1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Interesting fuel issue, 2016 Three Touring overflowing

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by brockeverly, Nov 15, 2016.

  1. brockeverly

    brockeverly Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2016
    10
    16
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    I have a 2016 Prius Three Touring that replaced my Dieselgate TDI and have an interesting fuel issue. Saturday afternoon I filled the tank here in Flagstaff after a drive up from the lower elevation of Sedona. From Saturday to Tuesday afternoon I drove the car each day for a total of 60 miles. Last night the temps got down to around 20 degrees here, and swung to a record high of 75 this afternoon. When I started loading up things into the car I smelled fuel. Looking around I found a small amount of fuel running down the side of the car and onto the ground at the bumper. When removing the cap I heard a slight hissing sound. The fuel soaked the fender liner which caused a heavy fuel smell in the car, and the gasoline obviously was spitting up for awhile as my paint is now stained bad enough that I could not buff out with a good wax. Now nearly 12 hours later the spot in my gravel driveway is still looking wet so a decent amount of fuel was pushed from the tank. I pulled the cap off and back on and everything dried up. Took the car to the dealer and they are dumbfounded by what is happening. I have to run the tank of fuel low so they can do a pressure test of the evap and hopefully the issue can be found. I have spent hours searching and found that the 2016 does not have a fuel bladder and can only find stories such as this in cars with the bladder. I cannot think of any logical explanation to fuel creating that much pressure that it begins coming out at the cap, and it certainly was not overfilled or it would have leaked long before four days later, especially since I had been driving and burned a gallon or so of fuel. Anyone ever ran into this before?
     
    #1 brockeverly, Nov 15, 2016
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2016
    RCO and alanclarkeau like this.
  2. brockeverly

    brockeverly Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2016
    10
    16
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    After using cleaning wax this is still quite visible under any type of lighting. I am hoping under the natural light it will not be so noticeable.
     

    Attached Files:

  3. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,309
    3,586
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Strange but sounds like a possible fuel quality issue.
    Winter gasoline is here by now, so there are putting more butanes in the gaso.
    Sounds like somebody put too much butane in your batch.

    What station did you go to? Ask them if anyone else had an issue.
     
  4. brockeverly

    brockeverly Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2016
    10
    16
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    I believe I last filled up at a Conoco but it also could have been Sams Club, I would have to check my fuel logs to be sure.

    It would take a heck of a lot of butane to expand enough to not only make up approximately one gallon of burnt fuel as well as however much it would take to overflow the tank I would think? It would seem to me more of an issue with venting of the tank and the fuel cap not being water tight so the fuel was pushed out.
     
  5. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2016
    7,041
    7,580
    0
    Location:
    near Brisbane, Australia
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Yes, does sound odd. It's likely to be something to do with the evaporative emissions system, which have been getting progressively more complex over the last 40 yrs, but it shouldn't leak, smell or overflow these days. It's normal for it to hiss when the cap is removed. Hopefully your dealer can fix it.
     
    brockeverly likes this.
  6. brockeverly

    brockeverly Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2016
    10
    16
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    If they find an issue with the evap that is causing this would Toyota also be responsible for the damaged paint or am I on my own on that one?
     
    RCO likes this.
  7. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,309
    3,586
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    New Prius you should be covered.
     
    RCO likes this.
  8. pjm877

    pjm877 Member

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2003
    340
    83
    0
    Location:
    austin, tx
    Vehicle:
    2021 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Limited
    I wonder if it is a simple heat expansion equalization? what what was the temp of the fuel placed into the tank, a very full tank at 30 deg should expand quite a bit at 75 deg. I had that happen to me on my Gen 2 and it was only a change in Temp of the fuel... Just thinking out loud.
     
    RCO, wjtracy and alanclarkeau like this.
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,474
    38,106
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Further on that:

    1. How was the tank filled? Did you stop pumping when the nozzle first shut off, or continue? Roughly how much?
    2. How far was the car driven before the spill was happened?
     
    RCO likes this.
  10. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2016
    11,696
    11,317
    0
    Location:
    Central Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I know my in my 2017 (and I assume, 2016) you need to fill up within 30 minutes of pushing the electrical door release. They warn if you do not do that, fuel could spill.
    I assumed there is some sort of "door" blocking the filler neck except during filling. If so, perhaps there is an issue with that?
     
    RCO and wjtracy like this.
  11. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,309
    3,586
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Without getting out any text books, I suppose we could see 4% difference in vol hottest/coldest days so that would be +1/2 gal at 12 gals

    Sounds like maybe something here. That sounds new design certainly not in Gen2.
     
  12. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2016
    11,696
    11,317
    0
    Location:
    Central Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Somebody actually read the manual for 2016.
    Fuel Filler Door Won't Close | Page 2 | PriusChat
     
    Mendel Leisk and wjtracy like this.
  13. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,309
    3,586
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Gen3 owners: you do not have that right? Is this a new Gen4 thing?
     
    RCO likes this.
  14. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2016
    11,696
    11,317
    0
    Location:
    Central Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I think @bisco says the Gen 1 PIP has it.
     
  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,474
    38,106
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Gen3 is conventional.

    A couple of 2016 Owner's Manual excerpts:

    upload_2016-11-16_6-21-43.png
    upload_2016-11-16_6-22-15.png
     
    RCO and wjtracy like this.
  16. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2016
    11,696
    11,317
    0
    Location:
    Central Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    RCO likes this.
  17. brockeverly

    brockeverly Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2016
    10
    16
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    1. Filled at second "speed", stopped filling at the first click.
    2. Driven approximately 60 miles before it did this.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  18. brockeverly

    brockeverly Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2016
    10
    16
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    I filled within seconds of hitting the fuel door release, but that is also on my radar. This is the first time the dealer has seen this so we are kind of grabbing straws. I'm happy that they are being part of a solution, it would be easy for them to say I overfilled the tank, blame me, and move on.
     
    RCO likes this.
  19. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2016
    11,696
    11,317
    0
    Location:
    Central Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I did not mean to imply you did anything wrong. I figured that system was just something else that could fail, causing your issue. A quot from the Gen 3 manual indicates they have the same warning. We may get clues over on that forum.
     
    RCO likes this.
  20. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,474
    38,106
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    No, not seeing that. Maybe because I have Canadian car, just in US?? I've attached an excerpt, the fuel filling section of Canadian/US 2010 Prius Owner's Manual PDF:
     

    Attached Files: