Anyone ever have an issue filling the gas tank on a cruiser?

110

Asked by RPanther Nov 29, 2008 at 07:24 PM about the 2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser Touring Wagon FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a 2002 Cruiser with 81K I am wanting to sell.
When I try to put gas in the car, the pumps always stop, I have to wait about 10 seconds, then I can put about a dollars worth in before the pump clicks off. I followed the rubber air line, at least that is what I believe the rubber tube is that runs down along the tube which leads to the tank, and noticed the rubber "air line" seems to be caulked at one end with about 1.5 inches of what appears to be black caulk sticking out which comes to a point. The tube connects to nothing. I also notice a similar piece of caulk near the tank in a small area that also comes to a point. Not sure what is going on here. Any ideas?

11 Answers

545

The usual cause for the hard fill condition is a restriction in the evaporative system hoses. Check for a stuck closed fuel control valve. If spit back is the concern, there is a flapper door where the fill neck attaches to the fuel tank, if this flapper is not sealing properly it will allow fuel to come up the fill neck as the tank nears full. If this condition is present a fuel tank is required to repair

20 people found this helpful.
110

Thank you for replying. When you use the term hard fill, I take that to mean the black caulk like material that is at the downside end of the air line. Should the air line itself connect to something near the tank? Also, I searched on web for fuel control valve and could only come up with an air valve for the cruiser. Where is this located? Thank you again for your help. Robert

4 people found this helpful.
110

Thank you for replying. When you use the term hard fill, I take that to mean the black caulk like material that is at the downside end of the air line. Should the air line itself connect to something near the tank? Also, I searched on web for fuel control valve and could only come up with an air valve for the cruiser. Where is this located? Thank you again for your help. Robert

7 people found this helpful.
390

I have a 2005 pt cruiser and I'm having the same issue. How do you fix this?

39 people found this helpful.
120

I have a 2007 PT Cruiser with same issue. Shop just told me $1400 to fix. It's basically a float ball that's supposed to move around, but is now stuck in place (they fixed the same problem once before by dislodging this ball - now they say it's permanently stuck. New gas tank and fuel pump is what the solution is.

12 people found this helpful.
300

There is a valve fixed into the top right corner of the tank that controls the gasses being released when you fill up, this gets stuck and won't let any vapor out so the gas has nowhere else to go but back up the fuel filler pipe so it also forces the fuel back up as well shutting off the pump nozzle. Sometimes you can fix it by disconnecting the vapor pipe near the fuel tank and shooting some air into the pipe, this can release the valve. In my case it worked initially but the valve just got stuck again within a month. I have now tried a little bit of WD40 blown in with some air to see if this lubricates it a bit to avoid sticking. If this fails the next thing is to replace the complete fuel tank as I believe the valves come already fitted into it. I have searched everywhere and cannot find these valves listed to buy on there own, even the dealership could not find them but don't count on them to help you, mine was useless and could not help me confirm or deny anything. So if you can just get under the rear of the car and disconnect that pipe at the quick disconnect you may be able to fix the problem, worth a try.

14 people found this helpful.
120

I have a 2009 PT Cruiser which HAD the problem. The first dealer swore he fixed it and also swore that he was able to fill the tank. I took it in a second time to the same dealer and they replace the entire filler assembly down to the tank, but the same thing happened. My attorney suggested taking it to another dealer 20 miles away for a second opinion. A really savvy repair manager called me the next day and said they found the problem but it would take a new fuel tank to fix it as there was a valve inside the tank that was not supposed to let fuel through, just air. Since I really like my Cruiser and have had it modified with hand controls for gas and brakes, I told the to go ahead and order the tank. He called back and said that they checked further and that Chrysler had a service note out on the tank and all of the items that had to be replaced. I told them to go ahead and fix it, otherwise it's a really big boat anchor and good only for salvage! That was four months and more than a dozen complete fill-ups ago and I'm a happy camper with my 2009 Cruiser. I'm writing to Chrysler and naming the first and second dealers, along with complete copies of repair orders from both dealers. -tacony37

12 people found this helpful.
30

2007 PT Cruiser gas tank is doing same thing, put a little gas in it cuts off wait a few minutes start again over and over.

3 people found this helpful.
300

This was a problem on my wifes 2007 model, the way I fixed it was to disconnect the vapor pipe which runs down alongside the fuel pipe to the gas tank, its a quick disconnect not hard to do. Then spray a little WD40 or a silicon version is better, then blow some air into it with a compressor if you have it,a couple of these and its fixed. This worked then it did it again after a week, so did the exact same thing again and that was almost a year ago and no further problems. A full fix means replacing the fuel tank as the valves are all built into it and you cannot get them on there own, its a $600+ part.

16 people found this helpful.
10

I had a mechanic put on new timing belt - next day engine light comes on - he said let me scan and see what comes up - he said a spark plug was misfiring - put in new spark plug - and sends me on my way - then the following day I am unable to put fuel into my tank - initially 15 dollars worth but then after that a couple of messy over flow of gas - and would take 4 dollars - but only if I put in little by little - then at some point the engine light comes on - related to this issue with fuel because my gauge does not now register - stops right before the empty line - with check engine light on - did not have issues before I took my car in for a timing belt - as he said it was - and now all these issues - I gave this man 1,368.50 for my belt - I feel so angry now - any suggestions - beside never going back to this thief again ?

1 people found this helpful.
30

For anyone having this issue now, I thought I would add my experience with this problem: We bought a '08 Cruiser with 97k miles on it. Everything was fine for the first year, but about 13 months after that we started having trouble filling the gas up. Initially, it was intermittent, eventually it was every time. What I found works is when the tank is getting low I remove the gas cap. This allows some airflow to come in and release the flapper that is stuck closed and we can fill up. Usually I can do this right before driving to my neighborhood gas stations which is less than a mile away. It's kind of annoying, but if you are like me and don't want to pay over $1k to fix the problem, it's a good work around. We're about to take it on a road trip to get my daughter to college so that is going to be interesting.

3 people found this helpful.

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