Pretty wild
 

I'll try and be brief ,thought i would share. wife and I took the z to a friends b-day party for his wife. We left the party around 2:am, I knew we were pretty low on gas but thought we could make it.
I'm on the beltway headed home and when i get in the car the little message center shows low gas and 38 miles to empty. So i keep my eye on the gage and figure i can make it. Now my gage is down to 27 miles,I'll be pushing it but I think I can get there. About one minute later the gage goes to dashes, so now i b-line for the next exit. So i cruse the feeder road looking for open gas station. After i roll past 2 closed stations i come up on an exxon that is open :tup:. I jump out pop the gas and insert nozzle, my Buddie calls me that i was following back to our end of town as i grab for the phone the gas nozzle jumps out of the hole. Gas is spraying like crazy. Once i get the nozzle to disengage i tap the window to get my wife to cut the car off. I'm covered from mid chest to toe in gas, my shoes are soaked to the point that i'm slipping and sliding in the puddle of gas.
Now before the questions are asked, were you drinking at the party :yes. not to the point of having too much. It happened so quick i don't think that i knocked the nozzle out but may have?? But my question is don't the gas shut off when something like that happens? Auto shut off?
Well anyway is here is my situation i'm soaked in gas and have to get in my car just to make it home. Then i have to get the gas off of my car because the hatch area was soaked in gas.
Today Sunday i have a slight hint of gas smell in the car, fabreeze has helped and the windows have been down all day.
on a safety note: cut your car off, don't worry about cell phone calls, keep your car full of gas.:icon18:

just never sit in the car and go back to the pump while it's on.... a static charge can build up on you and that's it for the Z and you.

I was at one of the gas stations close to IAH. The pump had some sort of plastic "accordion" that requires to you apply some force to the nozzle for it to remain clicked. It took awhile for me to figure it out since I've never seen one in KS. So in your case, this part would've helped.

Interesting. I have never once seen a gas-pump without the said "accordion" [sic] in CA.

Great story, HT Rambler. Thanks for sharing. :ugh2:

Defective safety shutoff switch. The nozzle is supposed to stop pumping. here in cali that's how the nozzles work. Now out of cali where nozzles have no rubber boots they should also have a safety switch for safety reasons so I'm guessing that's stations nozzle was Defective..

I would have had your girl pull the car to a dark area of the gas station and striped down and drove home naked so as not to soak the seats in gas.

adding to your safety note Don't spill gas on your balls due to high itch burning sensation....:bowrofl::bowrofl::bowrofl::bowrofl:

i know at some Shell gas stations they have that. havent been to any other gas station that has that safety feature.

Close, but not quite... the "safety" is a small hole that shuts the flow off when covered (i.e., full tank) due to reverse pressure. If the safety worked as you suggested, no one would be able to fill up a hand-held tank for the lawn mower.

Never use the cell phone while near the pump. It is an electrical fire hazard and could also interfere with the pump meter.

You had the car running while filling up? That is extremely dangerous. Please stop doing that.

Glad to hear you are safe. That could have been very VERY bad.

As for the nozzle popping out, the filler is not too stable for this car...at least for me. The accordion is a vapor collector, it will be more and more common.

<sigh> These wive's tales keep getting passed around the net. The cell phone is not a fire hazard. This tale most likely started by some end-of-the-world type who saw an internet video of a gas station fire. Those fires have all been caused by static electricity sparks (as warned against previously). People start the pump, get back in their cars and rub around on their cloth seats, then get back out and touch the car near the nozzle... if they had grounded themselves at the door before getting near the nozzle, the fire would never start.

The cell phone has zero effect on the pump's meter, either. The cell phone has zero effect on the sensitive electronics of an airplane (despite those wive's tales!). This one most likely started with the people who noticed the auto-debit gas keyfobs (I think Shell and Exxon were big pundits of these type of keyring fobs) were interfering with the security fobs for their cars... if the gas fob was on the same keyring as the car's fob (like what Nissan uses), some cars wouldn't start. The car's security RFID antenna was actually powering both the gas fob and the car's fob, and the return signal from the gas fob was interfering with the car's fob. In addition, the car fobs were (for a short period of time) causing multiple gas charges when brought near the gas fob charge panel on the pump... again, because they were on the same keyring.

Sounds like a story of mine lol except some a hole jammed the nozel to wideopen so when I pulled the nozel out of the machine it went bizirk! Spraying gas everywhere lol I slamed it into the gas tank and proceeded to cuss rapantly in anger. I rinsed the car down and finished filling up. Now i check the nozel everytime :)

I fill up with my car on always have and never had a problem then again I do make sure thereis no static charge before I handle the gas nozel.

Btw. I'm at the dentist so if my spelling or any thing is off it's because I'm doind this on my phone whil the dentist is working lol talk about dedication to the forum ;)

I never let any attendant put gas in my car.Most of these attendants are kids and don't have any idea what the word cautious and careful mean anyway.
I get out and fuel my own Z and hold the nozzle the whole time.Now some of you may say thats a pain waiting there while it fills.Think of the guy in the car next to you drooling over your new 370 just wishing he had one to fill up!
So I don't mind at all.
Have had some attendants that won't let me work the nozzle.No problem I just leave and go to the next place.They say there is a law in NJ that doesn't allow anyone but the attendant to fill the car.Well being kids I guess they are afraid they are going to go to jail or something.So my law is " always fill myself"!
So give it some thought because it may save your car from getting scratched or you and your car getting drenched with gas.

why would you keep the car running while filling up?

I wonder if a cop sees you doing that if they'll write you a ticket. I've never seen my family pump their own gas there when I visit them.

That was funny, I am sorry but it was. In NJ you are not allowed to pump your own gas maybe that is why.

easy I can listen to my music without having the drain on the battery and when I get done I just hop in the car close the door buckle up and drive away. :happydance:

I too always fill up my car! but we have the lil latches so I latch it all the way open and lean against the car like im James Dean... thats right leather jacket and all! LOL :D

I do every now-and-then if I know I'm only going to pump a couple gallons of fuel. No...the car won't blow up. There is no evidence proving it to be more dangerous to full up while the car is running vs. shut off.

The only annoyance is the occasional whiney conehead in the Prius next to you. I just ignore them.

Please tell us you don't smoke!

PANZY!!!! :bowrofl::happydance:

It's stories like these when I get upset with all the safety liability on the cars. Perfect examples of natural selection. The gene pool is getting more tainted by the minute :ugh:

And it's people like you over the years who have forced lawyers into designing everything from cars to children's toys.

:iagree:

I don't think the OP meant this thread to be thrown over a cliff..

:iagree::tup:

I think you're yelling at the wrong guy - I would guess that awesomez would agree with you that if you want to blow yourself up, go for it... But please don't take any innocent bystanders with you.

so your saying by me running my car while filling up is going to blow my car up and kill innocent bystanders? yeah that comment has 0 evidence to back it up. I have been doing that for over a decade with countless vehicles on countless occasions and NOT one Instance of a problem has ever occurred!!! The only reason you see those advisory stickers is because lawyers sat down and said "hey, if we tell them they cant use cell phones they may use something else that has an electrical charge so lets reccomend no electrical devices including the cars be on while filling up." They were covering their A$$E$ its even been scientifically proven that a cell phone cannot blow you up while filling up! This whole hoopla about your going to kill yourself and innocent others is just that HOOPLA it dont mean $hit. Granted smoking is a definite NO NO! I dont smoke so I am fine. If your gonna make comments like this at least back it up! Back on to topic...

Deep southern mentality!Must be the corn liquor?

Dang bunch of responses since i was here last. I usually don't run the car while filling up but since my wife was in there i just decided to do so. Lesson learned. Also my wife suggested taking the clothes off, only problem is where to put them?? gas was only on the front side of me "as someone stated keep the gas off the balls".
Lots of interesting comments, just wanted to share to help others be more careful and use my laps of judgment to help.
I still thought the gas was supposed to shutoff, that vapor lock thing won't work if you don't have it set correct.

Again, you're yelling at the wrong guy. Feel free to risk splashing gas on a hot running exhaust if you wish - a friend of mine calls this "evolution in action". But please make sure your next of kin know that you do not want them to sue if something bad happens.

Oh, and BTW, those "Stop Engine/No Smoking" signs have been up in gas stations for many, many years - long before cell phones were invented and long before lawyers got as litigious as they are today. But I'm sure there is no reason for those signs, it must just be "tradition", right? ;) :rolleyes:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didnt think the exhaust cooled fast enough to really make a difference in the 2 - 3 min it takes you to fill up.

-William

:iagree:

"The Autoignition Temperature of a standard unleaded gasoline can be anywhere from 260 to 460 degrees C (or 500 to 860 deg F) as quoted on the FAQ: Automotive Gasoline Web Page by Bruce Hamilton"

Anyone know the temp of the exhaust pipes while the car is running, and when turned off the rate at which they cool?

For the record, I shut my car off when fueling, but honestly I'm trying to think of a reason. Aside from the static charge causing the fuel to ignite anyone else know of a realistic scenario where a running car would ignite the vapor? It seems to me that if a running car were going to ignite the vapors it would happen anyway as one of the 1000 cars that pull in/out of the gas stations daily would trigger it. If nothing else, it's at least interesting to think about.

-William

I have this metal image of Chris Farley doing Maniac at the gas station. Don't know why

For what it's worth, I just posted the question to mythbusters to see if they care to tackle that question. I've been doing some searches and so far I haven't found a case where a running car caused an explosion. The #1 cause of gas station fires is static electricity, which can come from any car running or not.

Anyone out there got some facts to back up either side of the debate?

-William

It only takes one!

A loose connection sparking (though that could happen with or without the engine running) might be one way. If oil dripping on a hot header can start a fire, well... the flash point of gas is certainly lower than oil, you make the call. Sure, the chances are extremely low of a running engine lighting a fire, but if costs you little to nothing to turn the engine off, you really can't blame anyone who does so. The pump warning may have been around from a time when loose spark plug wires and sparking condensor points were the norm, but I'm not 100% certain all of the dangers have disappeared.

The autoignition temperature of gasoline is ~475 degrees F
Exhaust temps can vary between 300 and 600 degrees F but are typically found to be around 500 degrees F when running.
So, it is possible that if gasoline spilled on the hot exhaust pipe it could autoignite. It is also likely that turning off your engine would allow the exhaust pipe to cool the 25-50 degrees below the autoignite temperature fairly rapidly.