Having a problem filling the gas tank...vacuum breaker keeps kicking the pump off after just a few seconds when trying to fill my tank. It has done it at 3 different pumps, all on different days, all at the same gas station though. I am going to go try another station after work tonight and see if my luck changes. Trouble is, it doesn't do it every time. Last week it worked just fine at the same gas station, but different pump.

My first thought here is that the vent line is clogged or pinched or something and not letting air escape the gas tank when it is filling, which causes the fuel to back up in the filler neck and kick the pump off. Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm going to start tracing lines back tonight and try to figure out what goes where, but I'm sure this thing has one of those EVAP canister/solenoid combos or something for the EPA junk. I don't have a check engine light though so you would think those items are working fine. Hmmmm....

OH and FWIW I am at 91k miles, in the wonderful world of salt so lots of things are corroding and falling apart on my truck already, if that means anything. I can see through me bed floor.... Stupid salt.

 

It's going to be either a clogged/restricted vent or a filler tube flapper valve, if equipped.

 

What/where is the filler tube flapper valve? I have never heard of this?

 

I do not know if your truck has one or not, that's why I specifically said "if equipped". It it's present, it will be in the bottom of the filler tube. It's purpose is to prevent fuel from running back out via the filler tube in the event of a roll-over accident.

I've run into these on some of the Ford cars I've owned. The Contours, in particular, were known for this.

 

Gotcha, I will look into that. I think I've heard those called "rollover valves".

 

also the vent hose can get blocked... plugged.. from spider nest and or mud-dobbers.

 

Trace the steel line to where it connects to the hose that goes between the box and frame and make sure its not pinched.

Denny

 

you said all at the same gas station....try a different station.

 

Well an update, nothing looked pinched or crushed, or was visibly clogged from the outside. I tried a different gas station and had no problem whatsoever. It is just weird because I have been getting gas at the same station with this truck now for almost 6 years. Just weird that it started happening all of the sudden. Thanks for all the replies guys, sure do love this forum.

 

It could be they changed the hose ends with ones that are more sensitive, I've been to stations that I have a hard time filling my aux tank because they are so sensitive.

Denny

 

Curious if you figured out the fueling up issue?

I just bought a 2013 f350 xlt with 50k miles it. Picked it up in Washington and am making the drive to Alaska on Monday. ANYWAYyyyy

I have been having the same issue at the pump, can hardly get a gallon to pump in at a time, I checked the filler hose and it looks all in okay shape and not pinched. I dropped the spare tire and washed all the dirt off the vapor canister then took the vent hose that leads from it to the open air off. It was plugged up with dirt so I cleaned it out real good with water, dried it and put it back on. I really thought this was the problem, but to my demise it was not and I have tried pumps all over town any help would be nice, plan to snoop in to it more this weekend before the drive.

Thanks for any help. also posted this on one other post I found with the same issue. Thanks again.

 

Sorry I never followed up on this...

I didn't necessarily "figure out" the problem, but I sure did fix it! When I posted last, I had just tried a different pump and it worked. But then a few days later at the same pump it gave me the problems with kicking off right away.

From what I could find on the internet, I assumed the vent of the charcoal canister was getting clogged/restricted. I started taking hoses off things and blowing compressed air through lines and nothing seemed clogged. So, out came the hillbilly engineering book, and I bypassed the EPA crap, but only when filling the tank.

I ran a piece of fuel line from the top of the tank to the fuel door area, and connected it to a plastic petcock valve. I leave the valve closed all the time except when I want to fill the tank. Then I open it, and the air escapes the tank from the petcock, and the vacuum breaker at the fuel pump still works flawlessly, AND no check engine light because the system stays pressurized while driving. I'll see if I can dig up pictures if you want to see what I did.

 

Try different pumps and tap on the tank with a rubber mallet.

Same thing happened here and fixed itself. It was in the shop getting a ding in the roof fixed for a while and I suspect someone siphoned gas out of it (and also power braked it nicely :-/ ). Started doing it after getting it out of the shop, seemed like our vans would have this issue too possibly from gas getting siphoned.

 

Hey no problem man, thanks for checking back. Sounds like I did about the same thing. took off lines and found some clogged ones, cleared it out but still no luck at the pump. Did a little more research and found a thread of a guy with a similar fix that you did. $10 at the hardware store later and it fills up with the best of um! I tapped into a van line before the evap canister, spliced in a T and ran a hose to my filler cap area with a ball valve. No problems!