# Car tries to stall after filling up

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-tries-to-stall-after-filling-up/41994>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** caravan, dodge\
**Created:** [January 7, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-tries-to-stall-after-filling-up/41994 "2010-01-07T00:05:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![onirampage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/278dde/32.png) [@onirampage](https://community.cartalk.com/u/onirampage)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-tries-to-stall-after-filling-up/41994/1 "2010-01-07T00:05:25Z")

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Looking for some help, here’s what’s happening. After we fill our gas tank and drive away the van acts like it will stall and if you don’t give it a lot of gas it will. The kicker is this will only occur if the tank is less than half full when we fill up.

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**Author:** ![Roadrunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Roadrunner](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Roadrunner)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-tries-to-stall-after-filling-up/41994/2 "2010-01-07T01:55:16Z")

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Your fuel pump may be getting tired.

The fuel pump relies on a fuel covering whenever running, a failure at some time will cause the pump to overheat and cause premature wear.

Now, you may have a little less than 1/2 a tankful and go up or down a reasonably steep grade and IF the amount of fuel and the angle of the fuel tank are such that the pump becomes above the fuel, it heats up.

Not turning the gas cap closed a few (or more) ‘clicks’ when finished fueling up will cause problems too.

Do you get any CEL?

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**Author:** ![geeaea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@geeaea](https://community.cartalk.com/u/geeaea)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-tries-to-stall-after-filling-up/41994/3 "2010-01-07T02:14:19Z")

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I too wonder about the CEL. What year is this van? Normally I’d say that you’ve got some defect in the venting system and perhaps (what would be) a flooded carbon canister.

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**Author:** ![onirampage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/278dde/32.png) [@onirampage](https://community.cartalk.com/u/onirampage)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-tries-to-stall-after-filling-up/41994/4 "2010-01-07T03:10:52Z")

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The van is a 2004. What is a CEL? The van is not doing the stall thing at any other time than immediately after adding fuel. I’m sure it isn’t the gas cap because I have been burned by that one before.

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**Author:** ![cigroller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c68b51/32.png) [@cigroller](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cigroller)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-tries-to-stall-after-filling-up/41994/5 "2010-01-07T03:18:31Z")

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The CEL is the “check engine light” / a.k.a. “service engine soon.”

Do you “top off” the gas tank when filling? I.e. do you keep going after the automatic shut off turns off the pump to get the tank completely full? This messes up the evaporative emissions system which, if it gets full of liquid fuel rather than fuel vapor will cause problems. Anyway, if you do top off, don’t.