Over at - ahem - another board, there seems to be a trend of folks complaing about fuel nozzles not automatically shutting off on their (mostly) '04 STis. There were some other models and years mentioned. Some say the tank is very full - most have overflow if they don't manually control the fuel nozzle. Enough reports that some feel NHTSA should be notified. Not only could this harm the charcoal canister/purge valve system, but it is a safety and environmemtal issue.

If anyone here has noticed that you should help NHTSA determine if a TSB or recall is required before someone gets torched.
fyi

Carl
1 Lucky Texan

it hapens to my 03 wrx sometimes i would say 20% of the time

yo u gotta be careful wit that ****. cuz i seen some 1 almost die from that, the lady pulled the nozzle out and she said some gas is overflowing and as she pulled it out static electricity sparked the air around the nozzle and caught fire. if that happens to u put the nozzle back in the tank. it sound dumb but it is the safest way.

Originally posted by maddogg
yo u gotta be careful wit that ****. cuz i seen some 1 almost die from that, the lady pulled the nozzle out and she said some gas is overflowing and as she pulled it out static electricity sparked the air around the nozzle and caught fire. if that happens to u put the nozzle back in the tank. it sound dumb but it is the safest way.

yeah, on the tv show mythbusters on discover they said to leave the nozzle in the filler thing because all of that stuff is designed to prevent the spread of such a fire.

Well, I only overflow when there is a problem with the pump. When I fill it up once it clicks it's done, no topping off. I found out fast if you even try to top it off a little it overflows. And I have a 99'.

It's weird at my gas station. I put the nozzle in and it will click off many times right off the bat OR it will click off with in about 6 seconds.... After I finagle that damn rubber cap thing that is on the nozzle I can finally fill up... One time though it had clicked off, and I said let's try to "round up" I don't like to pay something like $21.39, so I tried to get it up to $21.50... lol That was bad, next second later I've got gasoline all on my damn pantleg and my shoe is completly drentched in gas...

-Nigel

I did notice that it seems like the nozzle is more horizontal when I put it in my WRX then it has been with any other car I have had. I find that if I dont put it all the way in though it will stay on, without clicking out early, and I have yet to overflow.

Topping off your fuel is a big no no. Even if you're trying to round of to the nearest tenth, it's gonna spill. Once it's full, it can't get any fuller. I found out by trying the rounding up once. Never again. Got fuel all over the side of my car.

Many gas stations even display warnings on the side covers of their gas pumps that say 'DO NOT TOP OFF'. I rarely spill even a drop of gas when the nozzle shuts the pump off. Usually the ones that do so are because the actual pump is set to dispense a higher volume of fuel compared with other pumps.

I have an '02 WRX.

Since I pay at the pump using a gas card, I don't have a need to round off to any amount. When I receive the monthly statement, I cut the gas company a check and round up the amount to the next whole dollar just to speed up my check writing/bill paying.

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

I have an '03 OBW - never even came close to o'flowing when rounding up to nearest $0.25 .
If it was the pumps - or cold weather affecting the pumps - there would be issues with all cars I think. Since I don't have an Inpreza based model perhaps the 'horizontal-ness' of the fuel neck is the problem.

i filled my gas tank up, but i didnt top off, next thing later i saw about 4 drops of gas drip from under my bumper. but its never happened after that. so what was that all about?

Actually today I was at a gas station and I used the auto thing to let it fill up for you. I ran in to the rest room and had my buddy watch it for me. I got the car in january and have filled up like 10 times so far. Today for some reason it spilled out. First time ever. It did concern me and I didn't think twice at least not until I just read this post. I have a '04 WRX and i'm just wondering if this is something you report to SOA or the dealership.

Well, as much as I don't care for 'big government' we do have this NHTSA thing and they geenrally do a fair job of collecting data like this and working with car manufacturers to determine if there is a trend, and if a TSB or recall or something is required. Who knows? might be something with the pumps that is just marginal on these cars. To me, this seems as much of a trend as the fuel smell, the piston slap, the head gaskets, etc. But only NHTSA is gonna get something done. Also, this wouldn't be a huge deal except for 2 things, all the recent car manuals SPECIFICALLY say not to fill the car up too much as it may damage the vapor recovery system. Also, I'd hate to see Subaru implicated in somebody being torched cause they spilled gas on their socks and then caught fire stamping out a cig butt or something.

Never have had a problem in my 02. I have had my car almos 3 years now too, never spilled one drop of gas cause of overflow

Never had a problem in my '03...

Never had a prob with my 03, havnt had one with my STi *knock on wood*. But my Kawasaki Jet Ski will sometimes shoot gas out the fill tube when there is still like 10 gallons of free space in it. The Hummer always stops wayyyy short (but that is diesel and seems to be more foamy than gasoline) then you just gotta watch to make shure it dosnt overflow (long process).

Nick