I have a 2004 Chevy Aveo and last weekend I suddenly couldn’t fill my gas tank. I was almost at empty and the tank kept shutting off. It would fill maybe half a gallon, then click off. Then it wouldn’t fill again until I tried all kinds of maneuvers to get the nozzle pointing in some other direction (I would pull the lever and it would just click off immediately). I tried the 45 degree angle, and pulling the nozzle out of the tank a little. Fortunately a combo of both of those things let me fill a gallon at a time before it would shut off.
It’s not just the gas station or that particular pump or my particular area or the fact that my gas tank was empty. Over the week I’ve tried to fill my tank when it’s half-full already. I’ve tried different gas stations, different pumps at different stations, in four different states (I went on a trip to visit my family when this first happened two weekends ago).
I’m nervous there’s something really wrong with my poor car! When I turn my car off I do hear some odd, hollow “click” sound coming from it (toward the back, not under the hood). That also started really recently.
Anyone know what this is about?
What I would do was somehow get what is know as an “exploded view” of you gas tanks filler pipe and see what type of device is used to prevent fuel spillage in the event of rollover,perhaps this device is malfunctioning.
If you don’t want to get an exploded viev you could just assume its some type of ball in a cage and poke down there with a fiberglass rod.
This problem could end up being related to a tank venting problem (but why the tank wont vent along the gas fill nozzel I can’t explain) or even more remotely a problem with the charcol canister (we do have reports that this canister caused the problem).
I did look for bulletins dealing with this concern and did not find any.
I would go for a look at the fill pipe design (stop buy the Dealers parts dept and have a look,keep one hand on your wallet.)
There are several possibilities; some depend on the make model and year. What year is your Aveo?
Do you generally top off the tank when you fill it up? If so you may have caused damage to the vapor recovery system that is now showing up.
Enter the words “slow fill” into this boards 'search" window…Also try “pump keeps clicking off” to see many similar posts.
It’s usually a stuck check valve caused by over-filling your tank…
The problem is likely due to the On-board Vapor Recovery System.
Unlike in the old days where the gas tank was allowed to vent through the fill tube as the gas tank was filled, vehicles now are required to have this OVRS. This prevents gas vapors from being released into the air. If there’s a restriction in this system, the gas tank can’t vent properly as it’s filled so the pump keeps kicking off.
Have all the hoses from the gas tank to carbon canister removed and blown out with compressed air to remove any possible restrictions in this system.
Did you know that spider nests in this system have been known to cause this problem?
Tester
ORVR systems have been installed on passenger cars since 2000…The infamous, dreaded and expensive “Carbon Canister” usually has an intake filter on the bottom that can be plugged…Cars that have been in high water and submerged this canister have these kind of problems…These canisters can be hard to find, hidden away inside body panels and inner fenders…