Gas pump nozzle

[Trstno1]

Quick question -

Does anyone ever have the issue with setting the gas pump nozzle on the first notch while fueling your car, and the car not shutting off the nozzle when the tank is full? This is the second time I was brave enough to try and once the tank was full it just ended shooting gas up everywhere around the trunk. Hard to look cool at the gas pump with gas squirting all over the place. I had the nozzle inserted all the way into the fuel reservoir. Anyone have experience with this?

Thx

[CFI]

Quick question -

Does anyone ever have the issue with setting the gas pump nozzle on the first notch while fueling your car, and the car not shutting off the nozzle when the tank is full? This is the second time I was brave enough to try and once the tank was full it just ended shooting gas up everywhere around the trunk. Hard to look cool at the gas pump with gas squirting all over the place. I had the nozzle inserted all the way into the fuel reservoir. Anyone have experience with this?

Thx


If you search the forum you’ll find this is fairly common. Some pumps are more sensitive than others as far as the automatic shut off is concerned. Two things you can do:

Make sure the nozzle is not open all the way. The slower the fuel is dispensed, the more likely you’ll trigger the auto shutoff in a timely manner.

Use a different gas station. Some stations equipment just isn’t well suited to the DeLorean fuel system. There is one station near me that I avoid for this very reason.

[Jonathan]

Also, don't stick the nozzle into the opening all the way. Leave it back just a small amount.

Years ago I did some work on my fuel pump and afterwards did not get the rubber boot and assembly all the way down snug where it should have been. That created a small air gap where the pressure in the tank could escape instead of pushing back on the gas coming out of the nozzle (and it is that back pressure on the gas pump that's needed to trigger the auto shut off). First fill up didn't stop itself and it poured all out and over the top of the fuel pump. Nice mess. I really had to push down forcefully on the rubber boot to get it to seal properly. No issues after that. So another thing you can double check.

[dmcerik]

I've had this happen a time or two early on in my ownership. I've learned to just do it manually and stop when it's near full. I don't trust it to shut off on it's own, and really dislike wiping up gas.

[Helirich]

I was wondering about this too. I haven't done it yet, but I expect I will. I don't mind doing it manual. But, even doing it manual, it is tough to control. Because the tank is so small, you always want it full. I was really hoping someone had a trick.

[David T]

If you fill it all the way up make sure you have no leaks around the fuel pump or sender. On one car that had a really bad fuel smell, the original sender leaked at the rivets. Most cars leak at the seal between the tank and sender and many have bad boots for the fuel pump with the original pump set-up. The upper boot is not supposed to be in contact with fuel but if the inner one leaks the outer (upper) boot won't seal tight because the fuel hoses run through it. Even though the tank is small, a Delorean in good tune gets 25 MPG or better. That's over 300 miles on a tank.

[Iznodmad]

The trick is to position the handle parallel to the length of the car, not perpendicular like everything else you would normally fill up.

[Trstno1]

The trick is to position the handle parallel to the length of the car, not perpendicular like everything else you would normally fill up.

Interesting...

[JBaker4981]

Yeah.... no no no. I just take note of how much gas is on the gauge and do the math. If I'm at half full, I'm only going to dump 5 gallons in to be safe.

I'll be damned if I dump some fuel and have to smell fuel for the next 2 hours lol

[Helirich]

I thought I would revive this with something new. I noticed the last couple times I screwed up and had the pump running full tilt and it clicked off without spilling a drop. I got to looking in my fill tube and there is another tube inside of it. It is made of black plastic. It is kind of funnel shaped. The diameter is neerly the full hose at the top and goes down to about 1". I can reach in with my fingers and lift it some. But it is too big to go through the metal part.

I looked on the parts diagram at DMC and they don't even show the fill tube. So I don't know if it is stock or not. Do you guys got this? I wonder if it stops the pump quicker. It may be there to allow the fuel to go in quicker. (Air vents around it)

[WHO1DMC]

I thought I would revive this with something new. I noticed the last couple times I screwed up and had the pump running full tilt and it clicked off without spilling a drop. I got to looking in my fill tube and there is another tube inside of it. It is made of black plastic. It is kind of funnel shaped. The diameter is neerly the full hose at the top and goes down to about 1". I can reach in with my fingers and lift it some. But it is too big to go through the metal part.

I looked on the parts diagram at DMC and they don't even show the fill tube. So I don't know if it is stock or not. Do you guys got this? I wonder if it stops the pump quicker. It may be there to allow the fuel to go in quicker. (Air vents around it)

Sounds like a modification from the previous owner. Take some pictures of this because there shouldn't be anything in there.
You should be able to look in there and see nothing but metal.

Dave B.

[Helirich]

Sounds like a modification from the previous owner. Take some pictures of this because there shouldn't be anything in there.
You should be able to look in there and see nothing but metal.

Dave B.

I'll try, but it just looks black in there. At first I thought it was just the hose going down to the tank.

[DaraSue]

I replaced all my (original) rubber vent lines a couple of years ago and it seemed like that helped a bit. I still find that I can pump faster without it shutting off when I hold the nozzle perpendicular to the windshield (parallel to the line of the car as others have said).

[Michael]

The tank holds like 16oz. It doesn't take long to fill it up so I don't mind babysitting the process.

[Helirich]

The tank holds like 16oz. It doesn't take long to fill it up so I don't mind babysitting the process.

On that note, it seems like I can use about 10 gallons and I start to feel some fuel starvation. Is this typical? That ten gallons gets me about 200 miles. (Mixed driving) Is that typical?

[Michael]

On that note, it seems like I can use about 10 gallons and I start to feel some fuel starvation. Is this typical? That ten gallons gets me about 200 miles. (Mixed driving) Is that typical?

I honestly don't know. I seem to remember on my 1,000 mile drive I was going around 200-250 miles between fill ups but this was interstate driving.

Being that I was born a man, it is embedded in my genetic code not to give a flying f÷=k about gas mileage.

[Helirich]

I honestly don't know. I seem to remember on my 1,000 mile drive I was going around 200-250 miles between fill ups but this was interstate driving.

Being that I was born a man, it is embedded in my genetic code not to give a flying f÷=k about gas mileage.

I don't really care about miles per gallon or the price of gas, but I do care about miles per tank. I hate going to gas stations, even more so with this car.

[Jonathan]

I consider there to be about 40 litres of working volume in the tank. If I fill up when I'm at 1/4 tank, it takes about 32 litres. Give or take a bit. There are 3.785 litres per gallon if you want the other math.

For most of the time I've had my car, I get about 22.5 MPG. This means I fill up at a little less than 200 miles per tank. 175 to 190 or so. Going up hills when near empty will get my low fuel light turning on and I'd rather get fuel soon afterwards than deal with starving the pump. It's an automatic so the mileage is worse than the standard transmission.

One trick I've used a lot over the years is to park at the pump when stopped regardless of whether I am getting gas or not. No door dings that way. So if I'm stopped to use the washroom or get something to eat or a coffee (there are a few spots on my usual lap that have coffee shops right next door to gas stations), I park at the pump. And no, not when it's crazy busy. I just find it's a better option than pulling into a regular spot at the actual coffee shop and then running in all the while worrying about someone dinging your door panel.

[DaraSue]

I've gone 300 miles and only taken 10.8 gallons before. That was on the highway going from SLC to Vegas in the summer with the A/C off as I recall. Seemed like I was getting upper 20s on road trips when I first bought the car but lately it's been down to lower 20s. Of course, the last couple years I've started doing 80 instead of 70 on those 100-mile stretches of nothing between SLC and everywhere else...

On long drives I generally start looking for a gas station when I've gone 250 miles and get less picky about whether it's Top Tier certified after the low fuel light comes on. Around town I track how many gallons I put in last time and plan on filling up when the trip meter hits that number X 20.

[David T]

Knowing your MPG is good for two reasons.
1) Being able to plan a trip without worrying about running out of gas and
2) If you see the MPG going down either you are leaking it out or burning your fuel up faster.
A 5-2peed in good tune can get as much as 30 MPG, an auto around 25. Of course a lot has to do with how much junk you carry in the trunk, your speed, the weather, how heavy the passengers are, etc. To get another 2-3 MPG you can use a higher grade of gas. While the car is made to run on regular it will run better (and farther) on higher octane gas. On long trips I set the odometer to zero when I fill up and I know that I can go at least 250 miles on that tank and still have a little reserve.

[Iznodmad]

For a turbo car, yes. For natural aspiration, no.