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Pretty sure there was a long, long, contentious thread on this topic within about 6 months. With a contingent that strenuously argued the danger was completely blown out of proportion.
Diesel is far less prone to vapor ignition than gasoline.
Yep. Try zero.
Diesel must be atomized (sprayed) in order to be flammable.
Don't get in and out of your vehicle while refueling. A static electric charge can develop on your body as you slide across the seat, and when you reach for the pump, a spark can ignite gasoline vapor.
If you must get into the vehicle during refueling, discharge any static electricity by touching metal on the
outside of the vehicle, away from the filling point, before removing the nozzle from your vehicle.
No. Just stay in the car once you get in and wrap yourself in foil. You may spontaneously combust, and that may ignite the fuel being pumped into the vehicle. Not likely if you are inside your vehicle, and wrapped in foil, but very likely if you are standing there holding the pump like a #*%^#&*q.
However if you are in your car, do not drive off while the pump is still pumping gasoline. I have seen that happen twice and it is messy.
If you are over 50 do not set the gas can on the ground. Just till them int he truck bed. . If you put them on-the ground you will fall over trying to lift them back into the truck and spill them all over. Then your cigarette will likely light the spill on fire. If that does happen quickly jump into your truck and drive it away from the fire. In fact, just get out of there. the police or fireman might yell at you if you hang around. Of course you could just drive repeatedly over the fire and try to smother it out with your tires.
I've been driving for 45 plus years, was in public safety for almost 30 years and have never heard or seen any car or gas pump fire due to a running engine. Certainly experienced a few drive offs with the hose attached, but no fires.
Saw a jerk (a jerk for different reason) with his car door open and engine running while he puts gas in his car. I hoped someone would hop in and steal his car to teach the idiot a lesson. He’s a jerk because after he fillled his tank he pulled up to the store taking three parking spaces including one handicap space. Think capital E with the 3 lines being the parking lanes and the vertical line on the left being his car. He works for a food delivery service.
The title makes it sound like one problem, but the message seems to indicate multiple.
I fill my gas tank (unleaded) while my car is running. This is for two reasons: 1.) I have a greater chance at starting a fire with static electricity than a running motor, and 2.) One less crank put on my starter.
It's almost an act of rebellion because some say "if you anticipate idling for more than 10 seconds, turn off your car!". I'm not cranking my engine excessively, wearing out a starter that will leave me stranded at the WORST possible time, to save $0.05 of fuel.
I used to have a '76 Eldorado. If I had left the engine running while filling up, I would have left the station with less gas in the tank than I had pulled in with.
Is this true? I don't see too many people thinking that would be a very good idea, even in the 1950's.
I remember this being a common thing in the 70's.
Sidenote- My father never shut off the engine while refueling and while I always shut off my vehicle it's more about compliance than out of a concern for safety.
Anybody here ever try to light gasoline with a cigarette? Or a bullet? Even a tracer round?
Like a lot of things, it works much better on teevee.
Not that you should smoke while filling up. Just saying it's not as big a deal as a lot of people think.
Exactly. The air to fuel ratio has to be right for it to ignite. It actually takes a spark or open flame to ignite it as well. A smoldering cigarette actually will not ignite gasoline since it is nowhere near the required flashpoint.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mustangman66
Filling my tank with the engine running has never even crossed my mind. You are also not supposed to use your cell phone while filling either, again, not a concern for me. My biggest concern at the pump is when someone uses the pump as a parking spot to go into the store while there are cars waiting to fill up.
As others have already pointed out, there is a lot of urban myth and bad information out there. Mostly started and spread along by those that don't understand the science. If you understand the science, which is pretty much high school level, you can quickly debunk some of these stories that get spread around.
The cell phone while pumping gas is an urban myth. The cell phone would have to create an ignition spark to ignite the fuel vapor. When was the last time you saw people walking around with their cell phones throwing sparks? It would look like kids playing with sparklers at night if there was any credible foundation for this myth. It just does not happen.
Most people do not realize you can throw a burning cigarette in a bowl of gasoline and it will put the cigarette out. You can also pour gasoline on the ground or on concrete and place a lit cigarette directly on it and let it sit there smoldering until it burns itself out and it will not ignite the gasoline.
What makes leaving your car running and especially getting in and out of it while gasoline is pumping is the sparks. The most common cause of gasoline fires at the pump is static electricity sparks from someone getting in and out of their car while the pump is running. The get in, get back out and when they touch the nozzle they create a static spark which is basically like a spark plug right next to the fuel filler opening which ignites the vapor coming out and suddenly you have a huge fire. To prevent this from happening, I simply touch metal away from the area of my fuel door on the rare occasions it is so cold I get back in the car. Just touch the steel around your door after you get completely out of the car to dissipate and static charge before you touch the nozzle. This is the same reason you are not supposed to leave gas cans in the back of your truck and fill them. You transfer the static charge to the fuel nozzle.
The other problem with leaving the car running is the possibility of spark plug wires arcing under the hood. Alternators can also spark. If the fuel vapor was to find it's way under the hood and there were to be a spark, it can ignite and it will follow the vapor trail all the way back to the nozzle creating a huge fire.
No. Just stay in the car once you get in and wrap yourself in foil. You may spontaneously combust, and that may ignite the fuel being pumped into the vehicle. Not likely if you are inside your vehicle, and wrapped in foil, but very likely if you are standing there holding the pump like a #*%^#&*q.
started by static electricity when the car driver got back out of their car. It happens, in fact it's happened about a thousand times a year nationwide. Vehicle fires at gas stations increased steadily until the late 1990s, and declined through the 2000s. Even with the recent decline, vehicle fires were still 29% higher in 2008 than they were in 1980 (2,510 in 2008 vs. 1,940 in 1980).
So what? The light goes off after you run another 50-80 miles and the readings update. If not, get a cheap code reader and reset.
What do you mean "so what?"? When the dang light comes on, you have no idea why it came on. It's a headache to get the codes read when you have 50 other things to do. Avoiding having the light come on at all is ca much better option.
What do you mean "so what?"? When the dang light comes on, you have no idea why it came on. It's a headache to get the codes read when you have 50 other things to do. Avoiding having the light come on at all is ca much better option.
So don't freak out if your car is otherwise running fine and tend to your other 50 things. By the time you're done the light will be off and in that way you will know it was a temporary reading that resolved itself. Of course, your first clue why it came on would be the fact that it was off when you pulled in for gas and came on during or shortly after filling up. Personally, I find keeping the car warm in the winter or cool in the summer to be a much better option.
The number one reason to turn the car off is to keep nearby people, like some on this forum, from having a panic attack.
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