2000 Toyota ECHO gas fill problem

I got this car recently but had driven it several times before. I had never had trouble before, but now it is a very long process to fill the gas tank (at any station/pump type). There was a thread where someone with a similar problem was asking whether this was related to the cold, but my guess is that I have the same problem as this thread:

http://community.cartalk.com/discussion/2278568/having-troulble-putting-gas-into-corolla

…where the car had been overfilled too many times and the overfill sensor was stuck on.

1.) Is the problem indeed with a stuck sensor in the tank?
2.) Is this a do-it-yourself fix? How (specifically, beyond “poke a wire in there”)?
3.) I had never heard of this before it happened to me. If it’s not something I can fix, what’s a reasonable charge from a mechanic?

Thanks!

Sounds like you either have a filler tube that is being kinked or choked off by something…or the tank cannot vent properly… Does the Echo have a gas filler door that you can just open up when outside the vehicle? Meaning if some vandal wanted access to your gas cap…could he just open the filler door without pulling a lever in the car? IF SO…someone may have dropped something into your fill tube…like a miniature “action hero” figure or something like that…lol… Outside of that the fill tube may be kinked or something …have a looksie.

Blackbird

I guess anything can happen in Chicago, but no, I’m doubting vandalism since you need access to the lever in the cab to open the door to the tank.

To be more specific: like the Corolla thread I linked to, the pump clicks off regularly so the only way to keep fuel going in is to hand-squeeze very gently to fill the tank painfully slowly.

I wonder whether the charcoal canister has gas in it after it has been overfilled once or twice.
You can probably take that thing out and let it drip out or maybe blow some compressed air into it, etc.

Take the vehicle to someone who can check the Onboard Refueling Vapor Recovery system.

And when it’s taken apart for inspection, don’t be surprised if they tell you spiders nests is what is causing the refueling problem.

Tester

I started having the same problem with my 2000 Echo. The station attendant said it was most likely caused by a newer type hose connection. It happens at about half of the stations where I buy gas.