My friend just contacted me with an issue with her 2004 Hundai SantaFe - not a Sport model. This is what she says is happening…
" I have a 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe. It doesn’t want to run after I put in gas. I had one O2 sensor changed. There are no codes coming up. Suggestions?"
I asked her if she looked up any recalls for the car, she states there is the fuel tank rusting in certain climates. She lives in Arizona currently. It’s got a 2.7 engine, 2wd.
“It doesn’t want to run after I put in gas” ??
Can you provide more details? Do you mean the car won’t start after you fill the tank?
Does it try to start (crank) ? exactly what happens?
What about if you only partially fill the tank?
“Turns over, starts, then dies. Doesn’t matter how much gas you put in. If I two foot it, one for gas, one for brake, it will stay running & then it works just fine once it’s moving.”
Try this:
After putting gas in try starting it with the gas cap off.
Of course put the cap back on after the test.
If it works OK with the cap off then there’s a problem with the EVAP system and pressure in the tank.
EVAP system or fuel pump going south. Chugs while running and filling up is a little perplexing but still the same two issues unless there is something really unusual going on. I used to carry a 5 pound hammer to bang on the tank after filling up to get the pump running again.
It sort of seems like some tube is filling up w/fuel and creating a vapor lock condition, where the fuel pump can’t deliver fuel to the engine b/c of a vacuum created somewhere involving that tube that’s filling up. A vent tube problem, gas overflow valve, purge valve, canister problem, something like that. First step is to ask a shop to inspect the gas tank area for any vent hoses that have fallen off or split, then to follow those hoses to the purge valve and charcoal canister, again looking for problematic connections.
