How to fill your 914 fuel tank ( most people don't know)

[guards73/2.0]

Ever since I got my teener, I've whined about the gas guage reading low. That's because I haven't been properly filling my tank. I pull up to the pump, stick the nozzle down the hole and let the pump run until it shuts off. How many of you guys do that?
This gives you a 3/4 fill! Think motorcycle....If you did that to a motorcycle tank, you'd never fill that, either! Put the nozzle in 'til it stops, then pull the nozzle out and complete the fill. That's how you do it. ( I feel dumb about this, but felt I had to share it withe the group). Also explains some of those wild MPG errors...

[Speedo959]

Yeah I use to leave it in and let it just click off. Till one time it popped out and scratched my fender.

[Bleyseng]

Yeah, one time I was filling the 914 with my son and this older gent was filling his car too. He was sitting in the drivers seat listening to the radio while it was filling. My son looks over and "Holy ***** Dad!" look at the gas! Yep, gas was pouring out and running down the street! So we dash over and turn the pump off, the man was so surprised!!!
Geoff

[tod914]

the 1st 914 i purchased, the PO showed me how to fill the tank properly. was emphatic not to let your hand off the pump for the reason that it could pop up and dent your hood etc. I took his word for it. I quickly snatch the pump nozzle out of the gas attendants hand when i fill up my car.

[Zeke]

Originally posted by Speedo959
Yeah I use to leave it in and let it just click off. Till one time it popped out and scratched my fender.

Same thing here.
Guurds, you're on a roll this morning.

Actually, I prefer to leave the gas level a little down. Especially in 911s, it starts to smell if too full. Maybe it's heat expansion and some goes out the overflow. Remember that the gas recirculates and comes back to the tank warm.

[maf 914]

Many years ago I began smelling gas from the front trunk area. I searched around and found that gas was leaking from the base of the plastic filler neck where it attaches to the metal tank. Somehow some of the small bolts which hold the neck had become loose. I tried tightening them but gas still seeped out. The cure was to remove all bolts and the filler neck, clean everything, reposition the rubber gasket and carefully retighten the bolts, in an alternating manner to torque the neck down evenly.

Speaking of the days when gas station attendants were common place, I made a mistake once. I was on a trip and the front trunk was full. I let an attendant fill the tank and close the lid. Apparently he was trained on Detroit iron, which requires that every lid be slammed shut, the harder the better. Well, he did, and I left with a reverse dimple in the middle of the hood where it bounced off something in the trunk. Just a small little dimple, as if struck with a punch, but a dimple nevetheless in an otherwise perfect lid! No attendant ever touched the lid again!

Mike

[anthony]

Seeing this thread made me smile. It took me 3 months before I finally figured out why my mileage calculations were so erratic. I was never getting the tank back up to the same level.

[Speedo959]

Yeah I would always wonder when waxing my car how that deep chip got on top of the fender. Now it has a brother and the mystery is solved.

I was thinking the other day about how gas stations used to have the rubber hose across the lanes so a bell would ding when you drove in and the attendant would know to come out. I wonder if any stations still have that? Certainly not here in L.A. If anyone walks towards your car here you have to look like you're reaching under the seat for protection.

[scg]

... and then you travel north to Oregon. There are two things Oregon will NEVER have: a sales tax and pump your own gas.

Every time I go to the gas station, I get to teach the attendant (the guy or gal who comes out when you drive over the rubber hose that makes the bell go *ding* ) how to properly fill the tank.

While it's always an experience, it's really pretty easy. Usually, after popping the hood, I walk to the back of the car, where the're usuallly looking around for the filler and show them where to put the gas in (and how). Once trained, they usually remember me and/or the car.

If they leave to attend another customer, I take over so the thing doesn't pop out. When the manager comes out to tell me that I "can't do that" I explain the situation to him/her and things are usually okay.

The only real problem I have is that they all seem to have the "I can get another nickel's worth of gas in there" syndrome and end up squirting gas all over the tank and trunk

I usually enjoy going out of state where I can pump my own, until I'm next to some wacko who's smoking while pumping his own gas... I keep waiting for Darwin to take care of them, but they seem to reproduce at amazing rates....

scott

[6 Shooter]

After topping off your gas tank, does anyone ever shake/bump their car a little bit to get that small air pocket out??
Another reason to hold on to the gas filler nozzle when pumping gas is to prevent a breeze/gush of wind closing the hood on the gas filler handle.

[rdvnac]

Maybe it's because I too used to have a 911, but I agree 100% with Milt; I always thought not filling the tank to the top was a "good thing."

914s are so rare around here that filling up is almost fun. Even SUV-wielding housewives do a doubletake when they see me sticking the fuel hose in the front trunk.

[guards73/2.0]

Yup and she went right up to "F". Never seen that before! So now I know my sensor sticks. That's another issue...apart from operator error. Do you have to pull the tank to inspect the sensor?

[Joe Ricard]

Just the top part. you can then access the sensor and wire plug connection. Probably not a bad idea to replace the gasket (while you are in there)

[JP Noonan]

If the tank to expansion tank gasket leaks try using "anti-seize" laed or copper based compound on the gasket and the bolts.

I never thaought about it until I actually read the words on the side of a can of anti-seize.

"Real men don't need instructions" Benford tools

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I usually fill all the way to the top--and then sometimes wiggle the car or push down on the driver's side fender to try and get the air bubbles out....

It's even more of a challenge with the "vapor recovery" nozzles they have on the pumps here in the Bay Area. (They've gottem elsewhere, I know.) The rubber sleeve around the nozzle has to be compressed or the pump won't. So you wind up having to put the last 2-4 gallons in while holding the nozzle in one hand and the rubber sleeve in the other. Oy!!

Oh well, it's better than having some HS dropout botch the job. (My folks live in the Portland area.)

--DD

[Jim Savage]

I wouldn't know how to react if someone other than me tried to pump my gas. Not sure if there are any full serve stations around here. Its all self serve.

Jim

[Bleyseng]

When I went to Portland this past May I had the gas station attendant fill 'er up. Hehe, he walked around the whole durn car looking for the filler cap! Push and poked around the engine grill lookin...I was laughing soo hard. I finally opened the hood and helped him fill it. Even he had a good laugh! He said he thought maybe the tail lighted opened.
Geoff

[6 Shooter]

How did Oregon get a 'gas attendant' law?? Strong lobby?? Big-time union dues?? I've never let anyone add gas to any of my cars, either.... I feel the same way about valet parking. No Ferris Bueller test drives... no "film at eleven"... no worries... now, where did I park the car??

[scg]

Geoff: Heh, heh! Real fun! I did that once... the guy decided it was behind the rear license plate and bent the hell out of it trying to open it up (still had to laugh).

Oregon keeps it's "attendant only" law through a stong independant gas station owner lobby ("Self-serve would drive us out of business!")

scott