Daughter is at a pump in MO trying to get home to KS. Her 2005 Mazda 3 hatchback will not receive gas from the pump, she says it “spits gas back out the filler tube and shuts the pump off.” She’s stuck. This has never happened before and she’s owned the car for over a year. Thanks for your help.
If she, or the previous owner, had a habit of topping off the tank, this may have caused the problem. It’s likely the charcoal canister and is a pricey fix.
One other cause could be a stuck rollover valve. If she’s got access to a flexible piece of tubing, she might try pushing it down the filler neck and try to unjam it.
Your daughter should leave the pumping to an attendant if available. Many cars have this problem, trying to do the right thing and capture as much gasoline vapor as possible, only to encounter a myriad of solutions on the pump side that do not co-exist with car’s solution. Often an experienced attendant can fill the car, relying on either patience or technique.
If she has to fuel the car herself, she needs to pump the fuel as slowly as possible, just barely depressing the lever to allow the least amount of fuel to flow. Even so, it will kick back a few times. But if she is patient, she can fill the tank this way.
She should be able to pull nozzle 1/8th the way open and slowly put gas in the tank.
Have repair guy check valve like others have said but also the vent hose for kinks that goes to front of car.
Replacing canister is a $100-$400 just for parts
The problem is most likely with the Onboard Refueling Vapor Recovery system.
As the gas tank is filled, the gas tank vents through the carbon canister to capture the gasoline vapors prior to venting to the atmosphere. If there’s a restriction in this system the gas tank is unable to vent as it’s being filled and the gas shoots back out of the fill neck.
Have the ORVR system inspected for blockage. There have actually been reports of spiders building nests in these systems causing this problem.
Tester
I was able to fix a similar problem. Try pulling, hard, on the gas cap. This will burp the evaporative system, allowing fuel to flow into the gas tank.