Yeah, gas is expensive, and my milage ain't great, but thats not what this post is about. With my '55 Ply, when I'm filling up, if I use the catch that holds the pump on, or squeeze the lever to far, it clicks off. I have to use a fairly slow flow rate to fill it up, and I have to hold it because it's slow enough that the catch won't catch. What's the deal with that? Why does it click off if I try to fill it to fast? Thanks for the info.
I think the cause is one of two things: Either the pressure is building up, and causing the safety lock to kick on, or the actual gas level in the filler tube is backing up into the nozzle, which also kicks on the safety lock, to prevent overflowing. How big is your filler tube, your tank, and are they vented? That may be it. Tucker
Jeff I have the same damn problem with my 40.. I think its because the VENT i have on the tank is SMALL and the fuel is attempting to go in at a rate faster than air can escape.. my plan is to add a larger vent line this summer.. and most likely a charcoal canister I got at a swap this spring..
Stock 1 3/4" filler tube, stock 14(?) gallon tank, yes, they are vented. When it's full, it spits gas out the vent before I can hear it comming up the filler tube, so I usually have gas streaks down teh side of teh car. The corners in the filler tube are pretty sharp at both ends, would that affect it any?
my friend, it is simply old tech v.s. new tach. your tank won't allow the gasses to escape fast enough for the nozzle to be effective (not to mention the gas is areated,which adds even MORE air to the mix.) in 1940, Gravity was the chosen way to get gas into the tank. darn new fangled crapola.
or is the problem that you have "taken the trouser snake to the gas shower" a few too many times? it burns when its in your eyes, but it BURNS "down below"...
Try this... Take a look at your filler pipe. Yes, climb underneath if that's what it takes. How straight is it? Real straight? Make a hard turn? Either is bad. Look at the curve of the pump nozzle. When you put the nozzle all the way in, it curves down, usually pointing right at the side of your filler. Try to turn the nozzle to point in the same direction as the filler and even pull it part way out so the very end is parrallel with the filler tube. I have had cars that even had me turning it upside down. Once you get it lined up, the fuel will flow! Trust me. If this doesn't help, I'll .... shrug my shoulder and move on. What? You want tears? Puleez...
The space herpie had the same problem. i ahd the tank in the trunk and i had a real short filler neck on it thats made about a 30 degree bend right off the bat. I had to hold the gun upside down to get the gas in there at a good rate. This would help the gas get around that bend and not back up the filler neck. Try holding the gun at diffrent angels and shit. you will still have to hold it but you may get a better fill rate. Or try having the gun nozzle go in the neck just a bit that way the gas wont splash up to it.
53 Bel Airs squirt fuel way out when they click off if you click it on auto. Ya gotta bend down, fill it slow and watch and when you see gas, stop. No way around it. It's just some of these cars man, some of them have narrow, or very short necks.
Both of the 40 Coupes I had did the same thing. I hated it, took forever to fill the tank. I guess your not alone man.
I've had that issue with most of my old cars but you know what. It happened "back in the day" too but we weren't in such a big ass hurry to do everything back then! Now it's fast food, instant this and instent that. So chill the hell out and fill it a little slower.
It's my theory that the modern pumps put out a lot more fuel than the pumps of the 40s. My 1993 Ford P/U has to have the nozzle perfectly adjusted to take gas on the top notch.
I had a 73 Ford wagon that did that. Took forever to fill. Attendents watched me like I was trying to gas and go without paying. Turned out to have a broken off locking gas cap stuck about 10 inches down the filler neck. Someone lost the key and broke off the top and then tried to drive the rest off it down into the tank. It didn't make it. All the gas had to pass through a 3/8s inch hole. I couldn't use the nozzle latch even on the slowest notch. Had to stand there and hand feed it.
The gas is probably going in a little faster than the filler tube can take it as the nozzle has a smaller diameter than the ones we used for leaded fuel. I guess thats what we call progress.
my 49 chev will fill up fast,but it wont shut off in time to keep gas from spray'n all out the filler neck and all over who ever is work'n the pump,I have got'n soaked before and whats bad is my local fill'n station is full service and every body there knows me and my car and atleast once every couple of weeks somebody(that has already had a bad experience with my car)usually soaks there self down with high dollar low grade gas.I have to go slow when fill'n up becase by the time you here it about to get full its to late.I've wondered what this was caused by but I guess lux blue is hit'n it close,fifty years ago I dont think fuel pumps were set up to sling 30 gpm,there was no need,was'nt as many cars on the road at the time so no need to try and get in,fill up and haul ass in nascar type pit times before the ass hole behind you in line starts bitch'n.
Nice to know I'm not alone atleast. when I build my new fuel system, I want to design out that particular feature. I'm usually not in a hurry, but I do like to multitask and wash the windows while it's pumping.
Treat it like a cycle tank .. hands on .. listen ..and watch WHATS THE HURRY ANY WAY TRY TO ANGLE THE NOZZLE A LITTE BIT SO IT HAS TO DEFLECT AT THE NECK LISTEN FOR IT MY 50 CHEV SEDAN DELIVERY WILL SOUND FULL RIGHT BEFORE IT SPURTS OUT BEFORE TURNING THE NOZZLE OFF ARE YOU COUNTING THE GALLONS YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN YOUR GETTIN CLOSE PAPERDOG
I've had many mopars do this to me. Damn them all to hell! The H-bomb has an 83 GMC van gas nozzel welded to a 11 gal. air tank, Haha! By the way Bleed is playing saturday night here in mad-town.
Tonight at the high noon saloon after the roller derby. They play second, so that should be about 11-11:30 pm.
Scotty and some of the other guys hit it right on the head. If the filler tube has too many sharp bends in it the gas can't get to the tank fast enough. I work for an oil company and see this everyday at my stations. We have a law here in WI (might be nation wide, I'm not sure) that restricts the flow of gasoline to 12gpm which is way faster than the flow of gravity used when some of our cars were built. Look at the bottom side of the end of the spout there will be a small hole, that is your automatic shutoff. As the gas goes in, air is sucked into that hole, when the flow of air is blocked the nozzle shuts off. This happens when the tank is full OR when the nozzle pumps the gas faster than it can get into the tank. Yes turning the nozzle at different angles helps, but I assure you that turning it completely upside down is just asking for a bath. J53
Best advice is to turn the handle of the pump upside down. There is a sensor on the top of the insert nozzle that shuts off the pump, so turn it upside down and make sure that you listen or fill it slower when the tank starts to get full. I had someone tell us that advice for a trip to the salt and I shook my head about how much of a pain it was to fill the 34'. And ever since I have filled stuff with the handle up. Try it and you will be amazed. Chris Nelson Kansas
The problem is that we used to pump liquid gasoline, now we are pumping FOAM. The foam fills the filler neck and air in the tank can't escape. It took me so long to gas up that 3 modern cars would gas and leave while I was pumping Slowly. I had to always hold the gas nozzle upside down. What a pain! So I did something about it! There used to be a guy who posted on this forum using the name 'Rocky". Its actually his suggestion. I measured the gas nozzles at the station (I think it was 7/8"? You better check for yourself. My memory is so bad I have to wear a shirt with my name on the pocket.) I got some thin wall tubing with a diameter that the gas nozzle fits in, curved it and welded it to my filler neck. 1939 Ford pickup. The curve goes to the top of my tank, (where the air is) and extends far enough up to put the gas nozzle in. This method uses the rest of the old filler tube as a vent for air to escape. I have tried putting the nozzle in the old filler, beside the new small tube, which allows the air to escape thru the new tube and it works equally well. I can pump at full speed now.
I remember hearing rumors about this Rocky guy. I heard at one time, he had the top post count, and 99% of it was valuable information, like the tip you posted. Probably just an urban legand though
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