Has this ever happened to you?

The other night I filled up the truck. The Gas station attendant topped the tank off pretty much to the top. I drove it a little and then parked it in the apartment complex parking lot that I live in. I get home the following day and find a wonderful note from the landlord slid under the door that stated that they discovered my gas tank (it's an in-cab tank) was leaking. They placed a bucket underneath and big orange cones all around my truck. They warned me that if the truck wasn't removed from the property and repaired immediately that it would be removed from the property at my cost. They also had a big honking violation noticed slapped on the windshield.

My best guess is that since I filled it at night that during the day it expanded with the heat and leaked out the gas cap. I could see from the gas cap and the side of the truck that it appears to have come out of the cap. There was no sign of a leak inside the truck or from the bottom of the tank (again, the gas cap gasket was wet with gas and you could see where it came out and dribbled down the side.

When I checked it out last night, I could see the gas was back down to a few inches below the gas cap opening. The fuel level was definitely still in the filler neck. Does gas expand that much with the heat of the day? It was maybe 55 when I filled it at night and it got to near 90 during the day.

Anyways, I wrote a note to the landlord stating that's why it leaked, that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. I also drove it around for 20 miles or so to use up some fuel.

 

Yes, it does expand a lot. The outside temp means little when you filled it, as the gas is underground and much cooler than ambient air. I don't know the expansion coefficient, but you have now experienced the why not fill it to the top problem!

 

Yup - after this happens once, you'll start to notice the "Do NOT Top-Off" signs at gas stations.

 

I've had this happen to me several times. Fill up on a cool evening and by noon the next day you get a drip out the filler. Normal. Thank the nice man for his concern about your 'leaking old pile of crap truck' (his words not mine.) and his kind and caring manner in handling the situation (enough sarcasm yet?).......... Or use the Bart Simpson response, I'm sure you know the one.

 

I seen this happen to a honda civic at work the exhaust was screwed up just before the rear tire so he cut it off and he filled his tank it was cold so he left run so he'd have a warm place to smoke before work I smelled gas and looked over and gas was pouring out on the ground and the cap was snug. I then descided I was going to wait for it to evaporate before moving my truck. I had 1 hour left so I got a ride home from a co worker and picked up my truck later that day. the exhaust heated up the tank enough to overflow it.

 

The only time I ever top off my tank is if I'm traveling on a long trip. The extra couple of gallons doesn't sit in the tanks for very long.

 

We had an underground tank on the farm with a pump. If we filled our '58 F-600 seat tank all the way up, it would leak just as described as the gas heated up and ruin the weather strip and the old man would yell at us, especially my brother which I'm sure is what lead him to drive a Sable.

The more you know and observe about gasoline, the more you wonder how we use so much of it without the landscape being dotted with fires.