Overfilled! Gas Nozzle Didn't Click Off!!!

[Infidel]

Yesterday I pulled into a Chevron station to fill up, having 2 squares left and about 450 miles on that tank. After you get to know your Prii, you can generally estimate within a few tenths of a gallon how much it will take:

at 8.5 gal, I thought any time now...
at 9.0 gal, I thought, thirstier than I thought...
at 9.5 gal, I thought, this pump is definitely dishonest!
as it went past 10.2 gal with no signs of shutting off, I thought Oh Sh&t, there's a problem!!!!

I flipped off the catch on the nozzle trigger, and pulled the nozzle out of the tank, and watched helplessly as $3.09 gas regurgitated out of the bloated fuel tank bladder. It must have puked and dribbled for about 5 minutes until the tank level stabilized, leaving a big puddle on the ground.

I screwed the cap on, and drove off, expecting to get some kind of warning light. So far, so good, no lights as yet. There was some guy pressure washing the gas pumps at the time, and my pump had just been sprayed down. Whether this caused the malfunction, who knows. Anyway, next time I will be more vigilant and not count on the auto shutoff to always work. Really ticked me off!!

Infidel

[ghostofjk]

I've only had an auto shut-off fail to work once in 50 years. Sounds like the pump ran wide-open. Better to fill a Prius on the lowest notch. It's not THAT much slower, anyway.

What is that avatar pic?

[Rancid13]

I've never had that happen before, perhaps the pump was malfunctioning? Remember which pump you used, and try to avoid it the next time your fuel up.

[Tempus]

Yep, I had a bad pump nozzle once.

It was the only time I ever got in over 9 gallons.

Now, the ethical dilemma is - Do I enter a 'correction factor' in my lifetime mileage calculations for the fuel I never got to burn, or do I count it because it is fuel I bought and 'consumed'?

[bshef]

Yep......
about the 1st month I had mine this happened to me......gas all down the side of my new chick magnet
I notified the gas station attendent but he didn't give a rats ass.....so I called the local fire department and told them there was a bunch of gas spilt all over this guys station island due to a faulty nozzle.

I've haven't had this problem since!

[GeoGeek]

I had the same thing happen on my last fill up.
Got to about the 10.5 gallon mark (while just barely squeezing the trigger to get that last bit in), noticed
the fuel starting to creep up in the fill up spout, so I stopped, pulled out the nozzle, and my Prius (like an overzealous fraternity brother during a beer chugging contest) just belched up about a pint of petrol, splashing it on my feet!
I chalked it up to over-expanding the bladder.
Live & learn....

[finally_got_one]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rancid13 @ May 8 2006, 01:26 PM) [snapback]251671[/snapback]</div>

I've never had that happen before, perhaps the pump was malfunctioning? Remember which pump you used, and try to avoid it the next time your fuel up.
[/b]

I had that happen to me only once...on an old chevy. The pump didnt stop. I never went to that station again; it closed a few weeks later.

[NuShrike]

Generally, when I think I've filled very close to what I think is the brim, I start burping the nozzle every 0.2 or 0.1 gallons to prevent overfill and spit-up.

If I see gasoline, it's full.

[qbee42]

I've had it happen, but never with our Prius. For me, the couple of times it has happened were always when I was wearing good clothes while on my way to a meeting or the airport.

Tom

[windstrings]

The hole is the prius is a perfect fit for the nozzle.
If you have it all the way in with a good seal and it malfuncitions "or" in the act of trying to top it off you can do the same thing.

what I think happens is the seal is so tight that you literally "inflate" the stretchable rubber tank with the pressure on the incoming gas... when you pull it out, its like an inflated water balloon.

The way I"ve avoided it when topping off is to listen to when its close to full you can hear it.
Put the nozzle on its slowest speed and pull out the nozzle just a bit so its no longer an airtight fit. When it tripps off the second time, you're full.

If your really brave, you can pull the nozzle all the way out and put it in slowly until you actually "see" gas... then your really full!.. a bit risky for spilling if your clumsy at all.