Wrangler TJ Gas Overflow Fix
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
Would you like to fix the actual problem for the same amount of work?
I had a momentary lapse of concentration on the trail one day and tagged a rock that broke my front axle housing in half right next to the pumpkin. When I got it home, I replaced my left side headlight. That was a whole bunch easier than yanking the housing out and patching it back together. Didn't do shit for the broken axle, but it was a lot easier to do.
Having tried the 'hose solution' thinking it was a silver bullet — not all Jeeps are built the same and not all install experiences are the same. I never got the GM hose solution dialed in just right to fix the problem 100% of the time.
Had my tank down on my last set of upgrades and did the repair right - it's super easy — just take your time with all the clips and connectors on the tank as that are plastic and old.
Inside the tank - watch the video. It takes more 'umph' than you think to pop off the float but it will come off with more push than you want to give it...
After I did the proper in-tank fix - I re-installed the OEM hose. No issues since...
GM hose is one of those "internet-solutions" (now it would be considered an "Instagram solution") that 'works for some but not for all'.....
Vivalamigra
Member
I’ll start with a big Charlie Brown sigh….
Ok. That’s done:
#1. You riled up Mr Blaine. Don’t do that. He will destroy you with sarcastic laser beams. Like the emperor in Star Wars.
#2. The “GM flapper hose thingy fix” is not a fix. Period. End of sentence. End of discussion.
#3. HOWEVER, just for sh!tz and giggles, try adding a bottle of Lucas fuel injector cleaner to your tank. A friend of mine has a 2006 TJ that started rejecting fuel. He was delaying the real fix and added the Lucas stuff to see if it would help with an unrelated rough idle. All of a sudden his fuel tank problem went into hiding. Worth a shot. Six bucks.
#4. If that doesn’t work, you’ll have to man up and drop the tank, LOL.
Feel free to scroll back to posts 361 and 362. I shared some videos, photos, and info that could be helpful.
Huh? I'm sure that situation can be chalked up to one of life's strange coincidences (two unrelated events occur simultaneously)...
Vivalamigra
Member
6 bucks. Worth a shot, IMO. It’ll probably freeze up on him again, but maybe he’s on to something? Even if it’s temporary, might be a good idea to keep a bottle in the tool box.
Hey I didn’t think NAPA high mileage 10w-30 was gonna help a rear main seal leak, but it did. That’s another thread here somewhere..
The only solution to this problem is to restore a functional tank venting system. The proven solution for that is to drop the tank and remove the ridges on the plunger to allow it to work again. Other solutions exist, but that one is proven and pretty easy, all things considered.
Nevermind. Humbled by the Wizard again.
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Maybe, maybe not. The problem is the valve sticks, is sticky, or stuck due to the cage shrinking and changing tolerances. If something in the cleaner lubed the cage or lubed it just enough to allow the inrush of fuel to move the valve to a new location like stuck all the way down, boom, "fixed".
^^^
This.
One of the theories about the cause of TJ refueling issues is that current environmental standards have reduced lubricity of gasoline enough to cause the fuel tank valve to stick.
I experimented with the "fuel additive fix" a couple of times when my fuel tank valve was stuck in a position that wouldn't allow me to pump more than a few ounces of gasoline before the pump clicked off. Adding a bottle of Chevron Techron fuel treatment and letting it wick past the stuck valve for a bit before filling with gasoline made the symptoms disappear for awhile.*
The fuel treatment fixed nothing, but it did mask the symptoms long enough for me to fill up.
My theory has been that the lubricity of the fuel additive allowed the valve to move a bit in its cage or otherwise allowed sufficient fuel to pass temporarily.
Since I use Chevron Techron fuel treatment on a semi-regular basis anyway, it has cost nothing in terms of time or money for me to test my theory, and it gives me something to do until I drop the tank and perform a proper repair.
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* A "bit" is a technical term for 15 minutes on one occasion and overnight on another and I didn't keep track on the third try. "Awhile" is a technical term for the symptoms of a stuck valve disappearing long enough to fill the tank one time, maybe even twice or three times.
I know it wasn't, Mr. Blaine, and I like that you did bring that idea up because I hadn't considered that possibility at all. It's good to have other viewpoints pointed out because none of us is always right!
Vivalamigra
Member
The Lucas stuff is pretty slippery. Extremely unlikely that it’s a permanent fix, but if it allows you to get gas in the tank until you have the time/energy to drop the tank, that’s a win!
I think my buddy thinks he’s fixed it. I told him he’d better order that new Bosch fuel pump and have it available.
I think my buddy thinks he’s fixed it. I told him he’d better order that new Bosch fuel pump and have it available.
I think it may also have to do with the brand of gasoline (???). When I first purchased my Jeep, it had the "usual" problem. It quietly fixed itself after several months. The only thing I can think of is a change of gasoline from its former owner (???). I always fill it at "Cumberland". *shrug*
I keep waiting for it to come back, but knock-on-wood, it hasn't as yet. Doesn't make sense to me, but there it is...
I keep waiting for it to come back, but knock-on-wood, it hasn't as yet. Doesn't make sense to me, but there it is...
MountaineerTom
LJ Enthusiast, Retired USAF Weapons Loader
Supporting Member
Ride of the Month Winner
My ‘06 burped fuel when full when I bought it and I had intended on fixing the valve at some point later on. When we would take it on longer trips, I’d always add a bottle of Chevron Techron fuels system cleaner to the tank before hitting the road since it would run the about the whole tank out on the trip. After a few trips like that. I started noticing that it wasn’t kicking off the pump as often. It didn’t 100% fix it, but it was a significantly noticeable difference.
When I took the tank down a couple years ago to add a Savvy skid, I did the real fix and it hasn’t stuck since.
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Mine had the gas burp problem for a long time (valve stuck down), and then one day it switched over to gas block (valve stuck up). That bandaid hose won't fix that. The burp is rude but tolerable. But needing 20 minutes to half-fill your tank in a busy gas station is no fun at all.
Fix it right.
Fix it right.
That may be the case. All of the ones I've messed with have the same issue, the cage shrunk and locked up the valve. I suspect they may not have taken into account the effect of ALL the various additives possible that make their way into gasoline. I know from working on the Savvy tank skid that a tank that has been sitting empty is a lot different dimensionally than one that has had fuel in it full time. Not to mention that gasoline by itself does strange things to plastics. Leaching something out of the cage to make it shrink wouldn't surprise me one bit. That and the tolerances where the valve sits in the cage are way too tight. They could have increased them tenfold, never had this issue and the function would have been unaffected.
To get the plastic piece of, do you pull or twist/pull? The information is contradicting and all over the place. The thing looks quite fragile.
Going to drop the tank on the next low fuel warning, but want to know what im dealing with as it seems this unit is tucked off to the side and is not clearly visible and your working blind inside the tank.
Going to drop the tank on the next low fuel warning, but want to know what im dealing with as it seems this unit is tucked off to the side and is not clearly visible and your working blind inside the tank.
I just kind of pushed on the end of it sideways, and it popped off. I was nervous that I'd break it, but it seemed much stronger than it looks. I took a pic inside the tank. Here's what you're dealing with:
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