Fuel spill....

[OzCop]

....right into the cockpit, all over the top, and left rear of my MSM...

After working the Mercury Mariner program at The Shops at Willow Bend today, I pulled into the QT station on Hebron in Plano to fill the gas tank. Top was down. I put the fuel nozzle in the opening and waited for it to fill, on auto-fill mode. I was looking at the thing registering over 10 gallons when I expected less than 9 tp fill, and suddenly fuel was spilling all over the trunk, left side, down into the folded top area, and all over the ground. I grabbed it and shut it off but not before more than half gallon spewed all over the areas described. I immediately grabbed towels and wet them and began washing it off and cleaning down in the top fold area, raised the top and cleaned it well. Bottom line, I was there 20 minutes cleaning the crap out of the interior, top, and painted sections, and also the trunk channel. Hopefully, I got it clean enough to not discolor the top or the paint. Will clean more Sunday. I went in and talked to the clerk, who had been watching it all, and advised him the thing never shut off automatically. His response, "that happens all the time on top filling gas tanks, the pump nozzle just doesn't seal enough to make the pump shut off automatically. I think that's BS, and he has a faulty nozzle. I had him put his name and the store number on my receipt, and give me a name and number to call just in case there is discoloration of top and paint that won't clean off, but he was adamant that it happens all the time on top loading fills... Has anyone else had this problem? This is the first time it has happened to me in this car, and I have 5500 miles on the car now. I hope I just need to go over it with soap and water and re wax the painted areas....

[blackzx3_13]

Dang that sucks. I hope its not tore up too bad!

[Majik]

I have never had a problem like that, and I use my miata every time I get gas... I agree that it was a faulty pump also. I havent even read of others having that problem. Hopefully the interior doesnt smell too bad. Just use lots of water to get the gas out of the rain rail area.

[sammm]

I think that's BS, and he has a faulty nozzle.

I agree! The store should be held liable if there is any damage to your car (hopefully there won't be).

[POS Racing]

I think that's BS, and he has a faulty nozzle.

Another vote for BS!

[altiain]

Another vote for BS. In over 60,000 miles of fill-ups I've never had that problem with my Miata, and I almost always fill it until it shuts off automatically.

[Majik]

Another vote for BS. In over 60,000 miles of fill-ups I've never had that problem with my Miata, and I almost always fill it until it shuts off automatically.

Me too, unless I am trying to get a certain small amount because of an impending autoX I fill it up all the way.

[OzCop]

Thanks for the responses guys. I am getting ready to go out and scrub the car again to see if I can get rid of the odor. My biggest fear was discoloration of the top fabric, rear glass, or paint. I opened the door to my garage this morning, and I could still smell the gasoline fumes...

[tailchaser]

I've never had any problem at that QT other than it shutting off too soon...

[sammm]

I could still smell the gasoline fumes...

After your done cleaning it, I'd leave it out in the sun to bake today. That should help dry it out and and get it smelling better.

[OzCop]

I cleaned the car again today, left it out in the sun, top down for about 5 hours...No odors or discoloration detected, so maybe I'm ok.
I have used QT pretty much exclusively for the past 5 years or so when I can find it, and have never had a problem with any of my other vehicles not shutting the pump off. I did have the same thing happen on my diesel pu about 6 months ago, and they promptly closed the pump down and cleaned up the spill, but this was at a WalMart/Murphy location...