Fuel Tank Vent Tube Clogged

[mckellyb]

This problem has been in progress for a year, now, though before now, it happened only when the car had been sitting a while, and after 2.5 gallons, or so, it'd be fine. I think the vent hose is kinked, and beforehand, if enough fuel reached the kink, it loosened up enough to let air out.

However it's now gotten to the point I dread getting gasoline. We just got back from a weekend RT from Vegas to Denver, and man, I'd forgotten how cold 20F is...especially when it takes ten minutes to put 15 gallons in.

Grrrrr.

Anyone know how to access this vent line? It looks like the LR fenderwell needs to come out, which I'm not thrilled about, as I know it's not going back in the same way. I see a fenderwell laying on a freeway in the future....

I'm hoping I can access it from beneath and blow some compressed air into the line, but I fear that may not fix the root problem.

So, if you've been down this road, tell me what I'm in for.

[mckellyb]

Holy old thread, Batman!

I finally figured this out. I actually caused this problem without knowing it.

The RX spent 12 months in my mother's garage, stored while we traveled. I've stored motorcycles, snowblowers and PWC's over the years without problems...I've gotten confident in doing it.

Put a Battery Tender on it, change the oil (fresh Mobil 1, of course), put max air in the tires and top off the fuel tank.

It's this last one which bit me. I filled the gas tank to the top, which I'd not done in the past, as we'd lived in Oregon, land of gasoline is too dangerous for anyone but the minimum-wage pump jockey to touch the pump, but max fuel means less space for condensation, which is good.

It turns out when the tank is filled to the tippy-top, or even close, somehow the vent tube clogs. I found if I put, at maximum, a third of a gallon in after the pump clicks off, then it's fine. I've had more than a few GM's, so the first pump shutoff usually meant the tank has another 5 gallons of capacity. Habits die hard. But in this case, and in the case of my Suzuki "Grand" Vitara, they both have maybe a half-gallon of viable fluid space left when the pump clicks off.

[Grumpa72]

So how did you clear the clogged line?

[mckellyb]

So how did you clear the clogged line?

When the tank was about half full, I unscrewed the gas cap but left it on the filler tube, and left it overnight. I'm still surprised this seemed to work.

Remember, don't drive with it unscrewed, it's a guaranteed 'check engine' light cause.