I have a 2006 Grand Caravan. For the last 6 months,after filling the gas tank, within 2-3 minutes my engine will die (while driving). After re-starting it will run fine until the next fillup. I moved from regular gas (BP) up to 93 octane (BP) which helped for a couple fillups but now it occurs even w/ 93 octane gas. Any ideas? John.
The octane has noting to do with it. Unless your owner’s manual calls for high octane, then don’t bother. In a few cases it can actually do damage.
My guess is that you are in the habit of topping off the tank when you fill it up. Right along with the octane rating, somewhere in the owner’s manual or on a sticker on the car somewhere, it likely warns you about topping off the tank. If that is the case, it may cast a few hundred. Good Luck
Thank you! I don’t normally top off, I just remove the filler when it clicks off. Is there an overflow or something on the filler tube that could cause a problem? Should I try not filling up to the automatic click-off? Thanks!
Hold on a second, my 04 Town and Country developed the same problem this past year and I don’t overfill the gas tank. At first I though it was water in the tank so I put some drying agent in the tank but that didn’t work. After almost every fill up before I go less than 1/8 of a mile the car will shutter and tries to or does stall. I found that by applying more gas I can power through it and the problem is gone until the next fill up
i have a 2005 dodge magnum. it is doing the exact same thing. we dont over fill either…but it continues to stall after we fill up…what did you do and did any of it work??
If it were my car, I would locate and disconnect the evaporative system purge line which will prevent refueling vapors from being dumped into you engine. But it’s not my car and others will be aghast at this suggestion. Also, disconnecting the purge line might make the CEL come on…
Well “aghast” might be an overstatement in this case. You’ve said worse Caddyman. But as a diagnostic step it is a fine idea in this case. As a permanent thing - well I don’t need to say that I think very differently about emissions controls. They are a really good idea - even if they create more parts that need attention at times.
Out of curiosity, what are you thinking whenever you see those dingy brownish-yellow hazes of smog hanging over major cities? And, on top of that, what are you thinking when you know it was far worse back in the 60s/early 70s? I just can’t see taking it as lightly as you do. (Not to hijack a thread or anything).
To those having problems: the evaporative emission system captures gas fumes and feeds them to the engine to be burned rather than venting them to the atmosphere. If something goes wrong - like liquid gas getting into the lines - it can mess with how the engine runs. The thing about hitting the gas to “power through” the problem makes sense there since hitting the “gas” on today’s cars is actually hitting the “air” - opening the throttle to let more air in. If you do have too much fuel, the stumble/stall is from too much fuel. One remedy is more air.
Anyway, given that there is obviously some Chrysler theme going on here - I would search for “Technical Service Bulletins” (TSB) related to the Dodge/Chrysler evap systems. You can find titles online. For full text you may need a local library. You might also just call a dealer and ask.
Sounds like a problem with the evaporative emissions control system. Since parts of the system are used every time you start the car to deal with vapor from normal daytime heating in a parking lot etc, those parts – including the infamous carbon cannister – are probably OK. So the problem is probably something that is unique to the Onboard Vapor Recovery System which deals with vapor displaced out of the gas tank during fueling.
Conceptually, this should be something that your dealer should be qualified to handle. And maybe they are. It may be a problem that they see every now and then and know how to fix. But be warned that dealers are an expensive place to get work done, and they aren’t always all that competent. Maybe talk to them and see what they think. But do not let them go off on a parts hanging expedition if you can avoid it.
“Out of curiosity, what are you thinking whenever you see those dingy brownish-yellow hazes of smog hanging over major cities? And, on top of that, what are you thinking when you know it was far worse back in the 60s/early 70s? I just can’t see taking it as lightly as you do. (Not to hijack a thread or anything).”
What one person does to their car makes no difference in air quality. After the atmosphere has been pumped through 3.5 million car engines, it’s never the same again… Nobody knows what clean air is anymore…Allowing car dealers to clean out your checkbook because their poor designs don’t work right is almost as bad as yellow-brown air…
Do Union-Pacific locomotives have EGR valves? I don’t think so…
it would appear that they do have to adhere to emissions regulations.
Go to the full service aisle (i.e. get someone else to do the fueling for you) a couple times and see what happens.
These things typically are very well covered by TSB’s, any body have a look yet? I have found many helpful bits of info about filling/poor running issues from TSB’s.
“What one person does to their car makes no difference in air quality.”