Boiling gas in tank (1 Viewer)

[Muddy Bean]

This happened last summer but I'm only now getting around to posting about it. Some of you know we flat tow our 100 all over the country behind my tour bus. Last year we towed all day through the mountains through high and low elevations finally reaching Gatlinburg TN. I unhooked the truck and began driving roaring fork nature drive as we always do every year.

We parked at a hiking site and got out of the truck and I heard a clear distinct boiling noise coming from our gas tank. 20 minutes later, I came back to the truck and it wall still boiling. I decided to open the gas cap (big mistake) and a huge amount of hot vapors came shooting out. I backed away and got my family out of the truck and we waited and waited. For another 20 minutes straight, the tank shot out hot vapors so loud that everyone who walked by was stopping and asking what the noise was. Then the gas liquid itself came flowing out. It was so hot, it melted the paint under the fuel door. Eventually the pressure and heat died down (another 30 minutes later) and we were able to go o our way.

I've never had this happen before or since. I've read that elevation changes and pressure can cause this but does anyone else have experience with their gas boiling? This was no joke and seemed pretty dangerous to me.

I'm going to post some video and photos of the actual incident here in a moment

 

[Hayes]

Charcoal canister needs to be replaced? Maybe?

 

[staggrlee]

Nothing as extreme as gas spewing out, but had similar experience in the Sierra Nevada mtns. with pressure taking as long as half an hour to bleed off with cap removed. Mine was simple. I had been doing some work around the ABS wheel speed sensor connections and accidentally kinked off one of the canister breather hoses.

 

[Muddy Bean]

You're likely right about the canister. I am a topper offer and I know that's detrimental to the canister. Likely it was saturated.

 

[hoser]

Common issue. Some folks on mud believe it is the ethanol in the gas. I can't test the theory as it is very difficult to get ethanol-free gas in CA.

Gas puked out of filler cap and major vapor pressure

 

[87warrior]

I am not convinced topping off the tank in a Cruiser with the charcoal canister under the hood is the root cause of this since the two are separated by a significant distance, horizontally and vertically. That is not to say the canister couldn't be a culprit, perhaps due to age/use. I would like to replace the canister to see what happens, but first I'd like to document some tech stream information if it can be displayed then convince myself to buy a new canister

I had the same thing happen to me last summer. @hoser linked my thread above. I only had boiling gas that one time and have been back to the Rockies several times since, but not when it was nearly as hot. High temperature, high altitude, hot exhaust and a tank full of lower boiling point gasoline (ethanol) was just a recipe for boiling gas.

At home I regularly run pure gasoline in the Cruiser since it is easy to find. On trips it is harder to find on a regular basis, so I opt for whatever is most convenient. There is a marked reduction in fuel vapor release at the filler cap when I use pure gasoline versus ethanol impregnated gasoline. I am sure techstream could show this data, but I am not really experienced with the software yet.

 

[meatloaf]

I had the same boiling issue with my truck today. Drove around 275 miles from central TX to my in-laws ranch in south TX. I was pulling my travel trailer and kept smelling fuel for the last 150 miles or so. Looked under the truck cause I installed Trail Tailor sliders a couple weeks back and I had moved fuel lines, I was thinking I had a gas leak somewhere under the truck, not until I asked my son to move the truck when I heard the boiing in the tank... another issue with pulling the 2500# trailer is got <7 mpg.

 

[nissanh]

Had the exact experience OP had when I drove from Las Vegas NV to Kingman AZ on a hot summer day in my corolla. Coolant needle was bit high and had AC at hi setting. As far as I remember out side was about 115 Fahrenheit.

Issue was, there are two metal tubes running parallel while touching to heat up the gasoline by coolant. I bypassed the coolant line and problem was solved! The tubes are about 6 inches long and located on fuel return line.

The corolla was may be designed for colder weather?

Not sure where the cruiser got this heat exchange setup. I don't find this in my 100 that was first sold in West TX.

 

[meatloaf]

And oh... i did top off 2x

 

[shevy77]

The fuel line heating was mentioned in the following thread and there are some discussions of creating a heat shield for our 100s to prevent the Catalytic converter from heating the return fuel line.

Engine shutting off during long trips.

 

[J1000]

Fuel line runs un-shielded next to the catalytic converter. See thread above and try to ignore the myths and guesses.

 

[SteveGeo]

I have this happening on by 2001 Land Cruiser every time I drive for over 3 hours continuously. First sign is smelling gas in the cabin. When I remove the fuel cap, fuel is under high pressure, seems to be boiling and spitting out. Doesn't seem to be related to fuel level in the tank. Outside weather does not seem to be a factor - happens in summer and winter. I live in Colorado and my long trips always involve mountain driving and lots of elevation changes. I alway use brand-name gas, but usually use Regular octane. I don't ever get any error codes. I don't have any other symptoms of a failing fuel pump.

I've had my Toyota shop check out the fuel system and they can't find anything wrong.

 

[Asanka]

I have this happening on by 2001 Land Cruiser every time I drive for over 3 hours continuously. First sign is smelling gas in the cabin. When I remove the fuel cap, fuel is under high pressure, seems to be boiling and spitting out. Doesn't seem to be related to fuel level in the tank. Outside weather does not seem to be a factor - happens in summer and winter. I live in Colorado and my long trips always involve mountain driving and lots of elevation changes. I alway use brand-name gas, but usually use Regular octane. I don't ever get any error codes. I don't have any other symptoms of a failing fuel pump.

I've had my Toyota shop check out the fuel system and they can't find anything wrong.

This (long) thread has more details and few things to monitor and fixes in case you haven't seen it.

Gas tank building excessive pressure & fuel smell. Dangerous for sure! Why does this happen?

DANGEROUS GAS PRESSURE BUILD UP IN GAS TANK! Why? What's going on? How can we fix this? Edited 12/29/23: It is a unban myth, all Land Cruisers boil fuel. They do not! Edited 7/4/20: What I found in every case of "fuel boiling" I've worked on. Was, engine overheating or running hot. :hmm: That...

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