My husband bought a 2013 Nissan Rogue in June this year & is very happy with it overall. But this morning when we stopped to fill it up, as soon as the pump finished filling, the nozzle actually shot itself out of the car! The attendant had to come over and pick it up off the ground. I’ve never experienced anything like it! I was looking in the passenger side mirror at the time & saw it fly backwards. My husband said this has happened now about 4 times and he tries to avoid going to stations where this has occurred. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? We’re concerned both about damage to the car’s exterior as the nozzle flies out & whoever is unfortunate enough to be standing nearby when this happens.
It happened to me years ago. I think it was because the fumes had nowhere to escape and so pressure built up. Gasoline also came flying out. I thought the design had been changed to not allow that to happen anymore.
If it happened only at one gas station I would think it was a defective dispenser, but it sounds like it’s been more than one place.
I would not push the nozzle in all of the way and it should prevent that from happening.
That is why I always keep my hand on the nozzle
BTW . . . did the nozzle damage the car in any way when it flew out?
No, it didn’t, thank goodness - shot straight away from the car.
We’re in NJ so no option of filling it ourselves here.
Why aren’t you allowed to fill your own vehicles?
It’s full serve only here in NJ.
<b><i>Why aren't you allowed to fill your own vehicles?</i></b>
Same reason many things are screwed up: politicians and lobbyists.
The state maintains that it is far too dangerous to let people fill their own tanks
BTW, “full service” is a misnomer. All the attendants do is fill your tank.
And top it off to boot.
Well, in that case, I am living in danger in southern California
Everyone pumps their own gas, except, perhaps, in some very rural areas
With the restrictor in the car’s filler neck, not much of the nozzle sticks into the car. Further, modern vapor recovery mechanisms on the nozzles tend to be spring-loaded, pushing against the filler neck. I’m not surprised that some nozzles will shoot out of the filler neck when they click off.
@LewisCannon : It was that way when got my first job, pumping gas in NJ. That was 1973.
I used to have this happen with my VW Rabbit, but it only occurred at one gas station. I stopped going to that station was my solution. Maybe the pump was a little faster at that station or something, or the venting of the filler hose and nozzle was different. Or the angle the nozzle entered was somehow different.
If it happens at other stations, the OP should ask their mechanic to inspect the gas tank venting apparatus on their car, see if anything is blocked or amiss.
Thank you, GeorgeSanJose! I don’t drive this car so never knew it happened till I was in it yesterday. That’s when my husband said this has occurred about 4 times - not every fill up but it has been at different stations. Now that I know, I’ll tell him what to ask the mechanic to check - thanks again!
Check the vapor lines. Spiders get in them and block the ends with their webs and cause this problem.
“Check the vapor lines. Spiders get in them and block the ends with their webs and cause this problem.”
+1
The car’s evaporative emissions system needs to be checked–preferably at the dealership. Just in case the problem is covered by warranty, the repair would cost nothing at the dealership. However, if the problem is spider-related, you will pay for the fix, as this type of situation is not the fault of the vehicle mfr.
Regarding, “We’re in NJ so no option of filling it ourselves here.”, as a fellow NJ resident for the past 58 years, I am going to disagree with you.
While I may have to allow the gas attendant to start the fueling process, I make sure that I am standing next to the pump when the pump is about to shut off. That way, if he is not around (which is usually the case), I can finish the process myself, grab the credit card receipt, wave it in the general direction of the gas attendant, and drive off–thus saving time, and preventing possible damage to the car from overfilling the tank.
If the attendant beats me to it, and I am not personally able to finish the pumping process, I am at least there in time to say, “Enough! No more”, or–depending on the attendant–“Bastante! No mas!”.
The bottom line is that you want to prevent overfilling of the tank–which essentially means that once the gas pump clicks off for the first time, no additional gas should be forced into the tank. A friend of mine liked to sit on his butt and ignored my advice about doing the fueling himself. The result was having to replace the carbon canister (the heart of the evaporative emissions system), to the tune of over $300.
Because I take control of the gas pumping process, I have…
no gas stains on the rear fender…
no scratches on the paint from the gas cap hitting the rear fender…
and…
most important of all…
no damage to my evaporative emissions system.
Yes, there is a statute in NJ stating that you are not allowed to pump your own gas, but, here is a challenge:
Can you find even ONE case of somebody ever being arrested/prosecuted/fined for this “offense”?
Actually, don’t waste your time looking for those cases, as nobody is ever punished for the act of fueling his/her own car in NJ. In fact, most gas attendants thank me for doing it myself!
Take control of the situation, and your car will be the better for it.
Excellent posts, both knfenimore & VDCdriver - yes, we only have this car serviced at the dealer since it is under warranty. Will hope it isn’t spider related!
And very good idea to be at the ready outside the car when the pump finishes. This is a trick I didn’t know - will definitely pass this info along!
Thank you for your help!!
As far as the spiders go, the customer isn’t always on the hook for spider-related damages to the evap system. Some time ago, Ford had technical service bulletins related to plugged/damaged/dirty evap vent systems, which prevented the customer from properly filling the vehicle. The solution was an updated canister and remote filter
Even GM had such a bulletin, which also had you install an updated vent and a remote filter
In both cases, the remote filter was higher up and angled as such that dirt and spiders were less likely to cause havoc.
I’ve performed both of these repairs, and they 100% took care of the problem. I would know, because I see these fleet trucks every 6 months for their scheduled services
Of course, if you read the bulletins, it’s clear they’re only free so long as the car has new car warranty, or at least an emissions warranty.
There might be a similar bulletin for the NIssan Rogue. It doesn’t hurt to ask.
I searched and the evap control valve and junk in the tubes seem to cause the problem with the Titan too.