I've only had my car for 650 miles now, but the first time I filled up, gas came shooting out of the filler neck before the pump shut off. No biggie, I thought, just that pump (I was out of state and they had those vapor collection nozzles). I filled up here at home, and the same thing happened (no vapor collection nozzle). It seems like a bit of a safety issue to me, seeing as how there's about a couple of pints of gas running down my car and onto the ground, not to mention what it's probably doing to my paint and rims. Never had this kind of problem with any other car I've owned.

Now, I do stick the nozzle all the way into the filler neck. Is it better to have it only partially inserted? Anyone else have this issue?

 

Mine does the same thing every time. I don't know what the deal is!

 

Thats odd I have never had that happen. And I have owned 2 RX-8's.
So far I have filled up in at least 4 different states and at hundreds of gas stations. Not once has it overflowed. Might ask the dealer.
One quick question ,,,Do you hold the nozzle handle or do you put on the little lock lever while filling up?

 

It's happened to me twice, both at a specific gas pump in a shell station. The others don't do it. I think it's just the pump not correctly sensing that the fuel is full.

 

Because I've only filled up twice since I've had it, I don't have a lot of different pumps to judge by, but two in a row is not promising. I do usually use the little 'lock lever' tab to fill it rather than doing it by hand.

BTW, the first fill up was 19.5 mpg at 60% hwy / 40% city, and this one was 20.6 mpg at 40% hwy / 60% city. Odd, you'd think it would be the other way around. Hopefully it gets even better over time.

 

well how did you do it to begin with? i find that if i insert the nozzle all the way i dont and have never had a problem..

hope this helps..

beers

 

That has never happened to me. But I did notice that when the pump stops and I try to put a little more in to make it an even number (cause im **** like that), my tank doesnt allow much more before it starts to pour out.

 

My new Shinka does it too, at five different stations.
I took it in to my dealership and they ordered me a new tank.
Something to do with a defective sensor in the tank.
Check with your service dept.

 

uhhh. EyeBall Fixer, that is illogical.

If you had a plastic 5 gallon container and you pumped gas into it, the fuel pump would stop once it fills up. There is no sensor or anything in the plastic container. The same goes for your car's fuel tank.

 

I ment to say that I've always stuck the nozzle all the way in, and have only started having this problem with my new 8. I wonder if there is a void or pocket in the tank that holds enough air to back up and screw up the backpressure sensor/valve in the nozzle. I guess I'll have to take it into the dealer.

 

a gas tank vent that is not working properly is the only thing that comes to mind... let us know how it turns out...

i found eyeballfixers mention of this problem last night, he brought it up the end of may.

beers

 

This issue crops up from time to time. There is a flap in the filler neck that is supposed to spring shut in the event of a rollover to prevent fuel spillage. Maybe these hard-to-fill cars have "flaps" that are partially activated? Dunno. Maybe that relates to the "sensor" referenced above. Seems to make sense that pumping past a restriction might result in less of a pressure change when the tank nears full, causing the pump to "miss the signal".

 

You probably have a faulty ICV (Inlet Check Valve) in the filler neck of the tank.

The spit back was quite common before the days of venting systems in fuel tanks. When the tank is filling displaced air escapes through valves placed in the tank, ROV (Roll Over Valve) & FLVV (Fill Limit Vent Valve). When the fuel gets high enough a float in the FLVV close the valve. When the valve closes there is a sudden increase in pressure in the tank since the air has no where to go. The increase in pressure closes the ICV. Once the ICV is closed the rest of the filler neck fills. If the ICV is not closing properly, when the tank fills fuel will spit back up the filler neck. If you look at the pump nozzle there is a small orifice on the bottom near the end of the nozzle. When this orifice is submerged in fuel it shuts the pump off.

This may not be 100% accurate. I only had a quick crash course in the venting systems of fuel tanks.

If you are having this problem on a consistent basis, I would take your car to your dealer and have the fuel tank replaced under warranty. Unfortunately the ICV is a part of the tank and can not be serviced separately. Hopefully your warranty is still good since replacing the whole tank can get pricey.

 

^^^ Thats all well and good, but why isn't the gas pump not shutting off?

I have been to several stations in diffrent states that don't have the newer gas vapor collection system on the pump and it always shuts off.

 

Thanks Mr. Spock....
I'm only passing on the info the service writer gave me.
... and we all know those guys at Mazda NEVER lie...

I wasn't going to argue with them as long as they fix it.
It would be like pissing off your waiter before he serves the meal ....

 

If the ICV doesn't shut, the gas fills up the filler neck too fast. When it's coming up the neck too fast it doesn't give the pump enough time to react and shut the fuel off pumping into your tank and spits back the fuel.

 

This was the first thing the salesperson told me when I was about to drive off in mine. I mean I get to say $43.85 when it clicks and try to get to an even $44 and it spills, most of the time it spills even before the click, if no one else is pumping and the line pressure is high. Small bothersome problem in leu of the gains .

 

I think that is why the put that sticker on the gas pump
"To avoid spills DO NOT top off tank"

 

I've had this problem the past two years.

Every time I put my nozzel in, it pops back out.

Then I try it again..... it pops out.. in and out in and out

maybe you can figure it out.