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Is It Dangerous to Leave the Engine Running While Fueling?

Postat: 16 jul 2018, 17:27
av MichaelSmith
Hi,

Let me start out by saying that I always shut the engine off while putting gas in the fuel tank, for three main reasons:

1) That's what my mom did and that's what I see everyone else do, so society has trained me to do it as well.
2) I'm just wasting gas with the car sitting there idling while it takes about four minutse to fill the tank.
3) On my car, and any car equipped with On Board Diagnostics, if you leave the fuel cap off with the engine running, the fuel pressure may drop and the sensor will trigger the Check Engine light. While not harmful by itself, it's annoying and in the rare event that something else goes wrong unrelated to the fuel system that would trigger the CEL, you may not be aware of it for some time because you think it's because you left the cap off.

SO, anyway, all reasons aside why it's a bad idea, are there any real dangers associated with running your engine while putting fuel in the tank? The only one I can think of is fuel vapors might gather near the car and a spark from the ignition system could set it off. That seems very improbable though, since most fuel nozzles have a vapor recovery system and most cars have their engine in the front, rather than the rear where the gas tank is. But my knowledge of cars is limited, thus, I ask this question to the Lounge!! What are your thoughts on this matter? The only reason I'd want to run the car while fueling is if I had a baby or small child in there, and it's 105F in Texas on some days. Leaving the car off for even five minutes would probably not kill them, but it'd be rather uncomfortable nonetheless.

Please help.

I didn't find the right solution from the Internet.

References:-
https://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?t=112789
Motion graphics studio

Thanks!

Re: Is It Dangerous to Leave the Engine Running While Fueling?

Postat: 17 jul 2018, 11:07
av jonte_malmö
The only times I´ve done it, is when I'm having a low battery that needs charging (or another starting issue) and at the same time I need to fuel up. The reasons against would be that with fuel pressure, the risk of locking the car with the keys in it and the risk of someone jumping in and stealing your car :)

Re: Is It Dangerous to Leave the Engine Running While Fueling?

Postat: 19 jul 2018, 17:53
av thol
It could be some kind of fire hazard and the manned fuel stations in sweden don´t allow it.