Thread: Don't Top Off !!

Yes, don't top off your gas tank when fueling. Meaning, don't keep squeezing that little extra in.

Three weeks ago my engine lights & all trouble lights came on,,, not good news. make a long story short. I had them read the codes today & it appears that its fuel related. There is this black box connected to the tank that has charcoal in it & it does something with the fumes to recycle them back to the engine. Well, that could be damaged & that's a $2,000.00 repair. I had the gas overflow onto the ground about 3 days before the lights came on , plus 8 years of topping off may be the cause the mechanic said.

He did say that it will not leave me in the street, but the fact that the lights will come back on, will mask any other major trouble that could happen, by already having the engine lights on.

I always thought that "topping off" was just environmental B.S. so you wouldn't get gas on the grown.

I always wondered why the manual for my old bomb (2001 Hyundai) said to not fill past the first click off.

Did you read the instructions ?

What instructions ?

The owner's manual you read before stuff breaks

Oh that,, I haven't seen that thing since the salesman handed it to me in 2008.

Dohhh!!!!!!

Thanks for the tip, I always top off. Mainly because I hate going to fill up so I do all I can to extend the periods in between.

I never read the manual for anything, in fact the only time I break the seal on manuals for anything is if they put the batteries for the remote control in there too (obviously that's for TVs and the like. They never put car batteries in with the instructions)

Good luck with the repairs, hopefully it wont come to $2000 that's a lot of razors that could be left on the shelf!

I used to top off because sometimes the end of the fill up would come rushing up and cut off the pump prematurely. Another reason was before debit cards, when I paid cash, the pump might cut off short of a dollar figure. Not wanting small change I'd round it off to the nearest dollar. I've only recently quit doing that because with the card it doesn't matter.

Anyhow, the 'check engine' light popped up on my 2005 Ford Focus. Bought it 3 years ago with 68,500 miles on it, and it is at 83,000 now. Been a darn good car. Stick shift, great gas mileage. So I went to a local auto parts that checks the engine light codes for free, and turns out my thermostat is not functioning properly. Guy tried to sell me a thermostat for $22.00.

Not like the old days, where there were two bolts on either side of the radiator cap, and you popped out the old thermostat and exchanged it for the new, tightened up the two bolts and you were on your way. Changing this one requires a degree in engineering. Anyway, took it to my mechanic and he said that it might or might not be the thermostat. (he checked the codes with his gizmo too.

Since it was not overheating, and it appeared to be going to normal operating temperature by the needle on the dash, he turned off the light. Said if it comes back on we'll take out the thermostat and when cold we'll put it in a pot of hot water and see if it is functioning. Check the sensor, other possibilities. Well I've been riding around for over a week and so far so good.

Good luck with your automobile John, hope it ain't anything big ..........

A mechanic told me the extra capacity of the tank was to prevent vapor lock.

He said NOT to top off the tank. When the fill hose quits, you quit.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onbo...vapor_recovery

My wife's CEL comes on from time to time for the vapor recovery canister I just clear it and keep driving. She has a 2005 Toyota Tacoma with probably close to 190,000 miles. All the best.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk