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X-3 Won't Take Gas

4K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  HG132 
#1 ·
Here's a new one on me. Saturday I stopped to fill my wife’s 2007 X-3 with gas and it wouldn't take the gas. The pump kept shutting off after every half gallon or so. It took me forever to get 15-1/2 gallons in it. Then when I got back in it the gas gauge was still reading less than a 1/4 tank.
My first thought was that there had to be something wrong with the pump although this was a newer gas station (Chevron). I had the manager come out to check the pump and we even tried a different pump and the tank was indeed full.

When I got back in it was still reading 1/4. After driving around running Saturday errands the gauge started coming up. After about five stops in an hour or so it finally got up to full. Since then it has gone about 80 miles and it's just now coming off the full mark and that's highly unusual for this car. So, at this point I don't trust the gas gauge at all but I can't understand why it won't take gas. I checked the threads and I didn't see anything. Has anyone else had this?
 
#2 ·
As a guess your gas gauge isn't working correctly


The tank was well over 1/4 full and you kept trying to force gas into it.

Most of the 15.5 gal you paid for just went back into the ground.
 
#3 ·
Some pumps are sensitive to the pressure of the gasses coming out of the filler tube and shut off prematurely. Try pulling the nozzle out and reinstall it, and if it still does it, pull the nozzle out to where the rubber boot is not surrounding the filler neck and it should help.
The guage problem is due to overfilling the tank. There is a charcaol cannister (I think it's charcaol) that captures the vapors and when that gets saturated when overfilling your tank, the guage gets screwed up until it evaporates (usually a day or 2).
 
#4 ·
There was no gas on the ground. I looked when the pump started shutting off. As far as overfill...........could be, but I don't undersatnd why it wouldn't take the gas it needed in the first place.
 
#8 ·
Another guess

If the previous customer had overfilled their tank, the vapor recovery hose could have been full of fuel. If that is the case the tank can't breath and the pump will keep clicking off.

When you tried another pump, you tank was all ready overfilled.
 
#5 ·
Opps, I should have said, it had been over 300 miles since the last fillup so I know it needed gas. I wasn't putting 15.5 gals of $3.65 gas into a full tank.
 
#6 ·
both my X3s and most of my other BMWs did this. If you don't have the gas nozzle in just right, or if the tank it TOO empty, the pressure of the air being replaced by the gas would make the pump think it had filled the tank. it's probably the nozzle you were using. as for the reading, not sure.
but i know there has been a lot of talk about gauges not working right either after TOO much fill up, or letting it get SO low that it's almost out of gas.
 
#7 ·
I used to have this problem with "all" of the pumps at a certail Chevron. They recently upgraded/replaced all of the nozzles - no more problem.

As for the screwy guage... I super-topped off / overfilled my 330Ci once... took the guage a long time to go up to full and quite a while to start dropping afterwards.

I stopped "topping off" after that experience and never had the problem again.
 
#10 ·
All good points and thanks. We don't have vapor recovery here in San Antonio yet but because of the uncontrolled growth we probably will by next year. I have noticed a lot of the pump handles are bent and don't fully go into the tank and that could cause a false shut off. OK...............why are the nozzles bent? Well, it seems that some of the Bubbas around here think it's funny to lean on the handle so hard that it bends it and that's the way they leave their mark on the world. There was actually an article in the paper about this............ Go figure.

The X-3 is in the body shop today getting a new rear bumper after a Camry rear ended it a couple of weeks ago so we'll watch the mileage and use a different station next time and see what happens.

The shop foreman from BMW SA called while I was typing this and said that the sensors in the tank go out pretty regularly and he wants to replace them as soon as it gets low on gas again.
Thanks everyone.
 
#11 ·
OK...............why are the nozzles bent? Well, it seems that some of the Bubbas around here think it's funny to lean on the handle so hard that it bends it and that's the way they leave their mark on the world. There was actually an article in the paper about this............ Go figure.

.
LOL!
 
#12 ·
I had that problem and my fuel sensor and sending unit was replaced.
 
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