Gas tank roll-over valve stuck causes hard fuelling - anyone else?

@eccracer104 didn't you go through this?

 

Yup sure did. It was covered under the emissions warranty.

Same year, trim and all that as OP.

 

Depends what dealer you go to. Glad you chose one with more integrity than most.

 

@eccracer104 Where did you go for your repair?

 

I agree with the emissions warranty coverage. Especially if your in California. Also, call Toyota and let them know it overflows every time you fill up. So you’re putting a dash cam on the side window to record when it catches fire. That way it can be a $100 million from Toyota.

 

Yup! Very glad. This dealer has been good to us.

Poway Toyota. Just told them what was wrong and they handled the rest. I didn’t even have to mention warranty.

 

I use to have the same problem on a few Mustang Gt's I owned. I put the nozzle in upside down when refueling and it worked for me and never had a problem again. I don't know why that worked but it always did.

 

Typo, it's was a 6/32" that I used purchased from Home Depot.

 

If the valve is sticking and you dislodge it without doing anything to prevent it from reoccurring again, it will continue to be a problem and you can't keep removing tank each time you fill up or sticking something down tank to open valve. Another thing that occurs is the line to carbon canister will fill with gas because of overfilling tank. that is sitting there and clicking fuel pump to get that extra half gallon of gas in it that will fill line and vapor canister with liquid preventing displaced air from escaping that will back up the fuel tube.

 

Interesting, so in California the fuel tank is covered for 7 years or 70,000 miles. Now I have to decide if it's worth my time to deal with a bunch of idiots or work around it myself.

 

The idiots broke the clips on my truck and it took a day longer than quoted to get new clips. Thankfully zero issues since. I’d recommend it. I think they had my truck for 3-4 days in total.

 

They told me me that my aftermarket skid plate was dented which caused the valve to stick and they wanted $2600 to replace it, I told them the tech was lazy and incompetent and not to touch it. I should probably go to a different dealership.

 

Take the damn skid off first

 

If I'm going to take it to a different dealership I'll try to take it off, I'm not sure it'll ever come off without cutting something

 

So I took my truck to a different dealership and they wouldn't do anything because the first dealership made a note in the service record about the skid plate causing the problem. I had even removed the skid plate, so that they could get a clear view of the fuel tank. What's the best way to escalate to Toyota Corporate?

 

I went for a drive from Prescott to Jerome in AZ all on dirt and now we can't fill our tank. I'll be diving into fixing this myself today.

 

It was just before Jerome where I learned my valve was stuck. Must be something in the air there.

 

I fixed mine this week. Local Toyota wanted $2600 to replace tank. I ended up buying a flex endoscopic diagnostic camera and saw the problem was the roll over valve. I didn’t want to pay $2600, so I dropped the back end of the tank’s straps and lowered the tank about 8 inches. Then took a 9 3/4 pick I bought on Amazon and opened the valve. It closed back up, so I took a slightly curved pick and put a small dent on the corner of the valve cover and now it doesn’t close all the way. Has been working for the last 4 tank fills and no problems!

 

Many people have had an issue with valve, you're calling roll over valve but it's purpose is to prevent vapors from escaping while fueling. The spring loaded flop valve is set to weight of fuel forces it into a column as you fuel with the displaced air going out the carbon filter to be cleaned of gas vapors. The gas sloshing around in tank hits this valve and due to poor seating it will get lodged into the fill pipe as you have seen. So off road or rough road compounds this issue. If a truck was to roll over fuel would leak out the carbon filter because of it being lower than the flow valve in this position. So unaware why the name roll over but many of us have fixed similar to your method. Thanks for the memo, glad all is good.

 

So, we call it the anti-vapor valve? Maybe something catchier like Fart Stopper?

 

@jessenavarro thanks for this post. I have an 07 with the 26 gal tank that has been hard/slow to refuel since at least 2010! Your scope and pick idea was great. I bought both and took this pic which looks like yours except I don’t have that “cage”.
Is the photo showing the valve in the stuck position? Or is the photo showing the valve in its natural position but it is sticking in that position when trying to fuel the truck?
I haven’t attempted any bending etc yet, but just making sure I have a clear understanding of what I’m seeing. I also thought about adding fuel while the camera was in there but don’t know if that’s safe haha!
Many thanks!

 

Yep, that's stuck closed.

 

The default position for the valve is closed, but not stuck closed.

 

Ok. So as pictured it is in its default position? That makes sense to me, that way it diverts the fumes.
@831Tun You say its struck closed. Is there a way to determine if it is struck by just looking at it?
Just trying to figure out how to best diagnosis the cause, since I’m aware it could also be the evap canister.
Thanks for the help!

 

I think @Vizsla is right and it'd look like that even if it's operating correctly. But, when I repaired mine, it sprang open with force which has always had me believing it's normally open. All I can suggest is physically poking it with a long, thin tool.

 

This valve has a spring that closes valve and is normal position so you don't have a lot of vapors escaping forcing venting thru carbon canaster. If you're off-roading or on rough roads with gas sloshing around in tank it could cause gas to wedge valve into fill tube again. The weight of gas filling the input line is what opens the EVAP that forces gas into a column not allowing escaping or displaced air up fill pipe but forcing it thru carbon filter. For info, this is also part of your emission controls that was started in 80's, I think.

 

This is what confuses me, if you touch it with minimal force it will "spring" open. I understand what people are saying about the normal position being closed, it makes sense if it is a vapor valve, but that doesn't match up with my interactions with it.

 

I am starting think it’s an issue with the evap canister for my truck. Even forcing the flap to stay open, I can not fuel up normally at a California gas station. I have to slowly let fuel in and hold the vent gasket on the nozzle open so there isn’t pressure build up to stop the pump.

 

It could be the canister filled with gas not allowing displaced air to escape and vent. The carbon canister on my 2016 is located behind and above fuel tank that has a large line about 1" dia. connecting the tank and canister. You can test carbon filter for blockage by disconnecting this line and try filling, if filling remains difficult you can feel for escaping air on line coming from tank and assume something is wrong with valve not opening properly when filling. I would not think this line is blocked. Should all work well and you can fill as normal you can assume assume the carbon filter is blocked, this is the reason for not overfilling tank by continually trying to get that last half gallon. I hope this helps you,

 

I have the 38 gallon tank and am debating just upgrading to the 46 gallon tank. I dont want to replace the 38 gallon tank and get the same problem. Anyone done this?