This is my first ever post, so please forgive me if I accidentally violate forum etiquette.
I’m writing you folks on behalf of my mother. She’s the proud owner of a 2011 Hyundai Accent. It’s been a reliable vehicle for a number of years.
That said, something odd has been going on with it for the past month or so. Basically, the engine fails to start after pumping gas, sometimes.
It seems to only happen after fueling up from near empty tank.
Here’s what I’ve done so far:
I’ve had techs at two different places test out the alternator and battery for issues: each time, the results were good.
Web research suggests that there could be a problem with the fuel pump (?) that might manifest when the gas level is low.
Other web results suggested that there may be an issue with the purge valve.
Two workarounds have been suggested: 1) don’t let the gas level go passed 1/4 tank and 2) should the situation arise again, try putting the pedal to the metal when attempting to start the car.
These workarounds have not been tried as of this posting. The next thing she’ll try is filling the gas a few times when the tank is nearly full.
EDIT: I removed the bit about OCS because it’s unrelated!
Also, I forgot to mention that in the cases when the car would not start, a jump was necessary or otherwise was a way to get the car going.
Well, that’s all I have now. I would be grateful for any insight.
It may be as simple as filling the gas at low speed, try that once. Something may need tweaking but for a no cost solution I would try this first. Do not keep adding more gas after the click stop.
Thanks for the input, Barkydog. She just tried filling up with a mostly full tank and there was no problem. She now tells me that she’s actually tried filling up a mostly full tank before, was without incident.
Thanks for the advice on not overfilling. She’s been good about that.
I don’t mean to be obtuse, but what do you mean by filling up gas at low speed?
There are usually 3 positions on the pump handle to control gas delivery speed. A small locking mechanism determines the flow rate. The locking spot closest to the hose is usually the slow speed fill.
Run the car down top 1/2 tank and re-fuel. If the car is OK, try 1/4 tank and see if it is OK. If filling a 1/4 full tank until the first shut-off click works, I’d just go with that.
If the car is approaching 100K miles, I might install a new fuel pump pro-actively as they don’t last forever.
I would suspect a fuel pump that is getting weak. I used to carry a 2x4 and a five pound hammer. Banging on the bottom of the gas tank would usually jar the pump motor enough to get me going again after getting gas.
Does the no-start condition only happen when refilling? In other words, if you drove for a while, shut the engine off for the same amount of time it takes to fill the tank, and then try to restart it, will it start?
So how does your mother eventually get the car started after a fill-up?
If I had to venture a guess, it sounds like it’s possibly a stuck open purge solenoid for the vapor canister. That would usually set a code but maybe not.
The B1448 has nothing to do with engine operation but I think you already knew that.
Does she keep pumping after the pump clicks off to top off the tank? If so, that could be the cause.
Don’t ever take the car back to the place where the techs looked at it again. No one should be told that the engine turns over but doesn’t start, and suspect the battery or alternator. Anyone who does doesn’t understand what those parts do.
She refueled from 3/4 take recently without incident. After reading your post, I helped her set up a journal for keeping track of these experiments. Should be enlightening. At the very least, it might just be the ticket to at least preventing this from happening again.
She’s at 120K now, I believe. I checked out the official maintenance schedule, but I saw no explicit mention of “fuel pump.” Is there another name it might appear under.
Does the no-start condition only happen when refilling? In other words, if you drove for a while, shut the engine off for the same amount of time it takes to fill the tank, and then try to restart it, will it start?
Yeah, only when refilling.
So how does your mother eventually get the car started after a fill-up?
She’s been getting jumps, which have worked.
If I had to venture a guess, it sounds like it’s possibly a stuck open purge solenoid for the vapor canister. That would usually set a code but maybe not.
Yeah, disregard the B1448 thing. I shouldn’t have brought that up. To your point, and this is probably a stupid question, should I expect Hyundai’s diagnostic picks up a lot more than, say, Advance Auto’s free diagnostic?
Yep, no overpumping! I’m going to suggest to her that it’s probably cheaper in the long run to deal with Hyundai experts than to places like AA. Thanks.
You do not need a dealer to solve this problem . But you do need to have it solved. Stop wasting time with refueling at different levels of fuel remaining and get this fixed before it becomes a problem at any level . An independent shop will probably charge about 100.00 to 125.00 to find the problem and most will waive that fee if they are allowed to do the repair.
I assume the vehicle jumps were from AAA and there is a limit to how many times they will do that a year.
Jumps have worked? This is getting more complicated… If the jumps are, in fact, working and not just a red herring, then the issue is electrical and not fuel related. If it’s electrical (bad starter for example) that would make sense as to why there’s no code. It’s possible it’s still fuel related and the time it takes to get a jump allows the fuel issue to subside and the engine to start.
Not a stupid question at all. Advance’s scanner should pick up the same codes as the dealer.
That is strange. That would indicate the battery was dead, but why only when she refuels? But you said the starter cranks when this happens but it won’t start. A jump start should not get you any advantage over just cranking, as long as it is cranking at a good speed.
Or is it just the time she waits for AAA to respond?
Or does the AAA driver do something else, like spray some starter fluid in the air intake. I think we need more info.
Not necessarily…Advance and Auto Zone use basic scanners. I don’t think they can pick up manufacturer specific codes, and I don’t think they can pick up ABS/Airbag/VSC/Transmission codes
I have seen parts stores that use scanners that can pick up B, C, P & U codes. This is a no-start condition so the chances of their scanners being unable to pick up a PXXXX code is unlikely.
