fuel foam over

mustang_gt_350 · **Joined:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:47 am **Posts:** 191

I was just wondering if any of you have had this happen. So far it has happened to me 2 times this year.

Stopped to put a little fuel in the libby yesterday and i just started to pump, locked it in the high position and tossed my wallet back into the seat and as soon as i turned i heard the pump click and a tong of bubling, gushing sound and out spouted about a cup or more of fuel all over the side of the jeep. This is only the second time it has done this, the last time was a few months ago when it was really cold less than 10f but yesterday it was around 30f. Both times the tank was at 1/4 full, and it was a sheetz pump. But it was different locations, and i have filled up before at the exact same pumps and never had it happen. I could even squeze the nozzle half way and it would do it. nothing pisses me off more than having it blow out all over my shoes, by the time you hear it making the gurgling sound its too late to move.

Its not from over filling as yesterday I only put $25 in it so it gave me right around 1/2 a tank after i was done pumping.

Just wondering if anyone has had that happen? I'm thinking that it was just somthing going on with the nozzle and how it aeriates the fuel since i have owned the jeep almost 3 years now and it has only ever done this 2 times, both happened to be within the last 3 months.

Hexus · **Posted:** Sun Mar 24, 2013 9:18 am

I've had this happen a couple times, first time I thought something was clogging the feeder line but when it didn't repeat I didn't worry about it too much.

I wouldn't be concerned honestly.

MRausch82 · **Posted:** Sun Mar 24, 2013 10:52 am

I have had this happen as well, and each time it was at a Sheetz I believe. I try to wipe it up, but my plastic fender has become worn out in the area where I wipe it. I guess the diesel fuel did not do it any good. Seems to happen in the colder weather. Could be the fuel in the ground is much colder than ambient, and that may be why it is still happening... who knows. I have been leaving the pump locked on the first click and this seems to help.

tech57 · **Posted:** Sun Mar 24, 2013 12:24 pm

Happened to me the first time I filled up my CRD, just a couple of hours after I bought it.
Happened again at a station I don't normally use, I suspect this time it was their equipment as fuel mileage dropped below 20 mpg that tank and mine typically gets 23 - 24 in town with the GDE ECO Tune.
Both times the nozzle was set to the fastest fill setting.
I now fill the tank at the slowest setting and haven't had problems.

flash7210 · **Posted:** Sun Mar 24, 2013 12:27 pm

Happens all the time.
You need to fill the tank slowly. The filler neck is much narrower than it seems.
If you try to jam too much fuel too fast it will spit it back at you.

Srytrucker · **Posted:** Sun Mar 24, 2013 12:33 pm

I used to own a gas station and certain pumps would develop an error when fuelling too fast they would foam and dispense less than calibrated and if you go slow no foam and exact measurement of fuel delivered.

MRausch82 · **Posted:** Sun Mar 24, 2013 12:38 pm

Srytrucker wrote:

I used to own a gas station and certain pumps would develop an error when fuelling too fast they would foam and dispense less than calibrated and if you go slow no foam and exact measurement of fuel delivered.

Interesting... That could account for some of the mpg drop I get occasionally. There is not other good reason that my mpg varies so much. Lately I have been getting 26-28mpg and no foam. I have suspected this for some time now, and always (now) fill it slowly. I try to not be in a hurry when I am filling up any of my vehicles, haha.

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Sun Mar 24, 2013 3:39 pm

For me in my Greater Midwest area, Citgo has the worst foaming problems and has done exactly what mustang_gt_350 described.
Along with some Political reasons, Citgo is off my list of places I will fuel up.
Fuel foaming does cause issues with common rail systems and in other Diesel Forums they go into great detail on the damage caused. Symptoms reported are poor performance, injector cokeing, and damage to the CP3/CP4 high pressure pumps.
Note none of these owner/operators are Detroit Speak Regurgitators and have spent big bucks on their rigs, therefore the owner/operators have more credibility with me.

kjjet · **Posted:** Sun Mar 24, 2013 3:53 pm

Common thing. Jeep did not give the tank a big enough vent.

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Sun Mar 24, 2013 3:54 pm

MRausch82 wrote:

Srytrucker wrote:

I used to own a gas station and certain pumps would develop an error when fuelling too fast they would foam and dispense less than calibrated and if you go slow no foam and exact measurement of fuel delivered.

Interesting... That could account for some of the mpg drop I get occasionally. There is not other good reason that my mpg varies so much. Lately I have been getting 26-28mpg and no foam. I have suspected this for some time now, and always (now) fill it slowly. I try to not be in a hurry when I am filling up any of my vehicles, haha.

Fueling up too fast can enhance foaming as described above the crappier the fuel the worse it is. Another item besides going too fast to make fuel foam up is having a winter blend in spring or summer, #1 foams up worse in warm weather than #2.
Fuel foaming/aeration in your system effectively retards you injection timing because the vapor in the fuel screws up the dynamics between the time the injector opens and the fuel flows out the holes in the tips. If a photo sensing luminosity probe like what used to be used to fine tune injection timing with a timing light would not get coated up with long term use, we could have a closed loop injection fine tuning device with no error that would allow the use of crappy foaming fuel. Since no one including me would want to stop and clean off a lumi probe every 1/2 hour of running, not buying crap foaming fuel is the best option.

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Sun Mar 24, 2013 3:55 pm

kjjet wrote:

Common thing. Jeep did not give the tank a big enough vent.

Yup, add another ISO 9000 Bean with an etched serial number on it to the Bean Counter Engineers jar of beans.

mustang_gt_350 · **Joined:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:47 am **Posts:** 191

Ok thanks. Every time i fill my jeep i have always held the pump wide open. So i was guessing it was somthing either going on with the fuel or with the pump. I haven't ever noticed any difference in MPG from the sheetz fuel to any of the others i usually fill up at in the area. So i'm guessing it was just a fluke thing and won't happen again for a while. I just wanted to see how many of you have this happen randomly. Out of all of the diesels i have, i have never had this issue on any of them before including the jetta. It was doing it that bad that even if i held the pump on in the first lock position it was still doing it.

naturist · **Posted:** Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:33 pm

Since I don't trust the auto shut-off on diesel pumps, I always fill up by holding the nozzle and never use the latch in any of its three positions. And one thing I have noted is that foaminess is a function of both the brand/quality of the fuel and the rate of pumping AS WELL AS the position of the nozzle in the filler neck. Sadly, some positions are very much worse than others. So my guess is that the OP connected with a bad combination of fill rate, quality of fuel, and nozzle position.

fuel foam over

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