On Jul 12, 2004, at 10:12 PM, Chuck Rothfuss wrote:
>
> There's a plastic ball in a kind of basket in most modern
> automobile filler necks, as a roll-over spill prevention device. (I
> suspect
> this is more to quiet the Sierra Club than out of concern for your
> safety.)
No, it's there to kill people who have to replace in-tank fuel pumps.
> I've seen your problem before in a German Cadillac (Opel) Catera. If
> the ball has become lodged in the neck you will be filling only down
> the
> vent tube that Randall mentioned. Must be like trying to fill a
> crankcase
> through the dipstick tube. (Local Ford garage had to do this on a
> Catera
> that came to them with two right-hand valve covers and no oil filler.
> I had
> to go see it to believe it!)
I own a car that will have problems filling at a high volume pump, some
of the time.
I've never been bothered enough to investigate it.
One other thing -- one of the failure modes of gas nozzle spouts is
that the pressure switch gets overly sensitive, and shuts off way too
easily.
> Better yet, take the thing to your Mercedes dealer and let them
> figure it
> out. I'll bet they'll make my $70 an hour labor rate look like a
> bargain.
>
Local dealer gets $85 for cars. I've no doubt they charge more for
trucks. (The first rate independent that'd I'd trust with any German
car over the dealer gets $70, typical indy rates are in $60 to $70
range.)
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