…that spiders can cause problems with the Evaporative Emissions System on cars.
And, beyond simply making it difficult to fill the gas tank properly, they can apparently cause a gas tank to split.
Yikes!
This article gives some details on Mazda’s spider-related recalls:
that site is horrible. […] but I think @VDCdriver is right (vide infra).
as for the topic at hand : I sense that the Tesla legal problems in New Jersey have NJ people thinking.
@JuniorMint: Most online forums do not allow the copying of entire copyrighted articles, such as the one that I referenced by posting a link, and that you copied in its entirety.
So, although I don’t know the policy of this site when it comes to posting copyrighted material, I wouldn’t be too surprised if the web lackeys deleted your post.
@cdaquila–What say you?
Can we do a copy & paste of copyrighted material?
Edited to add:
For those who are a bit confused about JuniorMint’s comment, above, he deleted the text of the article that he had previously posted, perhaps as a result of my comment. Now things might make a bit more sense for those who are reading this thread for the first time!
You must admit…it sure sounds like an urban myth. I’ll believe it when I see it.
^
I have not personally seen it, but…Do you really think that Mazda would have spent the money for multiple recalls if this potential problem was not “real”?
Now wait, maybe it wasn’t the traditional spider. Spiderman can easily deploy a web easily capable such a thing. Don’t be too quick to dismiss it.
@VDCdriver … you would think that but Mazda belongs to the same group of manufacturing morons who removed the transmission drain plug and the transmission dipstick from some models. Simply spending money is not proof…in my opinion. I agree that it’s possible that a spider can do this but I haven’t seen it yet.
@VDCdriver, @JuniorMint: links are good, and if you want to pull a block quote here and there to make a point, that’s ok. Thanks for bringing it up.
The handbook for my barbecue takes pains to point out that you have to keep an eye on the burner venturies, and clear any cobwebs or spiders each season. Spiders seem to like the sweet smell of propane and many BBQ owners have been puzzled why their flame was the wrong color or burned irregularly.
I thoroughly clean mine each season and often find cobwebs.
Who ever said it was an urban legend that spiders and other little critters cause problems with EVAP systems?
I think it’s an urban legend that it’s an urban legend.
If this were true, how come these spiders have not been attracted to open gas cans that the last user did not snap the cap back onto. I never seal mine and have never seen a web or any dead bugs in my gas cans.
Why has this just occured now and older cars, motorcycles, mowers, etc. etc. ,have not been affected.
Why just masda and not all autos???
Hard to believe.
And only Superman…the man of steel could split open a gas tank.
@VDCdriver
I’ll go a little off topic
I’m not defending anybody in particular here
Why did you never raise concerns when I would post a technical service bulletin or article in its entirety?
We all know I’ve done it a few times
And many of us have found them to be helpful, from time to time
For that matter, there have been many of us that have posted entire articles
I guess you need to be in the auto repair business long enough to expierience some of these urban myths.
Tester
Only one urban legend you can trust/
Johnny…
With all the “critters” like mice & squirrels that play heck with cars’ electrical & other systems, it’s easy to believe smaller creatures could get into smaller spaces of the vehicle. We had an F150 the other day whose standard transmission wouldn’t disengage all the way. Mice had stored soundproofing fiber between the fingers of the pressure plate spring & the frame of the pressure plate.
“Why did you never raise concerns when I would post a technical service bulletin or article in its entirety?”
I never noticed, I suppose.
“We all know I’ve done it a few times.”
You might want to curtail the use of “all”, as “all” doesn’t apply if even one person didn’t notice…
“And many of us have found them to be helpful, from time to time.”
Absolutely!
However, it would be better to post a link, rather than to quote copyrighted material in its entirety. I have heard of people being banned from some sites for repeated posting of copyrighted material, although I don’t think that it applies to this site.
There is a particular species of spider, called the “yellow sac spider”, that has actually been shown to be attracted to gasoline vapors in its selection of prime places to build a web. Nobody really knows why. Perhaps gas vapors repel its predators. It’s these spiders that have been causing problems by creating webs in EVAP system vents.
There are countless articles on this phenomenon on the web, including photos of the spiders and descriptions of their habits.
I heard this mentioned on the radio news here in the SF Bay area in the past day or two.
“If this were true, how come these spiders have not been attracted to open gas cans”
I doubt the spiders are attracted to the smell of plain raw gas.
The vent to the open air is designed to not release fuel vapors.
What’s coming out of the vent is probably some trace of a fraction component of the fuel; highly diluted.
I might also be the smell of some plastic or rubber component unique to the Mazda parts.