What has been everyone's experience with filling the F56 been in terms of when the auto shutoff trips?

I just did my second fill up this morning, both at Costco, but different pumps. The first fill up a week ago, the pump kept tripping, like way early. It made it difficult to fill up knowing it was really full (and to a somewhat consistent repeatable level for fill to fill MPG calculations.

I thought it might be the pump, but again today it tripped at 8 gallons, and then tripped again just shy of 10. I ended up stopping at 10.4 because I didn't want to risk an overflow / splash (could start to hear it as I filled).

But it just seems real touchy in terms of tripping compared to the R56.

Comments?

 

I have had that happen twice (incidentally, once at Costco)... pulling it out a bit remedied the issue.

Previous thread with my experience and responses.

 

Couple of fill ups already and no issues. Fills to the brim.

 

What is the F56 US Gallon capacity?

 

Here, it says both F56 and F56S are 11.6 Gallons.
http://www.miniusa.com/content/miniu...-features.html
Surprised the manual doesn't even mention the gas tank capacity, or I'm not good at searching pdf.


I'm guessing it's a bad design or way too aggressive vapor recapture design. I had that in both my Hyundai Elantras, and even after replacing all the gas tank vapor recapture related parts, it didn't fix it. You'll get different results on how the pump design is, and it also varies by state. In Oregon, you'll see the rubber part wrapping around the gas nozzle to minimize gas vapor escaping. This restricts air escaping when fueling, and prematurely trips the gas auto shutoff. You can avoid this by slightly keeping the nozzle out (about 1cm) when fueling, but have to be careful so it doesn't slip out.

It sucks in Oregon especially since it's prohibited by law for consumers to even touch the gas pumps. If it stops too early, I'm not even allowed to start the gas pumping again so I have to wait for the super-knowledgable highly-trained gas attendant.

 

No apparent problems. I run the pump on the slowest rate available and stick it in only far enough to make it secure in the filler. Seems to yield reasonably consistent results so far. I've been lucky in being able to use the same pump at the ExMo for every fill so the incline of the car has been the same every time.

 

That's interesting, I think someone didn't do their maths there.

It was 40 litres [10.6 gallons] for the Cooper and 44 litres [11.6 gallons] for the Cooper S.

This PDF may be where the confusion started.
http://s3.motoringfile.com.s3.amazon...1/US-Specs.pdf

 

Wow, that's quite a bit less than the R56 which is 14.2 USG. Maybe the stole some fuel tank space for the back seat or something. Personally I think the small back seat on the Hatch was its weakest feature, hence the huge popularity of the Countryman which definitely doesn't drive like my car (I had a loaner recently).

 

Strange, I had the exact opposite problem. My first fill-up started gushing EVERYWHERE once it was filled. I needed to manually stop the pump and pull the handle.... Not a good start, but haven't had an issue since.

 

I had a Nissan Murano (hated it) before my MINI and it was ALWAYS doing the start-stop every five seconds. With the F56 I find if I place the pump in slowly and only just a little I have no issues. I also run the pump on the slowest option for filling.

 

Said the art mistress to the gardener!

 

I see what you did there. Not proud that I didn't notice it when I wrote it!

 

Same here, even at full flow rate.
However, when it stops I just give one more pull but at a lower flow rate (less pressure on the trigger). But it dosn't take more than a 1/2 gallon anyway. It seems to be working just like any other cars I've owned before.

 

'But it doEsn't take more than a 1/2 gallon anyway. It seems to be working just like any other cars I've owned before.

It seems to be the way you pump gas. Try to change the way you do it. Might help.
__________________

 

That sounds like topping off, which is a bad idea and illegal too. You could be soaking the vapor recovery charcoal canister with fuel and your vapor recapturing system might get damaged.

It just depends on the design of the car manufacturer. I know 2000 Saab 9-5 and Mazda CX-5 can take gas at full speed and never trips mid-way, unlike the Hyundai Elantras I had.

 

Not illegal everywhere. As a matter of fact, I haven't even seen a recovery system in the 2 years since I've lived in this state, nor did I encounter one in my recent drive to Florida (purchased fuel in 4 other states). Simple splash guards only, if anything at all.


As for OP's question, I HAVE noticed that this car is far more sensitive than my '07 R56. I've learned to live with it, but it does make calculating fuel mileage much more difficult.

 

He's referring to the vapor recovery system in the Mini (charcoal cannister). All cars since around 2000 have to have them.

Since cars have their own vapor recovery, gas stations don't have to have them anymore, some are getting rid of those nozzles. They are basically obsolete.