Fuel Pump Handle Malfunction

paid vacationer · May 6, 2008

Anybody ever have the fuel pump handle not auto shut off while fueling ? Happened to me today at the hook in Perrysburg, OH. Luckily, I was standing on that side of the truck but near the front. Even so, I guess maybe 5 gal and over 20 of my $$$ hit the ground. I base this on 60 gal per minute flow rate and what the spill looked like. Just a word to the wise, tough way to spend money.

mypie · May 6, 2008

Well, doesn't that qualify as a HazMat cleanup? I would make sure that the station got the bill on that one! Call DOT.

redytrk · May 6, 2008

Dont Call.... They Will Find A Way To Stick You With A $2000.00 Epa Clean-up Bill.

paid vacationer · May 6, 2008

Yea,redytrk... same thing I was thinking. I just pulled my truck up and went in to get receipt. On the way out I said "oh btw, there's alot of deseil on the ground on pump 2"... I figure not my fault not getting blamed for it. Then later on went back in and told a diff person that pump 2 fuel handle was busted. Hopefully that will get them to replace it.

RLENT · May 6, 2008

I had a similar problem at the J in Des Moines ..... twice. First time it was bitter cold out and I had hopped back in the Sprinter for protection from the wind. The fuel filler neck is right next to the driver's side door, and after I had sat there for a couple of minutes all of a sudden I could hear a change in the noise .... of fuel hitting the ground. This was at the auto islands. Dumped better than a gallon before I could hop out and shut it off.

I went inside because the receipt printer was (once again) out of paper and the manager was working the counter. Told him he needed to send maintenance out to adjust the auto-shutoff - because his equipment had just dumped close to 2 gallons of MY fuel on the ground. He acknowledged what I said - but he didn't look real happy about it.

Around month or two later I was back there but this time I got a little smarter - I stayed outside while I fueled - but I left it run up to see if they had fixed the auto-shutoff - they hadn't ..... managed to only spill a cup or so before I was able to shut it off that time.

dcalien · May 6, 2008

I had it happen once. Can't remember where. Only lost about a cup, half of it down the side of my van.

dhalltoyo · May 6, 2008

Because it also happened to me once, I now glance at the fuel gauge before I get out of the truck. I can tell within 1-2 gallons how much fuel I am going to take on board solely based upon the fuel gauge reading.

As the pump reading gets within a couple of gallons of my projected fill up, I bend down close to the fuel filler port. I can hear when the fuel begins to back up in the filler neck. If the pump doesn't kick off when I hear that distinctive sound, I click the handle off myself.