Arrgh... BGT Syndrome

abq sfr · 08-20-2007, 03:15 PM

BGT... Barfing Gas Tank Syndrome...

One of those things you read about, but think will never happen to you.
I was at Costco, had half a tank, thought since I'm there I'd fill up. I put in maybe 5-6 gallons, the nozzle shut off. As always I pulled the nozzle out until the rubber was no longer sealed and I could see inside the filler. I kept pumping slowly while looking in the filler, and actually thought "man this is taking more gas than it should". At that point I shut off, pulled the nozzle out, and a second or two later it was like a geyser, I'd say at least a quarter gallon shot out of the filler being propelled by gas fumes or air or something. What I don't understand is how pressure can develop in the tank without the rubber on the nozzle being sealed and considering how slow the pumps are at Costco, it takes forever to fill. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, no yellow triangle of death yet. Maybe when the tank is destroyed, it's because the person slaps the cap on as the gas is being expelled and so the pressure has no place to go?

qbee42 · 08-20-2007, 06:49 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(abq sfr @ Aug 20 2007, 03:15 PM) [snapback]499272[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

...the nozzle shut off. As always I pulled the nozzle out until the rubber was no longer sealed and I could see inside the filler. I kept pumping slowly while looking in the filler...
[/b]

Don't do that. When it shuts off, you are done. That's what the auto shut-off is for. Others who top off will not agree with me, but you asked for it.

Tom

JimN · 08-20-2007, 07:18 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Aug 20 2007, 06:49 PM) [snapback]499400[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

Don't do that. When it shuts off, you are done. That's what the auto shut-off is for. Others who top off will not agree with me, but you asked for it.

Tom
[/b]

What Tom said. If it pumped a reasonable amount of gas into the tank, you are done.

patsparks · 08-20-2007, 07:26 PM

I don't remove the nozzle, fill to first click off, pull on handle again when I get a second click I round it up to the nearest 10 cents slow, then hang up the hose.
Pushing more petrol in won't get you better economy.

abq sfr · 08-20-2007, 08:32 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Aug 20 2007, 05:26 PM) [snapback]499415[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

I don't remove the nozzle, fill to first click off, pull on handle again when I get a second click I round it up to the nearest 10 cents slow, then hang up the hose.
Pushing more petrol in won't get you better economy.
[/b]

That's essentially what I did only I backed off the nozzle about an inch and then it didn't click a second time. It just kept going and going and going... Do you chaps have bladders down there?

dhancock · 08-20-2007, 08:57 PM

We also had problems at first filling the tank and I had to play games with not inserting the nozzle all the way. Eventually the problem seemed to go away (at around 5K miles). The one thing that I learned was to s-l-o-w-l-e-y pull the pump handle and this has worked at every pump (except for at one Sheetz station in PA where they refuse to have their pumps set properly.

dogfriend · 08-20-2007, 09:03 PM

I have had two fillups where the auto-shutoff didn't (shut off), leading to BGT.

The first time it happened was my 3rd fillup, which I already described here.

My last fillup (8/11), I had the same thing happen, except I was just about to grab the nozzle to shut it off manually (> 10 gal) when it started squirting fuel.

I have noticed that there were two things consistent in each event.

1. Both pumps were fairly new and I believe they were both made by the same manufacturer (the appearance of the pump was the same and different than the average pump).

2. Both pumps were able to pump at a very slow rate; much slower than the slowest setting on the "average" gas pump. I think this may be the key; the rate of gas flow is very slow and for some reason the pump doesn't get the signal to turn off.

We have discussed pumping slowly, but with this particular brand of pump, too slow may also be bad.

patsparks · 08-21-2007, 09:08 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(abq sfr @ Aug 21 2007, 10:02 AM) [snapback]499458[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

That's essentially what I did only I backed off the nozzle about an inch and then it didn't click a second time. It just kept going and going and going... Do you chaps have bladders down there?
[/b]

That's the problem, don't pull the hose out, let the shutoff do it's thing and don't slow fill, fill at full speed. I only slow fill the last few cents to round off.

08-20-2007, 03:15 PM	#1
abq sfr Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 624 My Car: 2007 Prius Package: #2 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 1	BGT... Barfing Gas Tank Syndrome... One of those things you read about, but think will never happen to you. I was at Costco, had half a tank, thought since I'm there I'd fill up. I put in maybe 5-6 gallons, the nozzle shut off. As always I pulled the nozzle out until the rubber was no longer sealed and I could see inside the filler. I kept pumping slowly while looking in the filler, and actually thought "man this is taking more gas than it should". At that point I shut off, pulled the nozzle out, and a second or two later it was like a geyser, I'd say at least a quarter gallon shot out of the filler being propelled by gas fumes or air or something. What I don't understand is how pressure can develop in the tank without the rubber on the nozzle being sealed and considering how slow the pumps are at Costco, it takes forever to fill. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, no yellow triangle of death yet. Maybe when the tank is destroyed, it's because the person slaps the cap on as the gas is being expelled and so the pressure has no place to go? __________________

08-20-2007, 09:03 PM	#7
dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Carmichael, CA Posts: 2,695 My Car: 2007 Prius Package: #6 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 7	I have had two fillups where the auto-shutoff didn't (shut off), leading to BGT. The first time it happened was my 3rd fillup, which I already described here. My last fillup (8/11), I had the same thing happen, except I was just about to grab the nozzle to shut it off manually (> 10 gal) when it started squirting fuel. I have noticed that there were two things consistent in each event. 1. Both pumps were fairly new and I believe they were both made by the same manufacturer (the appearance of the pump was the same and different than the average pump). 2. Both pumps were able to pump at a very slow rate; much slower than the slowest setting on the "average" gas pump. I think this may be the key; the rate of gas flow is very slow and for some reason the pump doesn't get the signal to turn off. We have discussed pumping slowly, but with this particular brand of pump, too slow may also be bad. __________________ My friends Dingo and Digby

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08-20-2007, 07:26 PM	#4
patsparks Uneducated bird-brain Aussie Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Adelaide South Australia Posts: 4,924 My Car: 2004 Prius Package: Base Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 17	I don't remove the nozzle, fill to first click off, pull on handle again when I get a second click I round it up to the nearest 10 cents slow, then hang up the hose. Pushing more petrol in won't get you better economy.

08-20-2007, 08:57 PM	#6
dhancock Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Fairport, NY Posts: 45 My Car: 2007 Prius Package: #6 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	We also had problems at first filling the tank and I had to play games with not inserting the nozzle all the way. Eventually the problem seemed to go away (at around 5K miles). The one thing that I learned was to s-l-o-w-l-e-y pull the pump handle and this has worked at every pump (except for at one Sheetz station in PA where they refuse to have their pumps set properly.