Cant fill gas tank?

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DopeVibeGT
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Cant fill gas tank?

Post by DopeVibeGT »

Just started doing this. When I go to fill up, the pump keeps shutting off when the tank is only like 3/4 full. I'm thinking its the evap canister since every 6 or so months, I get a evap code. But, it's been doing that for years. I'm thinking that the inside of the canister is breaking up and clogging the pressure hose for the full tube. Anyone else ever have this issue? What did you do to fix it?
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joatmon
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by joatmon »

There are some older threads here about people with this problem. seems like people resolved it by replacing either the filler tube or the charcoal canister
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tpollauf
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by tpollauf »

Add me to this problem list. 2004 Vibe GT 130k miles, all of a sudden won't allow me to fill the tank up non stop. Only allows 1 gallon roughly at a time then stops. Is this charcoal canister thing repairable or does it simply get replaced? I'll have access to a lift next week and will check it out then. Suggestions from those of you who have fixed this problem. Thanks ............. Tim
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zbyers
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by zbyers »

I can't remember the exact issue, but it would be related to the vent hose and/or charcoal canister. Basically when you're filling it, the air in the tank gets pushed out, through the vent hose and into the charcoal canister. It could be as simple as the vent hose is knocked off the filler neck. While possible the charcoal canister is bad, I'd avoid replacing if possible. They are $$$$$$$ if you don't get one from a junkyard.

If you do get one from a junkyard, ensure it comes from the exact same YEAR and model. There are like 8 iterations. The base, GT, and AWD all run different ones, and then they were switched up, i believe around the same time as the face lift (ie: 03/04, and 05-08). To play it safe, I do recommend getting one from the same year as your car if needed.
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Bookworm
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by Bookworm »

A partial solution is to also pull the nozzle back out until it's just inside the hole for the filler itself. You'll have to fill very slowly, but that should allow air to come back out the filler tube.

It's NOT a fix. Zbyers just told me more about what the charcoal canister was for than I've ever known :)
tpollauf
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by tpollauf »

OK, so while I had my Vibe up on the lift, I checked out this "charcoal canister" thingamajig and need to further educate me on it, how it works, and follow a flow path as to what every hose does. Notice the "cracked" plastic tube that I discovered. Not sure what this does or where it goes BUT it may be related to the P2445 code that has been on the car since I took delivery of it 1-1/2 years ago (7000 miles) :o

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tpollauf
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by tpollauf »

OK, so I had access to the lift again. Fixed this vent line which runs from the fuel tank check valve, over to the charcoal canister. Not sure if it will help BUT it's now fixed! ;)

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Bookworm
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by Bookworm »

Good - keep us posted.

I wonder what ate the tube?
jolt
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by jolt »

Chipmunks, mice, etc. love to chew on those hoses and lines.
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by jolt »

Also do not know if this would apply but you may want to check it out: https://www.autocodes.com/uploads/toyota/EG051-06.pdf

It is about an "improved fuel filler tube" for some models.
tpollauf
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by tpollauf »

PROBLEM SOLVED !!!!!!!!!

Ok. So not knowing exactly what problem(s) I had to deal with, and once I start tearing apart something and break pieces/parts, etc. I decided to bite the bullet and order a new charcoal canister ($200 Rock Auto) as that was clearly the problem based on all troubleshooting methods. I was correct in my assessment BUT as you'll see and read on, it was not a defective part .... not yet anyways.

The reason that I couldn't fill my tank uninterrupted, was because the charcoal canister couldn't vent properly. It couldn't vent properly because a spider decided to make it's winter home inside the outlet port on the canister (see pics) As I remover the tough, silk, wall of webbing (it was like a sheet of polymer film over that opening ... tough!!!) Mama spider quickly came crawling out! Onto the floor she landed and quickly got crushed! Kind of startled me a bit. I researched spiders here in Ohio and found this quote: " Some spiders survive winter by building themselves a cozy little pod to hunker down in until things warm up. These pods are quite similar to spider egg nests. The spider finds an enclosed, secluded area, and seals themselves within the space by covering openings with their webbing. The webbing blocks cold air, hopefully creating an environment that’s warm enough for the spider to survive in."

While removing the part from underneath the car, there was one fitting that was extremely difficult removing. All pieces were of a plastic material (no rubber or other flexible pieces) and lucky for me it was the piece that was chewed through so it was already separated from the rest of the vehicle. This allowed me to remove it on a bench instead of under the car ... huge advantage. I ended up carefully breaking a corner on each side in order to pull the fitting off. There was barely enough material remaining to reattach it as I damaged it pretty good removing it!

The final test was to fill up the gas tank which I had to do yesterday. SMOOTH sailing as I was once again able to fill up the tank with ZERO interruptions. Remember this story if this were to happen to any of you out there. Thanks all ............ Tim

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Bookworm
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by Bookworm »

Glad you managed to get it fixed!

That explains why I'd never heard of that kind of issue down here - it's never really that cold long enough to make the spiders seal things completely.
jolt
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by jolt »

Strange things happen every day. I have had spider webs mess with my gas grill so the flame was not proper and the grill would not get as hot as needed. A spider web was just behind the jet one time and another spring found a web in the air mixture tube. I then found out that spiders are attracted to LP and like to winter in the lines. I would have never thought about spiders and gasoline. That vent line most likely is not open and only vents when filling the tank.

Good to see you got it fixed. Does or had the car sat for a period of time? I had an old GEO Metro beater car that I only used for the winter. That is how I know about chipmunks and mice loving to chew on those gas and vent lines as the car sat outside all summer and the lines looked like yours and had to be fixed too.
zbyers
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by zbyers »

Wow. That's a pretty crazy "issue" lol. Glad it was a simple, easy fix!
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tpollauf
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by tpollauf »

jolt wrote: Sun Nov 10, 2019 10:50 am Does or had the car sat for a period of time?
The longest that this car sat recently, was probably two weeks. During that time I was driving my Silverado pickup due to hauling and trailering various stuff. It's possible that's when this started. I first noticed this around the end of September (that's where I first chimed in on this topic here) so the spider was likely building it's winter haven the last week of September. I knew it had to have been something drastic, quick change issue, as I went from normal fill-ups to major restriction overnight. Internally if the charcoal canister were to slowly become plugged, my fill-ups would slowly get worse ... not immediately!
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jolt
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by jolt »

tpollauf wrote: Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:19 am
jolt wrote: Sun Nov 10, 2019 10:50 am Does or had the car sat for a period of time?
The longest that this car sat recently, was probably two weeks.
These little critters move fast when winter is setting in. Two weeks is 336 hours and that is a lot of time for idle hands to get things done. ;)
tpollauf
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Re: Cant fill gas tank?

Post by tpollauf »

Adding another interesting observation to this thread. Just a few hours ago, when I went to fill up the Vibe (must do it every two to Three days due to the distance to my recent job) I filled it up as usual and when I screwed the gas cap back into the filler neck, I slowly rotated it a good couple turns past the clicking. I was curious as to if it would have sealed any tighter. Well much to my surprise, it MUST have sealed it tighter because my P2445 code finally went away !!!! This code has been there for close to two years (bought the Vibe in Feb 2018). So now I am truly convinced that the gas cap has been the problem all this time. Will replace the cap real soon.
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2009 Vibe GT (manual), 2009 G8Gt, 2009 Vibe GT (auto)
2014 Silverado, 2004 Vibe GT

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