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Overfilled Prius at the pump. Is this a cause for concern?

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by VancouverPrius, Feb 18, 2024.

  1. VancouverPrius

    VancouverPrius New Member

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    No one every taught me or told me not to overfill a fuel tank. I filled my car up, then the fuel pump stopped. Then I waited a second added some more, then the pumped stopped. Repeat and a bit of gas poured down the side of my car.

    Stupid I know.

    The question I have is could this have caused serious damage to my car?
     
  2. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    My understanding is that there are EVAP system vent tubes attached near the top of the Fuel fill tube . If enough gasoline finds it way into those tubes it can mess up the EVAP system.
    If you consider a messed up EVAP system serious than the answer is YES.
     
    Doug McC likes this.
  3. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Serious?
    Probably not.
    If you zorched your purge or vent valves with gasoline then the "Change Owner" light would probably already be illuminated.
    Believe it or not, you are not the first.
    You might not even be the last.
    Evaporative containment systems have been around for decades and people have been over-filling their cars for decades before that.
    What Is An Evaporative Control System?

    If your Check Engine light illuminates, just read the codes with an OBD2 or drive to the nearest auto parts house and they will likely as not do it for you. If the resulting code points to an Evap system component and you're smart enough to stay away from ANY dealership with a 7-year-old car then this will be a repair involving a $100 part with about a half hour labour at a relatively honest mechanic.
    Maybe 200-300 bucks at the very most.

    Some Yoo-Toobe sleuthing might make this a <$100 repair - if anything happens at all.

    Good Luck!
     
    #3 ETC(SS), Feb 19, 2024
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2024
    JohnPrius3005 likes this.
  4. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    Might want to ask an honest mechanic about how much it might cost to diagnosis and repair the EVAP system in a 2022 Prius if gas has gotten into the vent tubes.
     
    Doug McC likes this.
  5. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The evaporative emissions system in a Prius is also the on-board refueling vapor recovery (ORVR) system.

    Overfilling one time might or might not give you a problem with it, depending on how the dice roll.

    If you have an ORVR problem, you'll know it. Future fillups might not allow more than a gallon or two in, or spurt fuel back out the filler neck at you, as in this thread:

    Gas Pump does not want to pump gas and spills out gas | PriusChat

    If you're unlucky and that starts happening, you will need some repairs.

    If you're lucky and the car fills up properly the next few times and there's no check-engine light, you escaped problems; go and sin no more.
     
    AzWxGuy, vvillovv and Doug McC like this.
  6. VancouverPrius

    VancouverPrius New Member

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    Oddly, fuel economy seems a bit subpar. I'll play it by ear. I know there this can also damage the charcoal cannister. Is this the same thing?

    It's kind of funny. I never recall learning about overfilling a gas tank. I went to driving school
     
  7. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Your driving school might have mentioned reading the owner's manual.
    If you were not provided with one when you bought your car, then Toyota has your back!

    This might or might not be useful in the interim.

    https://assets.sia.toyota.com/publications/en/om-s/OM47F01U/pdf/OM47F01U.pdf?_gl=1*3brdet*_tmna_ga*MjQ1MjQzODAwLjE3MDg0MjY0Njk.*_tmna_ga_EP43E5EFVZ*MTcwODQyNjQ2OS4xLjEuMTcwODQyNjU5Mi4xMS4wLjA.

    Section 4-4 mentions refueling and has all of the usual notes, cautions and warnings.

    Caveat: This is a US manual, and the Prius is a 'world car.' There may or may not be differences between the US Spec manual (more likely: The North American Spec) and those from other parts of the world.
     
  8. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    That is one of the parts of the evap and ORVR systems, yes.

    When I was a kid there were still cars around here and there that didn't have such systems. But they've been pretty ubiquitous for a long time now.
     
  9. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    It was more fun with the Gen2's flexible tank: if you over filled that it could really overflow. But that only happened at a bad pump that missed the fill mark.
     
  10. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Air is fairly flexible, with or without a layer of rubber. Filling any tank whose ORVR system is b0rked can be entertaining.
     
  11. VancouverPrius

    VancouverPrius New Member

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    At start up car hit between 25 to 75 L/100KM. I think it could be adversely affecting the fuel economy
     
  12. Nico3d3

    Nico3d3 Junior Member

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    That's why I always go to self-service when I fill up the tank. I once was at a full service station and I saw the lady was still pumping gas after it clicked. I told her to stop and she replied: "no, my husband is a mechanic and he'll tell you this is a myth, you can't break your car by overfilling it". I replied: "well if this mechanic believe in such non-sense you can rest assured I won't ever call him if I need to repair my car".