Gas tank not venting? Keeps puking gas back at me...

[farns]

Hey all,

My lovely Windstar that you guys have been helping me with has another symptom I've been meaning to ask you about. When we put gas in it, it has a tendency to spit the fuel back at us. We have to pump a little bit, let it settle, then pump a little bit more, etc... it's a pain. My father in law says he thinks there is some kind of hose that vents the air? Does that sound right? We are wondering if it's clogged or something, so not venting air properly. But you can totally hear the fuel gurgling back up as you are pumping the gas.

Also, I've noticed that there is no spring loaded inner cap like every other vehicle I've seen has, you know... when you put the pump nozzle in the hole, it pushes a little metal flap out of the way. That thingy. I don't know if it's missing, broken off inside the tank, or in any way related to this issue. What have you guys experienced along these lines?

Thanks!

Farns

[FishFind]

it may have broke off. A lot of cars have a screen part way down the filler hose. I guess it is to keep large objects out of the tank and it keeps someone from shoving a garden hose down to siphon gas out. Maybe the flap fell in and is blocking flow.

[olopezm]

+1 on the above tip. You'll have to remove the hoses to inspect any blockages.

Oscar.

[12Ounce]

On some models, there is a "hose within a hose". But on the Windstar, the smaller vent hose is outside the larger one. You can see this under the L-rear wheel well. What you can't see very well is the metal tube that inters the topside of the tank ... or the metal receiver just inside the gas door. Once these hoses have a few years service, they become very stiff and difficult to remove or work with.

[71chevmal]

Just in case anyone uses the search function, I'll add my fix to this.

Wife reported the same issue with our 2001 model. I figured it was a vent problem. Vent tube is in the filler area, about the 10 o'clock position. Locks in with a barbed fitting.

I removed the inner splash guard and pulled the whole tube out of the car. It runs down to a box next to the tank. I assume it is the evap canister.

I blew the hose out with some compressed air and discovered the remnants of a spider nest in there that I had to take out with a small screw driver but for a second, it held enough pressure to blow a small hole through the side of the hose which I then had to repair.

That was a couple weeks ago and the wife reports the issue is fixed. No more fuel blow backs so if you are having this problem, check for spider nests.

[catvents]

Here is what I have read on another forum. My Freestar workshop also indicate that procedure to fix this issue.

I noticed over a time putting gas in the vehicle, became a time consuming process. About every $5.00 the the gas pump would stop pumping, and sometimes gas would spew out. After investigation I found that the EVAP Purge Control Solenoid has a screen that can get clogged with dust from the charcoal canister. Which will not allow air to escape out of the tank durring refueling. The EVAP canister is located underneath driverside between the frame and body, close to where you put gas in the tank. Remove EVAP assembly 4 8mm bolts hold it on. You will see the electrical pigtail going to the solenoid when removing from vehicle. The canister has two parts just snapped together, you will need to seperate these two pieces disconnect the hose, and remove the solenoid. Now that you have the solenoid there is 4 parts to it you will need to seperate the where the hose connections connect to the body of the solenoid (metal solenoid body to black plastic, after seperation look inside where the black plastic pieces connected to the solenoid this where you will find the screen, if you remove the black rubber you can seperate where the two hose attach. Clean the screen and reinstall everything.

[Mustang_Driver]

I know this is a different vehicle but i had a Ply.Voyager and had the same type of symptoms and then about a year later the fuel pump decided to pack it in with a full tank of fuel so when i tried to siphon the gas out i could only get about a gallon out so i had to find a different way to do this but after all is said and done seems dodge put a ball valve inside the filler neck to prevent siphoning and if it were to break apart i could see it doing the same thing