Fuel Fill Vent Line Clogged in WJ?

[spinaldex]

I went out to the beach this weekend, and although I didn't do anything crazy, after trying to fill up gas at the gas station, I'm pretty sure my vent line is clogged. What happens is that if you try to put gas in it, a second later the pump clicks off and a bit of fuel comes out. My guess is that the vent is clogged with sand, so when you pour gas in it, the air has to go somewhere and pushes itself out with a little fuel. Does this sound about right?

Now, this is in my 2004 Grand Cherokee (not the one in my sig). With that said, does anyone know if its easy to reach that vent line, or does the entire tank have to come out? If its easy, do you know of a quick way to get to it? I noticed there's a flap of plastic in the wheel well directly underneath the filler, I can sort of see rubber hoses down there so that could be it? Know which one it is? etc

Thanks everyone!

 

[spinaldex]

Re: Fuel Fill Vent Line Clogged?

Is not a good place to post Grand Cherokee/WJ questions? Is there another site I should go to for this question that anyone could recommend?

 

[Flyfisher]

Re: Fuel Fill Vent Line Clogged?

How does sand clog a fuel vent line without "doing something crazy"? Are you sure the gas station's pressure/flow rate wasn't just more than you're used to? I've been to stations that I couldn't let the pump run more than the first notch on the handle....just a thought.

Maybe rather than clogged, it's kinked?

 

[spinaldex]

Re: Fuel Fill Vent Line Clogged?

I live in Oregon, you are not allowed to pump your own gas here by law. 3 Stations I've been to before and the same attendants couldnt pump gas in to it this time. If you slow it to the slowest possible setting it sometimes works, but it takes a solid 20 minutes to fill the tank at that rate.

 

[notfastenough]

Re: Fuel Fill Vent Line Clogged?

Tell them to turn the nozzle 45 degrees and it should go full speed. If not, tell them to pull the nozzle out of the filler neck a little bit. If that tube was blocked, it would fill normally, until it fills all the way up the neck, flooding the evaporate emission system, and spitting gas out of the neck.

 

[notfastenough]

Re: Fuel Fill Vent Line Clogged?

Tell them to turn the nozzle 45 or 90 degrees and it should go full speed. If not, tell them to pull the nozzle out of the filler neck a little bit. If that tube was blocked, it would fill normally, until it fills all the way up the neck, flooding the evaporate emission system, and spitting gas out of the neck.

 

[spinaldex]

Re: Fuel Fill Vent Line Clogged?

Sounds good, I will have them do that tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[magimerlin]

Re: Fuel Fill Vent Line Clogged?

OK I think the bigger question here is.......HOW in the world did you get enough or any sand into your filler tube vent line to plug it up anyways. The fuel cap covers it..... So honestly I do not think its a clogged vent tube issue. If you really wanna make sure the smaller of the two hoses at the filler neck will be the vent line.

 

[spinaldex]

Re: Fuel Fill Vent Line Clogged?

The sand/filler tube was an assumption since it was the first time I ever took this rig (just bought it a little while ago) on to any mud/dirt/sand, and the next fill was not successful. I hears seafoam can cure this at times if its an issue with a clog, the charcoal canister, etc so I put a little in my tank yesterday. I'm also going to suggest the pump fills at 45-90 degrees and see what happens. Planning on filling up on the way home today.

 

[spinaldex]

Re: Fuel Fill Vent Line Clogged?

The gas station down the street let me try to fill it up myself today so I got to play around. It doesn't work on a 45 or 90 degree angle, upside down, holding the rubber thing all the way to the handle, etc. Pretty much what happens is, within 2-4 seconds the filler tube fills up with fuel and the gas eventually slows over the edge. At that point, the pump kicks off. If you slow the rate of fuel delivery to a crawl, I mean the absolute slowest possible setting, then it wont kick off *most* of the time. I was able to get $20 in gas in there with that method, but it took FOREVER.

 

[notfastenough]

Re: Fuel Fill Vent Line Clogged?

Ok, my bad on missing the part about fuel coming out of the filler neck. With tha being the case, do a visual inspection of the filler neck to see if there is any damage all the way to the gas tank. I haven't seen an 04 gc filler neck, but if you can fit a rubber hose tightly to the vent hole and not easily blow air (not compressed) that vent line is obstructed. Might be a good idea to do this with as little fuel in the tank as possible and be careful when releasing the air, might be possible to have fuel come out of the rubber hose.

 

[Alaskan89XJ]

Weird.., but the comment about there being an obstruction is worthy of taking out of the equation, i.e., run a wire, old clothes hanger, or some such, down the pipe. Might want to bend the end going down the tube, (into the tank), with a little curly-bit, i.e., instead of a straight sharpy-end, a curled end made with a needle-end plier, perhaps a little smaller than a dime, etc., so that it makes the bends/turns without catching, etc. IF there is an obstruction you will feel it, and/or when you withdraw it, it will either be dry, slightly wet, or really wet.., the latter will likely prove no obstruction. (Remember, many people lose/leave their gas caps behind at gas stations.., and some will actually just stuff a rag, or some such there at the fill pipe.., and whoops.., where did it go? I do not believe you did that). However, some stuff likes to float, and end up stuck in any pipe under different conditions. (ice?--grab the rear end and rock the vehicle back and forth and listen for a clunking sound) If you have an enemy, or some kids around your reality, etc., perhaps someone stuck something down the fill pipe just to be a trouble maker. Hmmm! Other than the aforementioned.., crawl underneath with a flashlight and look for anything obviously out of order.., that's my 2cents.

 

[notfastenough]

Another idea for checking the filler neck for obstruction is to put gas in with a regular gas can. If there is a legitimate blockage, you should find out quickly. If not, I would suspect that the vent tube in the neck is the primary suspect.

 

[spinaldex]

problem solved. The vent hose for the canister dropped from the metal bracket that holds it up. So what happened is the plastic cap on it ended up being a scoop instead of a vented cap and pulled up water till it filled the hoses AND the canister. That prevented it from venting and so I couldnt fill gas in to the tank.

 

[notfastenough]

Thanks for filling us in (har har har)