[danvhp]

Anybody here know where this stupid little valve is located? Can a small hole be cut in the floor to get to it? My car takes forever to fill with gas. I have tried everything on this forum to fix this issue and now think it may be a bad vent valve. Awesome forum too. Dan

 

[danvhp]

Bump, anybody?

 

[Real Lyte]

Pretty sure the vent you are talking about is affixed to the top part of fuel neck, it's behind the fuel neck guard.

 

[danvhp]

I am looking for guidance as to where the vent valve is located on the gas tank itself. I have heard other forum members talk of having to remove the gas tank (expensive) to replace this vent valve. I would assume that it is located at a high point on the tank. I am hoping that I can cut a hole in the floor above it, replace the valve and cover the hole. Much faster and cheaper method than dropping the tank.

 

[neoshi]

Fuel piping ? Illustration #2, Subaru FORESTER ? Subaru parts catalog

 

[ericscott]

I just resolved this exact problem on my 99 Legacy Outback. The reason is that when you are adding fuel to the tank, the vent is clogged. So when the fuel is going down the neck, the pressure backs up, and the air has nowhere to go.


You should have a charcoal box on the rear pass side under the bumper. There are 3 hoses that go toward the front of the car. 2 large, 1 small. Take an air compressor and a blow tip and blow air through the 3 lines. There is a "clog" in one of those lines. Make the "connection" to the hoses tight enough that the compressed air will go throught the line. Then one that goes to the tank will build pressure and release some vapors.

It is possible you may have a damaged hose as well. I checked all of my hoses for breaks and couldnt find any.

I went for 2 months before I had the time to troubleshoot this problem. It would take 8-10 minutes to fill the tank. Now, it works just as normal.

Hope this helps.

 

[TonW07]

Also to add to ericscott I had a similar problem and checked all the hoses to see if they were plugged or broke. This helped for a very short time however. What ended up being the problem was that the internals of the charcoal box was busted up so all the pieces of charcoal were able to plug the lines rather than just staying in the box.

If your charcoal box is broke like mine was, what I ended up doing was just dump all the charcoal out and put the box back on. I know I should have just replaced the charcoal box but this was most convenient at the time and everything has been working perfect since.

 

[AlleyCat]

This is a federal emissions system part and should be covered by the extended emissions warranty. If you loose the sealed tank vapour system the ECU will throw a code. Dont over fill or OTW top off the tank - never.

 

[danvhp]

I guess you guys didn't read my original post about having tried all of these solutions. I blew compressed air into all the tank lines and disconnected the lines coming to the charcoal canister before trying to fill up. None of this has helped. So I am down to replacing the fuel tank vent valve. Does anyone know where I can find a diagram showing the fuel tank vent line routing and where this vent valve is located?

 

[funkymonkey1002]

There are access panels in the back of the car over the fuel tank. Shouldn't need to drop the tank or cut a hole or anything like that. Should be able to undo the floor/carpet behind the rear seats and get to it all. There have been a number of posts on here about the vent codes with pictures etc.

 

[BioDoc]

Is this what you're looking for?

 

[freeson]

Biodoc/anybody - do you happen to have a copy of the gas tank removal section (FU(H4DOTC)-47, REMOVAL, Fuel Tank)?

thanks,

 

[freeson]

Received via PM - thanks bio.

Just for danvhp's sake, I had your same issue with vent valve on top of the tank. I pressurized the tank from the filler neck and the sticky vent valve released. Make sure you disconnect the vent line into the canister first.

 

[thesilversurfer]

99 Outback Fuel Clog

I just resolved this exact problem on my 99 Legacy Outback. The reason is that when you are adding fuel to the tank, the vent is clogged. So when the fuel is going down the neck, the pressure backs up, and the air has nowhere to go.


You should have a charcoal box on the rear pass side under the bumper. There are 3 hoses that go toward the front of the car. 2 large, 1 small. Take an air compressor and a blow tip and blow air through the 3 lines. There is a "clog" in one of those lines. Make the "connection" to the hoses tight enough that the compressed air will go throught the line. Then one that goes to the tank will build pressure and release some vapors.

It is possible you may have a damaged hose as well. I checked all of my hoses for breaks and couldnt find any.

I went for 2 months before I had the time to troubleshoot this problem. It would take 8-10 minutes to fill the tank. Now, it works just as normal.

Hope this helps.

Just looking for advice as to whether I, as a novice mechanic (have done brakes, sparkplugs and wires, oil changes on the car) could take on this task or am getting in over my head? I've got to fix this issue, winter makes it much less tolerable to stand around at the gas pump for 10+ minutes, haha. Thanks!

 

[wallyblackburn]

Just looking for advice as to whether I, as a novice mechanic (have done brakes, sparkplugs and wires, oil changes on the car) could take on this task or am getting in over my head? I've got to fix this issue, winter makes it much less tolerable to stand around at the gas pump for 10+ minutes, haha. Thanks!

Fixes that don't require you to remove the tank are doable...removing the tank is a BIG job. If the vent valve has failed in such a way that you can't clear the clog out by blowing some air in, the tank has to come out.

To remove the tank you have to remove rear exhaust, rear differential, and rear crossmember.

Good luck,
Wally

 

[robbrown]

RE: Subaru vent valve

this is probably accurate for most Subaru models with ORVR. (Onboard refueling vapor recovery system)

vent valve is #33 on first image

second image is models without ORVR. #40 (probably non California and New York vehicles, or models out of US)

Hope it helps