Can't Fill Beetle With Gas!!!

[bobaloo71]

Well it all started with the CEL light coming on then my gas gauge showing full when I knew it wasn't. I try to fill up with gas last night and it won't let me pump any gas it keeps kicking off the pump. I think it's the pump so I go to another one and the same thing happens...I have to force fuel in and manage to get 2 gallons in. I'm thinking the charcoal canister might be clogged making the tank think it's full??? My question is where is the charcoal canister? Thanks in advance.

[SilverSportNOLA]

That doesn't sound like a possibilty. I am not saying the Charc Can is not a problem, but when you open the fuel cap all pressure is released. Now ... a few years ago, about a month after I stopped ever using Shell gasoline ever again in any internal combution engine I own, rent, lease or borrow, they let a large batch out that had a very high sulfer content into the markets between Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle. This gas cause the fuel gauges on about 80% of the cars that got it to malfunction. The first car I ever saw with the problem was ... you guessed it, a 2.0L 2004 New New Beetle with 300 miles on the ODO. Belonged to a friend of my Daughter ... gauge showed full, she never put any fuel in it, and it stopped running on them, it was out of gas with a full tank showing.
Sounds like you have the opposite problem. Why would you think the tank isn't full. You may have a neighbor like the one in some old movie I saw .... that filled and drained the gas from the neighbors old beetle just to mess with him when he bragged about his gas mileage.

[pencilneck]

I've seen something like this before on a Passat. The left rear fender liner on a Passat got torn off and the owner didn't want to spend the $30 for a fender liner:

I'm not spending $30 for a sheet of plastic! Baaaah!

A couple of months later the Passat returns, owner is only able to put gas into it very slowly. I tried it myself and sure enough if you held the gas pump at full flow, it would click off right away. The only way to get gas into it was at a trickle.

The problem was that since the fender liner was missing, the LDP and it's air filter were not protected, this allowed water to get into the charcol canistor. When trying to put gas into the fuel tank, air was not able to be displaced and created a back pressure at the filler neck. The fuel pumps were shutting off like they were suppose to. He purchased a fender liner along with some other items at a cost of a LOT more than $30.

So, for your car, why isn't air getting displaced when you try to fill up? Missing a fender liner?

[HudsonValleyVDub]

Originally Posted by SilverSportNOLA

That doesn't sound like a possibilty. I am not saying the Charc Can is not a problem, but when you open the fuel cap all pressure is released. Now ... a few years ago, about a month after I stopped ever using Shell gasoline ever again in any internal combution engine I own, rent, lease or borrow, they let a large batch out that had a very high sulfer content into the markets between Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle. This gas cause the fuel gauges on about 80% of the cars that got it to malfunction. The first car I ever saw with the problem was ... you guessed it, a 2.0L 2004 New New Beetle with 300 miles on the ODO. Belonged to a friend of my Daughter ... gauge showed full, she never put any fuel in it, and it stopped running on them, it was out of gas with a full tank showing.
Sounds like you have the opposite problem. Why would you think the tank isn't full. You may have a neighbor like the one in some old movie I saw .... that filled and drained the gas from the neighbors old beetle just to mess with him when he bragged about his gas mileage.

First I've heard of such a thing. You could pour water in the tank and the guage would read correctly. I don't see a bad tank of gas harming the sending unit (a bad charcoal canister won't keep you from filling up). More likely a coincidence. After that shell truck filled up, another companies truck was behind it filling up. Many companies use the same refineries.

If you're filling the tank and it shuts off, especially if you've tried more than one pump. it's full! A bad sending unit may be the problem but, that can't keep you from filling the tank...and a bad tank of fuel isn't the likely cause. High sulfer content could damage the cat. converter but probably not much else...and not with just a tank or two.

[SilverSportNOLA]

Hudson ... Shell paid to fix a lot of peoples fuel tanks .... lots. And that may be the way they run it around your part of the country, but here in the Oil Belt, when the other trucks pull up to the Shell Refinery a few miles up river from us, Shell is also responsible for the customers that get that gas, either that or they start buying product from one of the other dozen or so refineries. And I will hand it to Shell ... they paid all claims, even some illegal ones, some of those folks were sitting in NOPD when Katrina Hit.

[hako]

Its not unusual in these times of high fuel prices for someone to 'milk' your car. To perform this somewhat illegal operation they will usually grab someones garden hose, cut maybe 2 metres off, shove it down your petrol filler hole and syphon as much fuel out as they can. Then they try to pull the hose out but the flap inside the filler wont let them do this - so they pull and pull till the hose breaks and you have either or all of the following;- blocked filler tube....fuel gauge stuck due to hose blocking float or a lenght of garden hose sticking out of your petrol tank.
Also heard that some fuel additives can soften and degrade the float which measures the fuel level in your petrol tank causing it to sink or soften and stick.

[bobaloo71]

It's kinda hard to believe that someone could "milk" my car since it has a locking fuel door and a locking fuel cap.

[HudsonValleyVDub]

Originally Posted by SilverSportNOLA

Hudson ... Shell paid to fix a lot of peoples fuel tanks .... lots. And that may be the way they run it around your part of the country, but here in the Oil Belt, when the other trucks pull up to the Shell Refinery a few miles up river from us, Shell is also responsible for the customers that get that gas, either that or they start buying product from one of the other dozen or so refineries. And I will hand it to Shell ... they paid all claims, even some illegal ones, some of those folks were sitting in NOPD when Katrina Hit.

Yes I just did a search and found info on the high sulfur damage in some southern states. Nothing like that though would cause an empty tank to not fill as claimed in the orginal post. Having the guage say it's full and then running out of gas could happen.

[HudsonValleyVDub]

Originally Posted by hako

Its not unusual in these times of high fuel prices for someone to 'milk' your car. To perform this somewhat illegal operation they will usually grab someones garden hose, cut maybe 2 metres off, shove it down your petrol filler hole and syphon as much fuel out as they can. Then they try to pull the hose out but the flap inside the filler wont let them do this - so they pull and pull till the hose breaks and you have either or all of the following;- blocked filler tube....fuel gauge stuck due to hose blocking float or a lenght of garden hose sticking out of your petrol tank.
Also heard that some fuel additives can soften and degrade the float which measures the fuel level in your petrol tank causing it to sink or soften and stick.

WOW!...lol..Where do you live that something like that happens? Milking your cars gas tank? Not around here.

[noR]

What; someone stealing?!? OMG.

It's not really that uncommon.


The problem? I dunno. Maybe the filler neck is twisted up.

How many miles do you have bob? How long have you owned it?

[bobaloo71]

Originally Posted by noR

What; someone stealing?!? OMG.

It's not really that uncommon.


The problem? I dunno. Maybe the filler neck is twisted up.

How many miles do you have bob? How long have you owned it?

I've had her since day one in 2001 and she has about 72,000 miles.

[HudsonValleyVDub]

Originally Posted by noR

What; someone stealing?!? OMG.

It's not really that uncommon.


The problem? I dunno. Maybe the filler neck is twisted up.

How many miles do you have bob? How long have you owned it?

LOL...Stealing I understand happens. I've never heard of people going thru all the trouble though of trying to siphon gas out of someones tank though. Sounds a bit over the top...no?

[SilverSportNOLA]

Originally Posted by HudsonValleyVDub

LOL...Stealing I understand happens. I've never heard of people going thru all the trouble though of trying to siphon gas out of someones tank though. Sounds a bit over the top...no?

You're Young.

I happened a lot when gas went from 28 cents a gallon to $1.15 a gallon in the 70's ... I wasn't driving yet, but sat through a number of rationing lines, in 78 or 79 I was in CA ... they were worse there than anywhere else. People would steal your gas while you were waiting to get gas, you had to get in line right after you hit half tank so you had enough to make it through the line .... people were stupid like that.

[HudsonValleyVDub]

Originally Posted by SilverSportNOLA

You're Young.

I happened a lot when gas went from 28 cents a gallon to $1.15 a gallon in the 70's ... I wasn't driving yet, but sat through a number of rationing lines, in 78 or 79 I was in CA ... they were worse there than anywhere else. People would steal your gas while you were waiting to get gas, you had to get in line right after you hit half tank so you had enough to make it through the line .... people were stupid like that.

LOL...I'm glad I wasn't aware of crap like that. We live in an area, lucky I guess, where we don't lock doors. Geez...I hope it never happens around here. 35 years here... sofar we've been lucky.

[FlwrPwer]

Originally Posted by HudsonValleyVDub

LOL...I'm glad I wasn't aware of crap like that. We live in an area, lucky I guess, where we don't lock doors. Geez...I hope it never happens around here. 35 years here... sofar we've been lucky.

This has nothing to do with the original post, but what part of the Hudson Valley do you live in that you don't lock your doors? I live in Goshen and I lock my doors...3 locks at night. I lock my car doors when I run into the gas station. This area isnt THAT safe.

[from Margaritaville...]

Originally Posted by SilverSportNOLA

You're Young.

I happened a lot when gas went from 28 cents a gallon to $1.15 a gallon in the 70's ... I wasn't driving yet, but sat through a number of rationing lines, in 78 or 79 I was in CA ... they were worse there than anywhere else. People would steal your gas while you were waiting to get gas, you had to get in line right after you hit half tank so you had enough to make it through the line .... people were stupid like that.

I was driving back then (I believe 1973) during the first oil embargo. Lines were literally around-the-block. We could only tank up on even or odd numbered days (coincided with the last digit of your license plate). It didn't work out too well on months with 31 days...

[HudsonValleyVDub]

Originally Posted by FlwrPwer

This has nothing to do with the original post, but what part of the Hudson Valley do you live in that you don't lock your doors? I live in Goshen and I lock my doors...3 locks at night. I lock my car doors when I run into the gas station. This area isnt THAT safe.

LOL...it certainly is! I'm over in a little hamlet called Poughquag...town of Beekman. A friend is a Dutchess County police officer right here in the Poughquag substation. They're bored all the time...lol. I haven't locked a door since moving here from Putnam County area in 85. Now drive a 1/2 hr to Poughkeepsie and that may be a different story but....not here. Very old school, friendly village.