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

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Is the auto-shutoff feature on the gas pump not working correctly?

Have you tried another pump or gas station already?

 

Try inserting the nozzle just in by a ½" and turned clockwise till the bowser handle touches the lug on the filler door. Pump slowly and then slowly increase the flow. If at any point the fuel backs up and spurts out, back it off again and start slowly again. Keep it going until the auto cutoff stops the flow. If you feel like not enough fuel has been added (e. g. your tank is almost empty but you've only added 3 gals), repeat the start slow and increase but not to the same as before.

It might seem complicated, but once you find a way that works it will become second nature.

I hope that is useful.

 

it is usually the bladder, and a very common gen 2 problem. how many miles on her?

 

Subtract the number of remaining pips (gas gauge segments) from a total of 10, then use that as the number of gallons to pump.

 

have you tried pumping as slowly as possible?

 

After you've taken whatever action you decide to address the issue, may want to review this video for resetting your fuel gauge

 

Your getting right out of the car opening the fill cover and putting the pump in. Its a pressurized bladder after you shut the car off and open the cap it needs to relax and collapse.

When you stop at the gas station open up the gas cap put the gas cap in its holder on the door then go in the store and get a drink or whatever the point being give the gas bladder some time to breath and relax. Couple of minutes really helps.Then come back and pump slowly and then the first time it clicks hang the pump up restrain the urge to top off the tank which is completely unnecessary all that will do is fill you shoes with gas till you get the hang of this. If done properly you'll have at least 9-10 gallons of gas in the car that's almost 400 miles of driving. That last little bit of topping off is meaningless and gas will be on the ground.

its one of the oddities of this car. I bought my 07 G2 new and figured this out pretty quick. Since then it has never belched gas back up.
Not once.

 

who replaced their gas tank?

 

I used your Technique today. I can say that I had not been able to put 8 and 1/2 gallons in my Prius bladder for quite some time. Might actually have an indicator I can trust now. Thank you.

 

The two procedures have so far worked. I've put 300 miles on this trip and I'm showing three Pips on the gauge so it's certainly a lot more accurate than it previously was.

 

In all my cars life bought new I have not been able to get more than 8-9 gallons on an empty tank but your on the right track just don't top off pump it slow slow slow and when it clicks off accept it and move on lol.

It gets better as you continue to under stand its foibles. Whats really weird is now at 13 years old you really dont even need to wait now to pump it just have to hang thwe pump up when it clicks.

The trick is a slow pump. Patience.

 

You need to add a minimum of 3 Gallons ( or 3.5 gallons to be on safer side ) for fuel addition to register.

 

Modern fuel tanks are kind of a technological marvel, because they sort of start with the way auto-shut-off pump nozzles work as a given, and those pump nozzles have worked the same way since Grandpa's car had a simple tank filled through an open pipe. The nozzle would shut off when it picked up the change in air flow being pushed out of the pipe.

A fuel tank like that in the Prius is designed to 'cooperate' with that kind of pump nozzle, and the operations of the canister-closed valve, refuel check valve, and fuel cutoff valve combine to tell the pump nozzle when to shut off.

It works fairly well when it's not broken, but in a case like ToyotaGal's, clearly one of those parts is malfunctioning. Nothing wrong with generic advice like 'the bladder gets stiff' or 'pump slowly', but that advice is most useful when the system ain't broke. When it's broke, it'll work better if it's fixed.

I'd lean toward those three valves for a suspect, or maybe some damage to the plumbing between them.



The ORVR system is one that you might notice doesn't have any diagnostic procedures given in the Repair Manual (at least not in the 2006 copy that sometimes turns up on the web). Its two mentions are in the glossary and in the "problem symptoms table", where it is the one-and-only suspect for "Unable to refuel/Difficult to refuel" but with no page number for further workup instructions.

That's where it comes in very handy that any time you are signed in to TIS (more info) where the repair manuals are, you don't only have access to repair manuals, you also have all the "quick technical guides" and University of Toyota technician training course materials for specific subsystems of the car in detail.

The dealership person saying "most likely bladder" was probably really thinking "I have customers scheduled in with easier jobs and I don't want to have to figure out that one". But there is good information available on how that system works, and with a little methodical troubleshooting, it could easily come down to one or another little valve and not be too expensive (though it might be difficult to access and possibly involve lowering the tank).