Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting My Car wont take Gas..and barfs it up.

Howdy.

I have a 1997 Ford Contour Sport. I have recently ran my car out of gas.. which i think may be a root to this problem.. I was just going to fill it up next time i went out which was goign to be yesterday.. and i was sure id make it to a gas station.. well it decided not to start.. i mean it would start but just stall out instantly..its so cold outside.. and with it parked on a hill i guess it couldnt get enough gas.. soo i went and got gas for it.. Last night tryed to put the gas in.. and so i put the nozzle in.. and started to fill er up... welll the gas just spilled everywhere.. so i thought it was me.. and there was still gas in the entrance so i got a screw driver and moved aside the little flap.. and it wouldnt go in.. so i dont know how many times i tryed and the gas would just not go in.. so i decided to wait til it was warmer outside.. well today i went out to give it another go.. and when i opened the cap.. gas just started commin out of the car.. just spillin everywhere.. so i hurryed up and screwed the cap back on.. I have no idea whats goin on..

if anyone have had this similar problem.-- let me know
thanks


*Manderz*

There Is A Recall On The Gas Cap Filler Door...Cant Remember The TSB # But It Should Be Covered By Ford Up To 100K Miles Due To It Also Being A Safety Hazard As Well As An Annoyance....Common Problem But Can Be Fixed Quickly By Ford...At The Bottom Of The Intermediate Page To Here, There Is A Search By KeyWord Button At The Bottom Of The Page...Use This Function Trying Words Such As Fuel, Splashback, Or Filler Door And See If It Brings Up Any Additional Iformation.....

Here Ya Go!!!!

I Searched The TroubleShooting Forum For "Fuel Filler"
All Of Our Previous Posts Are Saved So We May Go Back Into The Archives To Find Out Old Problems And How TO Fix Them...

By The Way, Welcome to CEG, Where You Can Always Find Answers To Your Problems...Or At Least Someone To Make Fun Of You.

P.S. Always "Search" First, If You Dont, The Search Nazis Will Take You Away And Make You Knit Macremme Potholders

had the fuel filler replaced on my car under warranty. didnt act up until last year. its a flap stuck lower down and it only happened to me because of a sumemr heatwave. the plastic flexes cuz of the heat and stays up. ford told me it didnt cover all cars of any model year, it was strictly by VIN number. go to ur dealer and have them run it. i had mine done completely free of charge in one day. however, ur problem sounds a little different bacuase it is excepting no gas. mine would take it if you pumped slowly so try pouring very slow. hopefully it will take enough so u wont have to pay for a tow

I've had this happen on a number of Contours that I've had. The problem is most likly pressure build up from running the tank dry. Make sure your car is on level ground before you try to add fuel. If you are on a slope the vapor will be trapped and will not allow fuel in. Even the slightest grade (with rear down hill) may not allow fuel in. Once your car is level you should be able to slowly pour it in. If not you can try one of two things....once the fuel filler neck is full of fuel(but not entering the tank) you can turn the key to the run position. This will start the fuel pump for a few seconds and should drop the pressure in the tank. If this doesn't work then you will need to remove the rear seat bottom(to access the fuel pump)and remove the pump just enough to break the seal and allow the vapor to release. I've only had to do that one once before.

Here is what happens...the fuel tank is a sealed pressurized system so when you run out of fuel it creates a vaccumm that closes the vapor valve for the filler neck. On these cars it tends to stick when that happens. If you've noticed, the filler neck is actually two hoses. One is the fuel filler and the other is the vent. With out the vent hose working correctly fuel will not be able to enter the tank. The air that is be displaced by the fuel needs to go some where and if things are working correctly it should flow out the vent hose.