Odd Problem today.....?

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Chuck B

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Yesterday we had a huge thunder storm come through the North area. Wife and I were in her car and got caught in it. Ended up leaving the car on the side of the road due to flooding and raging rivers across the roadway. I managed to get back to my truck a few hours later and headed back out to get the wifey. Forged quite a few rivers and while I was careful before plunging head first into each water way a couple crossings were a bit deep even for my high tolerance for risk. Finally got home about 11PM last nite leaving her car to sit till today. By the time we got home I was on fumes....literally. Last 10 miles or so the overhead monitor showed the dreaded dashes only.

This AM I poured a gal of gas I had in the garage into the truck (this gas was fresh and container is clean...used often) then headed out for fuel and rescue her car. While at the gas station I began to fuel and 3-4 sec later the overflow safety clicked the pump handle off. I repositioned the handle and squeezed. Split second later off it goes again. I repeat this several times thinking I have a defective pump or handle so I move to a different pump. Same results but this time when it clicks off I pull the handle and see fuel sitting in the downspout of the truck.....slowly it drains down. I repeat this several times and sure enough it looks like I have a clog or issue with vapor system preventing fuel to enter the tank at any rate more than a trickle.

I wouldn't think the water would have anything to do with it but was one thing different that occurred prior to my issue. Any thoughts? In the AM I'm going to crawl under the truck and take a look around. A quick glance this afternoon looks like Dodge uses a hose within a hose type of fill. Anyways....thanks for looking
 
Chuck B said:
Yesterday we had a huge thunder storm come through the North area. Wife and I were in her car and got caught in it. Ended up leaving the car on the side of the road due to flooding and raging rivers across the roadway. I managed to get back to my truck a few hours later and headed back out to get the wifey. Forged quite a few rivers and while I was careful before plunging head first into each water way a couple crossings were a bit deep even for my high tolerance for risk. Finally got home about 11PM last nite leaving her car to sit till today. By the time we got home I was on fumes....literally. Last 10 miles or so the overhead monitor showed the dreaded dashes only.

This AM I poured a gal of gas I had in the garage into the truck (this gas was fresh and container is clean...used often) then headed out for fuel and rescue her car. While at the gas station I began to fuel and 3-4 sec later the overflow safety clicked the pump handle off. I repositioned the handle and squeezed. Split second later off it goes again. I repeat this several times thinking I have a defective pump or handle so I move to a different pump. Same results but this time when it clicks off I pull the handle and see fuel sitting in the downspout of the truck.....slowly it drains down. I repeat this several times and sure enough it looks like I have a clog or issue with vapor system preventing fuel to enter the tank at any rate more than a trickle.

I wouldn't think the water would have anything to do with it but was one thing different that occurred prior to my issue. Any thoughts? In the AM I'm going to crawl under the truck and take a look around. A quick glance this afternoon looks like Dodge uses a hose within a hose type of fill. Anyways....thanks for looking
Click to expand...

hmmmm....when crossing the water was there enough force from the water hitting the bottom of the truck to kink the fill pipe??...I am from Tucson and as a kid my dad would cross those flooded roads so fast ...it sounded like the bottom of the car was being whacked by baseball bats...
 
Chuck there is a safety "ball" I will put it , inside the tube, this is for rollover safety and in case of a rollover the valve will close and not empty fuel out.

ok what you did was draw the tank empty correct?
well in this case what happens when you crank the truck the EVAP ssytem pulls a vaccum on the entire fuel system to check for leaks, and with no fuel in the truck the valve or ball probably got stuck in the closed position.

try filling it with the truck off, not running.
if that dont work, dealer bro, unless you want to remove the tank and fix it:D

but nothing wrong , except your balls are in the wrong place:D
 
Stinker said:
Chuck there is a safety "ball" I will put it , inside the tube, this is for rollover safety and in case of a rollover the valve will close and not empty fuel out.

ok what you did was draw the tank empty correct?
well in this case what happens when you crank the truck the EVAP ssytem pulls a vaccum on the entire fuel system to check for leaks, and with no fuel in the truck the valve or ball probably got stuck in the closed position.

try filling it with the truck off, not running.
if that dont work, dealer bro, unless you want to remove the tank and fix it:D

but nothing wrong , except your balls are in the wrong place:D
Click to expand...

great info!! Learn something new every day!!
 
ive had mine do that when it was real windy outside. dont know what caused it
 
What Stinker said in reverse....the tank gets air in her and the gas won't go in. When this happen to me the gas station guy said to wait a min. and she will fill-up. He was right, she filled right-up. Have no idea what was going-on....:dontknow:

Quick
 
ive seen this very often, and it is really nothing to worry about. i pumped gas for a living for a couple years (here in jersey, it's illegal to pump your own gas, every station has attendants) and i saw this at least once a day and it was always "i didnt think i was gonna make it"
 
Chuck B, OT but you do know there is a "Stupid Motorist" law here in AZ.
If you cross a flooded road and become stuck(requiring the swift water rescue team to respond) you can be held accoutable for expenses required to rescue you.
 
Azmotorhead said:
Chuck B, OT but you do know there is a "Stupid Motorist" law here in AZ.
If you cross a flooded road and become stuck(requiring the swift water rescue team to respond) you can be held accoutable for expenses required to rescue you.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm well aware and trust me I waited till someone lower/lighter than me to go before I crossed... My truck hasn't really been driven in the rain much less crossed mud laden waterways. Spent 3 hrs this morning cleaning the truck. You can only imagine how much sand came out from underneath.
 
Good news/Bad news

Good news.....its fixed. Bad news....not sure how I fixed it.

Went down and tried to fill it with gas one more time....no luck. Got up underneath and saw that the factory uses a single tube design with a separate vent tube. First thought was the fill tube is one of the smallest diameter tubes I've ever seen on a vehicle. I disconnected the vent tube and found via mouth to tube that the vent was clear. Next step was to disconnect the rubber portion of the fill tube. From the fill door down about 10" is a metal tube. The rubber attaches there and right at the tank (topside). I removed the left rear wheel to facilitate easy access. Once I removed the rubber hose I stuck my finger into the tank opening. About 3" in was the ball valve that Stinker mentioned. I pressed on the ball and it moved downward but was surprised to find it was under tension. Not much tension but any is more than I expected given the application (tip over cut off). I moved it up and down several times and using different materials/mirrors determined it was housed in a plastic grill type basket. I could not determine why it was under tension or how the tension was being applied.

Thinking this through I even considered that the tank was in fact full and that the tension was due to buoyancy and I simply had a gauge problem. Further investigation and studying wire schematic I ruled this one out. I fiddled around for a good 45 min and made no headway with my problem. Determined that I would be pulling the tank I quickly determined that pulling the bed would be easier and better access to the tank and its numerous components rather than dropping the tank.

At this point I decided to button it up and run down and see if it would take gas. Stuck the handle in and pulled the lever.....sure enough it filled just fine. :dontknow:

Maybe the check valve was stuck and manually moving it fixed it, maybe the truck was pissed that I drove through deep water.....:dontknow:
 
I've had the same thing happen twice. Each time was after driving through horrible downpours here in FL. Every time it happened the truck fixed itself. I would love to know what happens to cause this though.
 
BigBlackQC said:
I've had the same thing happen twice. Each time was after driving through horrible downpours here in FL. Every time it happened the truck fixed itself. I would love to know what happens to cause this though.
Click to expand...

There is a valve with an 'open' 1/2" hose mounted in front of the tank on the passenger side. Its part of the emissions (I believe) and in a position to collect water. Possible that the open hose portion filled with water and when I shut the truck off the water entered the valve body. Upon start up water entered the vacuum line(s) attached causing problem. With time the valve drys out and possibly when I blew into the vent line it helped clear the problem.

If it happens again I'll try that first but when I get a chance I take a look at the service manual and try and put it all into perspective....quite a few things going on in, on and around our tanks.
 
I live in AZ also and I have had a similar problem twice lately with the high humidity. I just removed the fuel filler and put it back in and it filled. Weird. I am pretty sure it has to do with the combination of high temps and high humidy.
 
ChrisAZ said:
I live in AZ also and I have had a similar problem twice lately with the high humidity. I just removed the fuel filler and put it back in and it filled. Weird. I am pretty sure it has to do with the combination of high temps and high humidy.
Click to expand...

Humidity has been high for us but low for most of the US and in fact temps have been higher elsewhere lately......
 
If you wouldn"t play with it like a Zoo toy.........:p
 
Crap Chuck!!..My situation now is EXACTLY how you described it. I cant put gas in the truck and yes, last night it rained hard and I was stuck in the middle of it..Ran it down to almost empty, took it to get gas today and no go...Tucson instead of Phoenix :D ..I'm going to try and exercise that ball in the filler tube before I take it to the dealership..Weird though.:dontknow: Thanks for info.:rock:
 
Yup...its that time of year again. Hopefully, yours sorts itself out like mine did. Still don't know exactly what happened. Keep us posted....
 
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