maybe its my gas tank?
 

hey guys, new here and i don't drive a mustang. i drive a 2003 toyota matrix. no flames please. i'm jerri's (stang_grl617) BF and i have a problem with my car that maybe some of you could answer, or she thought so. lets get to it shall we...

ok, this is gonna be hard to explain. you know how when your filling up and when your tank gets full the gas pump kicks off until you pull the nozzle out some? well mine has been doing that after i put like 1.00-1.50 in my car. it keeps doing that until the car is full. i've tried different hose depths and i've tried 3 different gas stations because i thought it was the pumps at first. i've been to the same station twice and both pumps did it and then this morning at a completley different station and it did it there. i know my luck isn't that bad! i used to get 360 miles to the tanks and the previous fill up before this one got me 300 miles and before this fill up i got 345. i do run the AC but that isn't gonna rob 60 miles out of a tank!!! 20 or so i can see, but 60?!?! anyways, if you guys know what in my tank is making the gas pump kick off every dollar and a half please let me know what i can do. i hope i have explained this good enough. thanks.

Re: maybe its my gas tank?
 

no flames, lol j/k with ya, -- are you holding the handle wide open? we have a chevy truck:rolleyes: , at work, if you hold the nozzle wide open, it kick's off after 3 second's, have to hold it halfway or less, it's a pita, but, am i close or not. really i'm telling the straight up on this. good luck :D :D

Re: Re: maybe its my gas tank?
 

The Matrix uses a 13.2 gallon fuel tank in the non-AWD models. This means at empty, you probably still have more than a gallon left. So at 12 gallons for 360 miles, you're getting 30mpg. If you were to get only 300 miles, it would still be 25 miles per gallon, and at 345 you'd be sitting at nearly 29mpg.

A mix of more city driving than normal, coupled with the A/C would easily account for the drop in fuel economy. No offense, but I believe you have the 130hp version. Even with better than 250hp, and a ton of torque, my 88, 87, and 02GT's suffered 2-3mpg for running the A/C all the time. With 130hp and less torque, it's going to significantly pull on the little engine, especially at lower rpm to keep the A/C running. No joke, but the A/C can rob significant horsepower.

In regards to your gas filling problems, I've had the same problem from time to time in many of my cars. A lot of modern gas stations have powerful pumps that simply pump more fuel than what your tank's filler neck can get into the tank. This causes a backup of fuel in the filler neck, and that trips the sensor on the filler nozzle resulting in the fuel flow stopping.

As Crazy Horse GT stated, just don't hold the filler wide open, and you should have no problems.

The gas vapor is too much for the venting to handle, slow it down.

Your vent may have been blocked off somewhere. It is usually in the filler neck, although some run external on the outside of the filler neck. If its an external vent line look for a blockage or bent line, if its an internal vent you could get one from a wrecker and see if it makes a difference.

Hehe, just run a red gas can in the back seat, like the demolition derby cars. :p j/k yeah I agree there's probably some sort of blockage in there, and more than likely you're not the only person with that vehicle and that problem. I'd check with a dealership and see if there's a TSB on it. Might be an easier/cheaper fix than ya think! Good luck.

My parents had the same thing happen to thier 99 sonata. My parents got the car to go on a trip to visit my grandma about 600 miles away and we had to deal with the gas nozzle shutting off every few seconds until the tank was full. It would take up to 30 minutes to fill up the tank. It was very very frusterating and annoying. As soon as we got back home my dad took the car in to have it checked out. I dont recall what the problem was exactly but we took it to the dealership and they had to replace the entire gas tank! It was under warranty and we got a full tank of gas when the car was done!