Had an interesting and irritating thing happen yesterday while filling up the fuel tank..
11-17-2008, 01:05 AM
#11
AudiWorld Super User
The pump nozzle is designed to cut off when it detects any fluid coming back up the filler neck....
it cannot predict that the tank is air-locked.
I suspect it was simply bad luck that you had the nozzle angled in such a way it caused a partial seal in the filler neck and the feul pushed out was simply the volume in the filler neck.
It was probably a lot less than 1/2 a gallon. I worked in the petroleum retail industry for ten years and in my experience when a spirit based liquid spills it spreads a far greater distance than water so it looks like a greater volume than it really is. Spirit products have a very low surface tension.
I suspect it was simply bad luck that you had the nozzle angled in such a way it caused a partial seal in the filler neck and the feul pushed out was simply the volume in the filler neck.
It was probably a lot less than 1/2 a gallon. I worked in the petroleum retail industry for ten years and in my experience when a spirit based liquid spills it spreads a far greater distance than water so it looks like a greater volume than it really is. Spirit products have a very low surface tension.
11-17-2008, 03:35 AM
#13
AudiWorld Super User
Were you drinking coffee at the time or is it a 'feature' you have installed? - if so, I bet it....
goes down well at dinner parties - coffee served at the table!
11-17-2008, 05:04 AM
#16
Head Cat Herder
Thread Starter
Well, it's hard to say, but as I stood there watching gas flow out of the filler..
for several SECONDS.. it's not like it was just a little spray. Actual liquid gasoline flowed out of the filler, got on my shoes, etc.
11-17-2008, 09:29 AM
#20
I have had similar happen to me at a Shell station - twice with the exact same pump. A complaint to
the retailer (Sunoco) and to the state EPA should get them to fix their damn pumps. This is a pump shut-off problem and not something with your gas tank. In my case, the station worker (not the manager) told me it had happened to several people and I should call the manager as they knew they had a problem with that nozzle but delayed getting it fixed, but the manager didn't care. Offered me a free car wash in their abrasive brush/sandpaper equipped automatic swirl mark generator they disguise as a car wash. I'd rather have the gas sprayed on me than put my car through their wash!
Sorry to hear.
Sorry to hear.