It's about zero F this morning. I tried to add some gas to our tank -- but the internal shut-off on the filler pipe kicked in almost immediately. I tried to use the gas pump trigger to do it very slowly -- but the gas just backed up and started coming out of the filler pipe. I'm assuming it's something about the very cold weather. We've still got maybe 3 gallons in the tank and we don't have to drive very far for the next couple days. But this would obviously be a big problem if we were trying to drive a couple hundred miles in cold weather and discovered we could not add gas to the tank. Has anyone else has this problem or any ideas on a solution? Thanks in advance!
someone else mentioned shutting the fuel door, getting back in the car and popping it again, and then it took gas.
Happened to me yesterday. After days of 0/subzero temps, couldn’t fill more than a few ounces of gas at a time. Would bubble up out of the pipe and slowly trickle down. Took the car to the dealership so that it could warm up for a bit and charged it for about 30 minutes. Then was able to fill the tank with no problem. Scary!
Assuming one thing, excluding other possibilities? It's also been noted here that plastic flange/collar on some nozzles is big enough to bump the gas door latch, possibly making the car think the flap is closed?
I didn't witness it, but my wife experienced similar incident last week. She stopped at a gas station to fill-up after empty light came on. She told me that gas would only trickle in and nozzle would stop. After struggling for a while, she asked an attendant to help her but he had no idea what was wrong with it. By then, she had managed enough gas (about 1 gal) to go in, so she left with just one gal in the tank to back home. She was out of town, so she had to drive ~80 miles to home. She stopped at different gas station when the empty light came back on again when she was close to our home. This time she had no problem filling up the tank. She attributed the problem to the pump, but now reading this thread makes me wonder if it was the car. Yes, it was cold last week, probably single digit, but I wonder how cold temp would cause this?
Modern gas tanks will pass the gasoline fumes through the charcoal canister. It sounds as if one or more valves froze closed. Bob Wilson
I have only put gas in my car two times. The second time I had trouble as mentioned and tried two gas stations. I tried the third and paid more attention, before shutting the car down I pushed the gas door release and I got the message on the display "Ready For Fuel". Then it took fuel fine. WHEN I fueled and had trouble I just shut the car down and don't remember seeing the message in the display. I am thinking about trying it again next time.
Here in Minnesota, filling up in extreme cold is an ordinary experience. You discover the older nozzles exhibit problems then. They eventually wear out anyway. Just drive up to the next pump over. No big deal.
There is a TSB for some Gen 4 where they needed to put in a stiffer door spring to insure the door opened fully. It is probably a good idea to verify the door is fully open and the pump nozzle does not contact the latch.
59 degrees a couple of days ago, and I had the same problem. Pressed the fuel door release, saw the "Refuel ready" on the dash. Attendant placed nozzle and started to pump the gas. The nozzle shut off after about 3 seconds, and the car refused to take any more fuel. Wasn't able to fuel up at all. Car is now back at dealership to see if this can be repaired.
