rather than pulling out right away. There's a hole in there so it drains to the ground, rather than the outside. Personally, I'd rather have a gas cap.