Automotive gas tank overflow

So I was pumping gas and the pump kept shutting off every few seconds. After I filled the tank I was unsure whether my tank was full or if the pump was playing games again. I ended up over filling my tank and the surplus got all over on the inside of the gas cover area. I reported the fuel spillage to the attendant and he cleaned it up promptly, but should I have done anything to clean the inside of my gas cap area?

Yeah! you can burn that of by lighting it with a match.

Really? wipe it out with a paper towel or just let it evaporate. NO SMOKING!

Don't worry about the gas cap area, but it might be bad if enough of it ran down into the vapour return area and plugged it up. Got that info from Car Talk.

I think the odds are pretty low though. Just wash the car good and it should be ok.

Homercidal said:

Don't worry about the gas cap area, but it might be bad if enough of it ran down into the vapour return area and plugged it up. Got that info from Car Talk.

I think the odds are pretty low though. Just wash the car good and it should be ok.

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Over time, overfilling a tank on a newer vehicle is not good, ask me how I know that.

Go to a car wash and blast it off, it can rust if not taken care, ask me how I know that.

_

There is a possibility, depending on the vehicle that overfilling can cause the evap system to be overwhelmed and gas can be forced into the charcoal canister, leading to drivability issues and possibly damage to the fuel system or to the engine itself.

Say you drive a 2006 or newer Kia Spectra, overfilling will lead to the need to replace the charcoal canister, evap filter, purge valve, canister close valve and the fuel tank assy due to damage to the OVR valve inside the tank.

I replace an awful lot of these, a couple thousand to fix a problem caused by topping up or rounding up the total once the gas pump shut off. your issue was due to a wonky pump, and hopefully you are in the clear repair wise, just clean up the spill and wax the area if possible.

wildwest450 said:

Go to a car wash and blast it off, it can rust if not taken care, ask me how I know that.

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Plastic doesn't rust. Most new cars don't have enough metal in the body to rust.

Say you drive a 2006 or newer Kia Spectra, overfilling will lead to the need to replace the charcoal canister, evap filter, purge valve, canister close valve and the fuel tank assy due to damage to the OVR valve inside the tank.

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Remind me not to got one of those

Aunt_Ester said:

I reported the fuel spillage to the attendant

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LOL. Fail. You call the EPA every time you pass gas also? Or, do you purchase carbon offset credits every time you ferment a beer (which produces quite a bit of CO2)?

LOL

:fro: :fro: :fro: :fro: :fro: :fro: :fro:

sacrifice said:

LOL. Fail. You call the EPA every time you pass gas also? Or, do you purchase carbon offset credits every time you ferment a beer (which produces quite a bit of CO2)?

LOL

:fro: :fro: :fro: :fro: :fro: :fro: :fro:

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Do us a favor and go huff some fumes.

Airplanedoc said:

Plastic doesn't rust. Most new cars don't have enough metal in the body to rust.

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Thanks for the science lesson, some cars still have metal in them, and yes metal soaked in gas does rust over time.

azscoob said:

There is a possibility, depending on the vehicle that overfilling can cause the evap system to be overwhelmed and gas can be forced into the charcoal canister, leading to drivability issues and possibly damage to the fuel system or to the engine itself.

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You have to overfill way more than once to have an issue, my truck took 200,000 miles plus to throw an engine code on it. I also kinda doubt the engine damage issue, it now has 325,000 miles on it. I did notice a slight drop in mileage, but that's about it.

_

sacrifice said:

You call the EPA every time you pass gas also?

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Yes. Every time I do, it knocks the local air quality down a few percent.

Domminigan said:

Yes. Every time I do, it knocks the local air quality down a few percent.

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You must be related to my wife.